The Benefits of Being Decisive

Often in life, we are afraid to make decisions because we fear making the wrong ones. However, the problem with indecision is that it while it may keep us from making some mistakes, being indecisive also prevents us from reaching our full potential. If you want to live your best life, you have to learn to be decisive.

Admittedly, being decisive takes courage. You have to be willing to risk failure. Because no matter how sure you are about a course of action, there is always a chance it will fail. But when you are a decisive person, you “feel the fear, and do it anyway.”

Below are some of the many benefits of being decisive. Read about how being more decisive can improve your life in ways that you may not have considered!

Being Decisive Inspires Respect and Admiration

If your goal is to be respected for your opinion and admired for your leadership, then you can’t be indecisive. We, as a society, admire people with conviction. We admire the go-getters.

If you think about it, in every movie or story, the hero or heroine is someone who is decisive. The hero doesn’t wring his hands and say, “Oh dear, should I get married, or shouldn’t I?” Of course, not! He goes after the woman of his dreams. Our heroine doesn’t sit on the sidelines waiting for someone to save her. She slays the dragon without hesitation.

We don’t admire hand-wringers. Hand-wringing is a sign of weakness. We admire doers. So, when people observe you being decisive, they will view you as a strong and capable individual. People will believe that you know what you are doing because you aren’t sitting around equivocating.

Now you may say, “Well, I am a hand-wringer because I worry about making a mistake.” That’s true. You may very well make a mistake. But the reality is that as a society, we readily forgive the mistakes of people who are decisive. However, we have trouble getting past the weakness of those who fret and equivocate.

So, if your goal is to earn the respect of others, you need to learn to be decisive. Hand-wringing, fretting and worrying are not attractive behaviors. By contrast, acting with sound judgment and conviction are attractive qualities that will earn you the respect and admiration of others.

You Don’t Miss Opportunities When You Are Decisive

Opportunities are gifts. Sometimes opportunities come in the form of a chance to date a really great guy or girl. Other opportunities may come in the form of a job offer. Or you may be given the chance to travel to a place that you’ve never been before.

Now, if you are given a gift, do you say, “Well, thanks for this gift. Let me give it some thought as to whether I really want this gift. I’ll get back to you.” Of course not. That would be demented.

And yet, that is how indecisive people respond to opportunities. They say, “Well, that job offer sounds interesting. But I’m not sure that I can leave my current humdrum position. After all, it’s familiar. I’ll get back to you.” Or, “Yes, I’ve never been to Peru. But traveling to a foreign country seems complicated. Will I have to get shots? A travel visa? I’d better think about it.”

Realize that opportunities are fleeting. And if someone gives you an opportunity, you need to respond with gratitude and conviction. Be the kind of person who says, “Yes! And thank you!!” Don’t be the kind of person who is given an opportunity and says, “Well, let me think about it.” Opportunities tend to be withdrawn after that kind of response.

Admittedly, saying “yes” to opportunities can be daunting. After all, whenever you accept an opportunity, you are going to have to deal with change. You may be entering a new relationship which involves the change of having someone intimately involved in your life. Or you may be accepting a new position, which will involve new job responsibilities and getting to know new colleagues.

And in spite of all that change, it will inure to your benefit to be decisive and say “yes!” That is because when we say yes to opportunities, we go on adventures that we could never have imagined.

Being Decisive Trains You to Listen to Your Instincts

When we are decisive, that means we don’t sit and mull over decisions. Instead, we act quickly and with conviction. And the only way to do that is to learn to trust our instincts.

Have you ever said to yourself, “If only I’d listened to my gut?” Of course, you have. Our gut (or our instincts) gives us good advice. But so often, we think too long about an issue and talk ourselves out of listening to our gut.

For instance, your instincts may tell you, “Don’t marry that person.” Or, “Don’t take that job.” Your instincts may even tell you, “Don’t walk down that street.” And then you’ll rationalize why your instincts are wrong. And then an hour, a month or even a year later, you’ll realize that your instincts were right!

The benefit of being decisive is that you have to rely on your instincts. And typically, when you rely on your instincts, you end up making the right decision. I haven’t always followed my instincts in life, but I can tell you that they’ve always been spot on. My mistake always has been in failing to listen them.

So, to be decisive, learn to listen to your instincts. Learn to rely on them. They will not steer you in the wrong direction.

Reach Your Full Potential by Being Decisive

People who are decisive throw caution to the wind and just act. They don’t talk themselves out of great opportunities.

For example, I’ve always said “yes” to job opportunities that have come my way. Have all these jobs been outstanding? Of course not. For example, back in my twenties, I accepted a position with a major accounting firm. I worked there for two years, and the job was a disaster. I was completely ill-suited to working in a corporate environment. Nevertheless, those were two years well-spent. During those years, I learned that I wasn’t suited to the corporate world. And that knowledge clarified how I approached the rest of my career.

Now, if I’d hemmed and hawed and hadn’t accepted that opportunity, I wouldn’t have suffered through two professionally frustrating years. But by being decisive (and making a mistake), I learned where my strengths and weaknesses lay. And figuring out what you are (and are not!) good at is critical in the early years of your career.

So, commit to being decisive. Stop talking yourself out of opportunities and decide to say “yes” to life. You’ll find that by being decisive and acting on the opportunities that come your way, you’ll have the richest, most interesting life imaginable. (To read about making your goal a reality, click here.)