Making Decisions

Today, I would like to write about making decisions. I have covered this topic in my podcast earlier. But I have this urge of writing more about this today, especially as I remember a scene form Star Trek, where Captain Kirk speaks about the burden of responsibility, specifically referring to the life of his crew members based on the decision he makes. I remember how emotionally touching this scene was, when I watched that episode about 7 years ago. I can still remember the way I felt when I heard Captain Kirk say those words. We all can relate to it at some level. Where the decisions we make not only has good or bad consequences on us but also on people who are with us. And sometimes, the decisions one takes in a crossroad can change the entire future.

And this becomes even more challenging when there is a considerable risk involved in the decisions you make. A friend of mine called Dika taught me this valuable lesson. He is a Forex trader. And he taught me how to beat the system. And back then I quickly got compulsive with it and made huge returns everyday. I was playing in the real market with virtual currency, for all practical purpose the logic and the bidding strategy is the exact same as playing with real currency, except for the emotions! Trading Forex with high leverage is all about making good decisions every moment. And when I was proud with my skills, Dika warned me; he said “Wait till you play in the market with real money”. Oops, very early I detected that my decisions were not the same. So, I stopped playing Forex ( this was pre-NLP, pro-days). These days, I do not have the same fascination for Forex, but if I do, hopefully I can deal with my emotions better at Forex using Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

I truly believe the mark of a leader is the decisions he or she makes when the stakes are high. A few things I believe that have helped me make good decisions are:

1. Getting Emotional Charge quickly, even if it goes off balance momentarily
When you hear bad news or when there is a conflict or when there is huge risk ahead, it may happen that your emotions are caught off guard. How quickly can you get to a state where you can trust your own thinking, to be at its prime?

2. Having great Advisors and Listening to them!
I cannot emphasize the importance of this. King Solomon once said, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety”. An interesting thing that I enjoy reading about King David is how quickly people of great values, character and skill joined him with their full loyalty. It is a gift to have people around you who are both wise and have good intentions, and it is a greater gift to have the humility to listen to them. And even better a gift is your skill to differentiate the chaff from the wheat.

3. Wisdom from God
Who knows the future and what lies ahead. Who can ensure that you have the resources you need at the right moment when they mean something to you? Who gives a man (or women) the right companions and advisors?

If you extend the frame of making decisions further, you will recognise that you are the director of your life! What decisions are you making about it? Who are the people you want to be with and what are the things you want to enjoy doing?

I hope you enjoyed your decision of reading this, I certainly am happy of all the decisions I made today.