How to Make Big Life Decisions

Before making a big life decision you need to have a good decision-making process. Here where the decision-making tools come to help. In this article I will show you how to use Leap Forward and Think Goals, decision-making tools to make big life decisions.

Leap Forward

Great for: big life decisions

One of the greatest tools to explore the effect of decisions on your life is the future leap. Leap ahead in time, and just think of the future. Where do you want to be in the next year, five years, or maybe ten years?

Can you imagine yourself with your partner for the next ten years, or have you reached a point where you can’t handle it anymore? Do you see yourself in this job and this office with these colleagues for the next year?

If you can imagine yourself in the same position with those time leaps, then you don’t have to decide at this time. If you can’t, start your decision-making process right now and get yourself out of your current position.

When Jeff Bezos decided to leave his full-time job and start an online bookstore, he talked about the “regret minimization framework.”[1] Amazon later turned out to be more than a 1.5 billion dollar company (Amazon) in 2021. In his speech to Princeton University baccalaureate class of 2010, he said, “I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I’m proud of that choice.”[2]

When you leap forward to make decisions, you avoid later regret because you’ve considered your future as part of the decision.

Think Goals

Great for: big life decisions

Imagine you’ve already made a big life decision. You’ve got your new job, or maybe you’ve entered into a new relationship, now all your dreams have come true. You have all the tools, and you are filled with passion for starting your new position. Write down what you want to accomplish after taking up a new job. Writing your goals acts as a roadmap hidden in your mind.

When I made the decision to quit political activism, for many reasons, I sat and wrote down, “What would I like to do?” Then I forgot all about it.

Nine months later, I searched the internet, reading every bestselling book on podcasting, listening to podcasts, and I wanted to start my own show. I did it, and I was overwhelmed with emotions and excitement. I couldn’t sleep well, as it was very tiring being the host, editor, director, and producer at the same time. All this time, I had a full-time job. I kept asking my wife, “Why am I doing this to myself? I really don’t understand.” So, I went back to my decision sheets, and I found the following:

Start a project that is informative to people. I had completely forgotten what I wrote, but I acted like I was programmed to a destiny I had written nine months before.

Surprisingly I found that I had written many other things. Reading more and continuing my several disbanded book projects or even starting a new one. And here we are, you are reading my article on how to make life-changing decisions. Imagining the complete picture after making the big decision and accomplishing your goals is a tried and successful decision-making tool.

Next time whenever you are thinking of making a big life decision, leap forward and think about goals.

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@ashoukry

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[1] Stone B. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. Transworld; 2013.

[2] 2010 Baccalaureate Remarks. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2010/05/30/2010-baccalaureate-remarks. Accessed Mrach 16, 2021.