Whether it’s deciding what to wear to a mate’s house party, what film to see at the cinema, or even what route to take towards future employment difficult decisions pop up all over the place. But what if you’re faced with a tough decision at school or work?
Check out these top tips on how tackle it:
Don’t panic. Landing on the right decision will come a lot easier when you’re feeling more chilled out. If you’re running around in a flap and can’t get your thoughts in order, then it’s going to be really hard to work out what to do clearly. So, take a deep breath and…
Explore all possibilities. The perfect scenario is when there’s one option that is clearly the right way to go, but unfortunately it doesn’t always work out like that. So, take a moment to think about the different possible choices that are in front of you and make sure you have as much information as possible, and an idea of the possible scenarios and outcomes. This will put you in a good place to start mapping out the right way to go. If you’re thinking about choices around employment check out our the LifeSkills Advice map interactive tool for guidance around jobs, training and work experience.
Always, always, always chat to someone. More often than not, getting a fresh opinion on something can be really helpful when working out the best route to take. From wanting to find out what qualifications are needed for certain careers to fashion advice finding the right person depending on the situation -- a mate, a teacher, a colleague or maybe even a parent – could help your situation; their experience and perspective may confirm (or rule out) an option.
Set yourself a deadline. Sometimes the worst action is inaction, so make sure you don’t let the decision linger, because that usually just makes things worse. So figure out when you need to have decided by, calmly work through the above steps and if you’re still not sure by the time of the deadline – don’t stress it. That’s when you need to trust your instinct and press ahead. Why not check out our short film which provides tips for dealing with pressure.
Being decisive will never be a bad thing. So long as you’ve thought things through, you will come out the other side much better off.
