Decision Making Quiz

by Phoebe Fox

Are you shaping the events in your life, or are the events shaping you?  How can one tell which is true, given today’s complex environment where it feels as though new choices are being thrust upon us every day? 

Here is a short quiz to help you determine which side of the line you are on most of the time:  When faced with a life decision, do you most often find yourself:

(a) Considering your options looking for the best alternative that meets your needs, and then planning how to make it come about; or

(b) Waiting until events transpire to make one choice the obvious or only available option?

When a change in some area of your life is needed, do you:

(a) Research and consider possible solutions to the problem, consult persons with experience in this situation whose opinion you respect, weigh the pros and cons and then make the best informed decision you can at the time; or

(b) Hope that something will happen to make the change unnecessary?

When challenging situations arise, do you:

(a) Focus on what you can do to resolve the conflict or problem; or

(b) Spend a long time sorting through your feelings about the issue without really doing anything about it?

How many times have you felt opportunity has passed you by because you didn’t take action fast enough?

(a) That rarely, if ever, happens to me; or

(b) That has happened to me more times than I can count.

Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation wondering how things got like this?

(a) Not since I was a child; or

(b) Doesn’t this happen to everybody?

If you discover you have more (b) than (a) answers, you are probably running your life on a basis of management-by-crisis.  Who has time to plan their future when dealing with real-life problems? 

If you have been busy stamping out fires lately, perhaps it is time to take stock of just how that fire got started in the first place.  Maybe you have simply lost sight of your life goals.  As the saying goes, “When you’re up to your armpits in alligators, it is difficult to remember that the original objective was to drain the swamp.”  (I’m fairly certain the word was armpits.)

Take the time to align the life you are living with the life you want.  The steps you take in that direction today are the foundation of the life you will be living tomorrow.