Do you make decisions easily? Or do you agonize over it?
The Colonel said, “There are two types of decisions: good decisions and lessons learned.”
Dad would never have been characterized as indecisive. In fact, he was a decision-maker. Now, that doesn’t mean he was rash in his decisions—quite the opposite. He always gathered all the evidence he could, did the research, weighed the options, and then made what he believed would be the best decision. Sometimes, his decisions were good, and sometimes, they were not. But no matter what, he was always willing to make the decision and accept the consequences.
When I was struggling with the decision to quit my well-paying corporate job and start my own business or to stay put for a few more years, Dad listened to my contemplations. I had weighed the pros and cons, the effect the initial loss of income would have on the family, alongside gaining back the cost of daycare and having more time at home for the kids and their school functions. I calculated how much it would cost to outfit an office with the essentials needed to run a business. I talked through all the ups and downs I anticipated would arise out of working from a solo home office, including the loss of office “socialization.” Would I be motivated to actually work at home? Or would I be distracted by household stuff like neighborhood activities, laundry, cooking, and cleaning? Finally, Dad put an end to the discussion and told me to just make a decision. “Look,” he said, “you’re either going to do it or not. If you start your own business and you are a wild success, it was a good decision. If you discover that working out of your home office is not for you and you can’t make it work, then it was a lesson learned. Then you go get a new job. This is not rocket-science, kid.”
That about said it all. I quit my job and started my own business. Turns out, it was a good decision.
Don’t be rash in your decision making, but know – even decisions that don’t work out the way you wanted them to can be chocked up to lessons learned.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.
