One part of being human is that we are required to make decisions on a regular basis. It starts in the morning: Should I snooze my alarm or just get up and brew my morning Joe? Should I bring leftovers for lunch or buy a salad in the cafeteria? Should I fire this employee or dedicate my time to improve his performance and attitude? Should we hire another mid-level executive or promote someone from within? Should I hire internal marketing support or outsource marketing to a third party?

Ourselves and Others

Most of our decisions affect our lives either positively or negatively. Some of our decisions may affect the lives of others, too. It may be less expensive to mentor and nurture an existing employee, rather than hiring a new one. But mentoring and nurturing takes you away from other productive activities. In the end, who knows if the employee will respond to mentoring and nurturing? If you promote from within, you may save money. You may also breed jealousy and resentment in the team. You can never please everyone, yourself included. But you will always have to make decisions.

So how do you make the best ones?

You could try Google or hire a business/life coach. You could make an old fashion pros and cons list. Ultimately, though, it is your choice. So, make one you can live with. We all have senses of right and wrong. It doesn’t matter if Google or your coach tells you what to do. It matters if you can wake up and look in the mirror each morning and be satisfied with the person you see — or at least be pleased with where that person is headed.

No one wakes up in the morning and wishes to spill their coffee or get a flat tire, but those things happen. They are out of our control. What we have to remember is to be conscious of as many decisions as we can and try to make the right ones. If we mess up, we just have to own it and try again.

On the second try, remember Roy Disney’s advice, “When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.”