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October 25, 2007
Posted by Ryan Graves

Decision Making 101

If you are familiar with Lifehack.com’s “Mind Hack” posts this is the first Mind Hack post for ActionsTalk.com.  I hope that this changes the way that you approach decision making and benefits you in you career and your life.

Decision making is one of the most important skills an individual can learn.  People say that life is just a series of decisions and they’re right!  Every situation you encounter in life is going to present a different set of opportunities and your ability to decipher what the right decision is can literally make or break you.  This applies to ones personal life as well as ones career.  My method of decision making is very helpful but a little different than most peoples.  It is very common to just list the pros and cons and whichever list is longer go with that choice.  We’ll I go a step further and I apply a weight or a degree of importance to each pro and each con. Then I add the numbers up and that is my choice.  It is a very simple and logical way to help you make up your mind with big decisions.  For this example I will use the decision to move away from San Diego (awesome) and come to Chicago (pretty sweet). 

First the PROS… (Always start positive):

·         Friends  weight: (9)

·         Girlfriend (9)

·         Job opportunities (6)

·         Great social life (4)

·         New experiences (8)

·         Challenge & Out of comfort zone (4) – yes this is a positive

Total: 40

Then the CONS…

·         No more surfing (4)

·         Away from Family (7)

·         The slight (very slight) possibility that I would ever life in SD again (10)

·         Leaving SD friends (8)

·         Leaving a solid network of job opps (2)

·         Chi-towns beach vs. beaches in SD (3)

Total: 34

40 points to move to Chicago, 34 to stay in San Diego…thus, my decision to move to

Chicago.  I’ve used this method of decision making all through college and now in the “real world” and it still seems to be pretty accurate and very helpful.  Give it a try, your decision making will be more logical and you will see the changes in your life.

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Ryan Graves

Thanks very much Elena.

Ryan Graves

"the dream in action."

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ryangraves

Thanks very much Elena.

Ryan Graves

"the dream in action."

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surfboards

Hey there, I liked the way you go about your business life! just keep going like this.

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Vygantas

Well, it looks like I am going to quit my studies, thanks!

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Vygantas

Hm

I am considering to leave studies and focus on business.

Will try yours.

Thanks

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100 Terrific Mindhacks to Make the Most of Your Br

[...] Use weighted pros and cons: Assign weights and importance to different pros and cons of a situation to make your decision. [...]

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Monday Morning :: 100 Terrific Mindhacks to Make t

[...] Use weighted pros and cons: Assign weights and importance to different pros and cons of a situation to make your decision. [...]

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Mind « Imurzz’s Weblog

[...] Use weighted pros and cons: Assign weights and importance to different pros and cons of a situation to make your decision. [...]

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100 Terrific Mindhacks to Make the Most of Your Br

[...] Use weighted pros and cons: Assign weights and importance to different pros and cons of a situation to make your decision. [...]

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  • Hi. I'm Ryan Graves and this is my personal blog. I'm an entrepreneur living in San Francisco, but I'm from San Diego. My wife blogs too, and I love my family.

    I'm the VP Operations of Uber the startup changing the way people travel. Here's more about me, and more about my work.





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