How we make decisions is foundational to the quality of our lives.
If we have frameworks which improve our decision making to draw upon, we make better decisions. The decision we make today will then shape the terrain of our lives, and this new terrain will require new decisions. As long as we draw on accurate models for decision making, our terrain – the experience of our lives – will upgrade. If we make decisions based on poor frameworks, that are poorly designed for the decision and the terrain we’re in, we will keep degrading the quality of our lives.
Say someone has decided that astrology provides the framework for their decisions. They make decisions from astrological readings, and not based on the context in which they find themselves. They have an opportunity for a promotion and a pay rise. They’re focused on the astrological reading telling them that they’re going to meet a tall stranger. They focus on this meeting, and don’t notice, because of it, the opportunity for advancement. The opportunity fades away, but they meet a stranger. Their view that astrology is ‘working for them’ is confirmed, but they don’t get the promotion.
Where we draw our information from for our map of the world is instrumental in the quality of our decisions.
If we draw our information (data) from sources which give us a sense of security about what will happen next, and a sense of control over events, yet are inaccurate, incomplete, not based in the context we find ourselves, or are based on patterns of choice independent of context, we can be lulled into the map. Feeling we’re in control of events, or can predict them through some mystical pathway can be attractive, because it means we don’t have to think through consequences, or study patterns of behaviour within ourselves.
Read about personal agency, patterns, strategies.
Sometimes a potential student at our coaching school won’t join, because they couldn’t find a pen, or a friend questioned their decision, or because work got too busy and they were distracted. They say ‘it’s a sign’ telling them not to do it, and they need to listen to their gut.
Sometimes a potential student at our coaching school will join, and to do so they’ve had to figure out how to get in contact with us from Kenya, work out how to transfer the money, figure out how to explain their decision to family members who’ve never heard of it, and overcome any number of obstacles to find a way.
In both scenarios, becoming a coach seemed to be the goal.
For the first person, seeking answers from friends who mean well and no nothing about coaching, looking for things to be easy, and letting the day get away from them became sources of data about what to do. For the second person, the obstacles became the reason they had to do it. Both drew on maps of reality for their decisions. If the first person keeps making decisions based on everything going well and being easy, they will make more and more decisions which give them comfort, and less and less decisions that challenge them, and give them cause to grow.
If we draw our information (data) from enough sources which have a proven track record in that area, we are increasing our opportunities to achieve desired outcomes.
The key is to study maps which have proven track records. This is called modelling. Look at strategies. The key is to determine if we seek answers to make us comfortable, or answers to help us develop better decision-making skills.
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