How to make smart decisions

No matter where you are in your life right now, I bet that you are
constantly faced with more decisions than any of your ancestors.
The great thing about the modern world is the shear amount of
choices we face, but this can also be a curse. Having to choose
between a large range options doesn't make us happier. In fact,
research shows that with most things, just having a small range of
options is often enough to keep us happy, and after that we rapidly
become dissatisfied.

Why?

The answer is that we start to worry that we didn't choice the best
option. In other words: we regret.

As an example, think of how hard these days people find it to
remain in a long term marriage. People have more freedom and
options these days about who they date. In fact, the other day I
read an article about how long-distance dating is becoming more
popular. Apparently, with the rise of the Internet and cheap
flights, more people than ever end up having romantic relationships
with people in different countries. In the past this was quite
rare, today it's common.

At the back of many people's minds they think that there are,
potentially, many tens of millions of people out there who they
could date and have a successful relationship with. And, do you
know what? They are probably right! Its no wonder that many people
find it hard to commit to one person for the rest of their life
when there seem to be so many choices!

Anyway, there are all sorts of reasons why we find our range of
choices hard to deal with these days. Here are my top three tips
for coping with this:

1 Cut down on your own range of options
Let go of perfectionism, and learn to accept options which are good
enough. This doesn't mean accepting something which makes you
unhappy, but, rather, learn to stop thinking the grass is always
greener on the other side.

2 Get in the habit of being decisive
Learn to make decisions quickly for things which aren't
life-changing. For example, if I'm eating out, I always make a
point of choosing something from the menu within 60 seconds. 99% of
the time, procrastinating won't change the decision you would have
made anyway!

3 When it's simple, use your head, when its complex, use your gut
If there are a small number of factors you need to take into
account to make your decision, then think it through by listing the
pros and cons of each option. However, if there are many factors
you need to weigh up, trust your first gut instinct. The reason is
because your gut instinct is formed from your subconscious mind,
which is able to process far more bits of info at once than your
more logical conscious mind.