It’s a new year, it’s time to make good business decisions.
As entrepreneurs, we live and die by our decision-making skills. Every decision has a consequence, good or bad. However, not making a decision is always bad.
“Success is the result of taking action, failure is the result of inaction!”
Why?
Because if you don’t make a decision “take action” you won’t get anywhere. Period!
A common fear that I have faced and many successful entrepreneurs also face, is the fear of making the wrong decision. A fear that you must overcome if you want to achieve your goals and realize your dreams.
Today we’re going to talk about how you can make “good enough” decisions and start making real progress on your goals for this year.
Ready to dive in?
Rule #1: There is no such thing as perfect.
Ever since we were kids we have been conditioned not to make mistakes. When we were young we tried everything and we learned hands-on what and what not to do. When we made mistakes we were punished for it. This is good in most circumstances, but as adults, this is the conditioning we must “partially” unlearn.
Why partially?
There are things we KNOW we shouldn’t do. Steal, cheat, lie, etc.
However, as entrepreneurs, we can only learn by doing one thing.
Making mistakes.
This pre-conditioning has taught us to hesitate and overthink almost every decision we need to make out of the fear of doing something wrong.
So, how do we overcome this fear and push forward?
We must learn to forget the word “perfect” and instead orient our mind on “good enough”. Now, this doesn’t mean making decisions recklessly. This simply means, take the information that you have, analyze it, then make a conscious decision to act. Not perfectly, but good enough!
Now on to the steps on how to make these good enough decisions.
What decisions have been holding you back?
Think about any new business ventures that you are on the fence of starting. Or if you already have an established business, think about the decisions that might move your business forward that you are hesitating to act on.
I want you to write them all down. ALL OF THEM!
Maybe you want to launch a new business based on a hobby of yours. Or perhaps you want to launch a new product or marketing strategy that will help grow your existing business.
Whatever it is that you have been thinking about way too long, write it down.
How long have you been waiting?
Dig deep and think about how long you have been procrastinating on making these decisions. Be real about this. How long has this decision or lack thereof has been bothering you? Don’t lie to yourself.
All this time is wasted in inaction! Startling right!
Now imagine if you continue to worry about these decisions for one week, two weeks, three months, even three years! So much wasted time doing nothing!
What’s the worst that could happen?
Now that you have a list of decisions that you HAVE NOT made and the time that you’ve wasted not making them, imagine what the worst that could happen if you made a decision right now.
If you start a new business, will you go broke? Would you miss out on other opportunities? Will you lose all of your money? Heck, will it kill you?
If any of these “fears” are factual, then you have your answer. However, I doubt that any of the above outcomes are real probable outcomes that you can’t plan around.
Determine the worst-case scenario of your decision and write that down as well.
Good enough, not perfect!
Now that you have a list of worst-case scenarios, I want to tell you that almost all of those scenarios and the risks associated with them can be mitigated.
If you start a new business, you will not go broke if you plan ahead.
If you launch a new marketing strategy, your business will not disappear overnight!
Make Good Business Decisions
When it comes to making “good enough” decisions, look at the facts. The real facts, not the ones made up in your head. Use these facts to determine which decision has the best probable outcome. Look at ways you can reduce the perceived risk associated with that decision. Once you have locked in on the decision, take action!
If you make a mistake, guess what! You can still execute the other decision. Now you are wiser and more experienced. Rinse and repeat.
Again, don’t aim for absolute perfection. Evaluate and take action on “good enough”. Now you can move forward!
If you don’t make a decision, you go nowhere. Fast.
If you don’t take action, you cannot achieve success.
Remember in a previous post: You must fail in order to learn and move forward. This is a fact!
What good business decisions can you make right now that will help you move towards your goals?
Drop a comment below!
Hi there, constantly i used to check blog posts here in the early hours in the break of day, since i enjoy to
gain knowledge of more and more.
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Well written!
Why visitors still make use of to read news papers when in this technological world
everything is presented on net?