Decision Making

Considering Decision Fatigue

Many of us are overwhelmed by all the decisions we have to make day after day. Because that is often the case for me, I’ve considered decision fatigue a lot:

• Decision Fatigue: What is choice overload and the impact of being overwhelmed?
• Preventing Decision Fatigue: What does the Bible says about making decisions?
• Let’s Revisit Decision Fatigue: Because a refresher is always a good idea.

Making Decisions for Others

Let’s now take a different perspective on decision making by looking at “Why It’s Easier To Make Decisions For Someone Else.” Consider these results from a study completed by two Chinese researchers.

A couple of points of application come to mind for me when considering the results of this study.

1. We’re harder on ourselves than on other people.
2. We struggle looking at our own options in a positive way.
3. We remember our failures too quickly.
4. Perhaps we need to pull back on the risks we’re willing to let others take.
5. We could consider being more adventurous in decisions for ourselves.

Though I never thought about it before, the study is ultimately right. Making decisions for other people is somehow easier than it is for myself. Maybe that’s the way it should be though. After all:

• We don’t actually make decisions for others. We just encourage them in a certain direction.
• We live more intimately with our own decisions than with the decisions others make.

Changing My Approach

Realizing these truths has led me to reassess how I make decisions, how others might decisions, and the intersection of decision making with the people in my life. Do I need to gear my own decision making more toward how I am with regard to others decision making? How would being more adventurous, optimistic, positive, favorable, and action-oriented in my own decision making change my life?