Friday, June 08, 2012

Decide to Decide

Some decisions are easy. Chocolate or Strawberry? 7:00 or 7:30? Venti or Grande?




Other decisions are more impactful and the more impactful the more difficult the decision is to make. Some examples are:

"House X or Y"    "This car or that car"     "Job A or B"    "Vacation Here or There" 

I've been writing about choice, chance and change. It's easy to talk about it, but more challenging to put it into action. What if your choices are fairly even, House X and House Y have the same square footage, same amenities, same neighborhood. You must have decision criteria that will make one of them stand out to be the "right" choice.

So, it really comes down to the "Chance" or Risk Factor. You have to decide how much Risk Tolerance you have. A house is a BIG decision, most people make payments at least 15 years, more commonly 30 years. So it comes to reason that it has to be a decision you can live with.  Sure, you can sell it, but you risk losing money if sold too soon or if the market is not right. Again, a risk factor that has to be analyzed.


Some of the common risk factors that I base decisions on are:
Is this decision stay in line with my ethics, morals, beliefs?
Does my spouse agree?
What about my income or income potential, age, health, children, expenses, timing or security?
How secure do I think I am currently?
How will this change affect that security?
Am I too young/old to do this particular thing?
If I take this on, can I afford it over the long-haul?
What happens if I can't?
How important is this REALLY?
Can I live without it?
Is my current situation good? 
Can I fail?
How will a failure negatively impact my life?
Can I change back if it doesn't work out?
What are my goals? What do I want to achieve in my life?
Are these answers in line with my goals and my life achievements?

Since many decisions are very difficult, perhaps you are the type of person that needs to run it by a few close friends, needs to verbalize it to hear what your choices are. If so, I encourage you to do that, but to listen to yourself, your inner voice. I find mine is usually right and even if it doesn't work out, then it's still ok because I really wanted to do it anyway.

Good luck and make a choice to take a chance to make a change ! 


"...And in the end... The love you take is equal to the love you make." ---The Beatles
Thanks for reading my Heavenly Thoughts

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