Decisions are based on feelings. But there are reasons behind them. Though often they are difficult to deconstruct. How do you decide?
People start with a gut instinct or initial reaction. This kind of thinking allows you to swerve your car or bike in a split second to avoid hitting a pedestrian. It can also be used when meeting a new friend or partner.
This fast decision making is based on our natural instincts and personal experience. Sometimes it serves us very well and saves our life. It is often referred to as ‘quick thinking’. This is more of a reactionary mode with little time, if any, spent on processing new information.
Other times, we make a decision but we don’t act quickly with it. We will observe, question, theorise and consider evidence a little more. You can recognise this when speaking to someone as they take time to reflect and give the idea some consideration before replying.
In the later, people who have ‘mulled it over’ have a better understanding of themselves and why they are making the decision. If you simply react, you are not open to new information and dismiss it as wrong or unnecessary.
If you don’t reflect, you may not understand what values and priorities drive your decision making. You’ll grow more if you do.
How do you decide?