Decisions

By Patrick Egbunonu

The Walk
I love to take morning walks. With my very busy schedule these walks give me the opportunity to think, sing, pray and exercise. Towards the end of my walk yesterday morning, I began to think and reflect on “decisions”. As I thought about decisions, it further dawned on me that the quality of my life is directly proportional to the quality of my decisions. I also realized that where I am today and where I will be tomorrow are results of the decisions I’ve taken and will take.

Corporations and Individuals
Most corporations understand the importance of decision making. When it is time to choose the next CEO, CFO, or executive, the candidate’s decision making history and judgement is examined in tandem with his/her ability to execute. There are also various tools and processes sme companies put in place to enhance the quality of their decisions.

As individuals, we make decisions on a regular consistent basis ranging from what to eat, when to sleep, where to go to school, who to date, and, where to work. I won’t be surprised if statistics show that an individual makes an average of a thousand decisions on a daily basis. Some decisions not only affect our lives, but also the lives of those who work with us, live with us, work for us, or under our leadership. For example, the decision by most Canadian banks not to invest in the complex derivatives saved the Canadian economy from the type of economic collapse experienced by several developed countries.

Time Decisions
A Nielsen study released in 2008 found that Americans were watching more TV than ever before. The average U.S. household watched TV for 8 hours and 18 minutes a day from September 2007 to September 2008, which was a record high since the days Nielsen Co. started measuring television in the 1950s. If we assume that the average household sleeps for about 7.5 hours, what this means is that the average household is watching TV almost half of the time that they are awake. I know a man who wrote his books during his spare time after work. Most of our time should be invested and not spent: invested in relationships, exercising our gifts and talents, improving our selves, and helping others. If I can study how you use your day, I can possibly tell you how you will use your life -if you maintain the same pattern. What you decide to do with the time you have on your hands can determine how your life turns out

Don't join an easy crowd. You won't grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform and achieve are high...Jim Rohn

Relationship Decisions
Someone once said : tell me who you hang around and I will tell you what your future will look like. One of the most important decisions you will take in life centers around relationships - friends, spouse, co-workers, etc. Relationships can be very subtle. They can bring out the best or worst in us. They can strectch us to become the best we can be or they can quietly induce a complacent attitude and a losing mentality into us. I told my manager on Friday that I love working with him, because he brings out the best in me; which is very true. Who we decide to hang around definitely has a huge impact on our life

Gift and Talent Decisions
Each of us was born with unique gifts, talents, abilities, and possibilities. The sad news is that most of us will go to our grave with all these unique gifts, talents, abilities and possibilities. Very few will die empty. Even though we have all these talents, the decision is left to us whether we will use them or just allow them lie dormant

“One Thing” Decisions
I call this last decisions the “One Thing” decisions. I found out that every individual has one thing that drives every other thing they do. It’s like a 1% -99% rule. 99% of decisions an individual will make depends on, and, is affected by certain decisions that make up the 1%. Every individual has a motivating idol in their heart - something that they crave for, want to be like, or drives them on a daily basis. For some it is money, for others it could be sex, career, family, a celebrity, or a spiritual being.

Newton third law tells us that for every action there is a reaction. Every decision we take has some consequences or results. The good news is that we can decide to begin making better decisions by looking at facts, examining the possible consequences and/or results, and considering historical data. Decisions definitely determine destiny.