One of the most fundamental things any of us ever does is make decisions. We make thousands of them every day of our lives. Most of them are made without any conscious thought even though all of them have consequences, good, bad, or neutral.
But the ones that really count require some thought. I think most of us wonder at times “what was I possibly thinking when I made that decision?” We second guess ourselves or count ourselves bright depending on what subsequently transpires.
Terrified of making the wrong decision, sometimes we freeze and do not make a decision at all. Sooner or later we come to understand that not deciding is a decision.
I recently read a remarkably good book by Dr. Ben Carson.
Yes, that Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon who ran for the GOP nomination for the Presidency in 2016, titled “Take The Risk.”
It has nothing to do with politics.
The four part formula for making decisions found in this book is one of the most useful things I have come across lately. It isn’t even the main theme of the book.
Each of us makes decisions this way intuitively when we try to make rational, instead of emotional, decisions in our lives. From whether to buy a house, choose a school, or decide whom to vote for, if we consider these things before we decide, we will probably make better decisions.
Perhaps we will have better lives or even a better country. After all, who will make our decisions, ourselves or the government, is and always has been, the main issue of contention.
The four considerations are simple. The decisions may still be difficult, but probably less so. Certainly they will be made with more confidence. I hope you find them useful going forward.
Dr. Carson came up with these four questions as his formula and calls it the B/W A. The BEST/WORST Analysis. (page 105 of the book)
What is the best thing that can happen if I do this?
What is the worst thing that can happen if I do this?
What is the best thing that can happen if don’t do it?
What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t do it?
I must confess to worrying about whether I should even write this piece. As you can see, I had a decision to make about doing so. Here is what I came up with:
What is the best thing that can happen if I write about this?
The best thing that can happen is that someone reads this, realizes they haven’t been making important decisions this way, and decides to try it in the future. If it turns out to be helpful and they make better decisions, perhaps those people will then decide to incorporate this formula into what they teach their children or others who they mentor.
What is the worst thing that can happen if I write about this?
The worst thing that can happen is that you find this boring, or worse still, insulting. Anytime you write about fundamental things and your readers are as intelligent as my readers are, you risk insulting them by seeming to talk down to them.
What is the best thing that can happen if I don’t write it?
The best thing that can happen is that I won’t have to worry about the worst things as listed just above.
What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t write about it?
The worst thing that can happen is that I miss a chance to suggest trying this methodical formula and sharing it with loved ones and children who are currently making important decisions in emotional or disorganized ways.
So, there is my first attempt at being this organized in deciding something. As you can plainly see, it was a rather clear cut decision to write this. Perhaps I could have thought of better “bests” and better “worsts” but I’m new at this.
You probably already make your decisions like this without thinking about it in such a linear way. So if I insulted you by writing about it, I apologize. I hope you will employ this method for deciding if you want to continue reading or recommending my letter in the future.
Maybe the next time someone asks your advice about a decision they have to make you will consider helping them by advising them to think about it using this approach. Human nature has it that they are usually looking for affirmation of a decision they have already made anyway.
With that said, I hope you share the hell out of this post. I already decided to stick my neck out a little, so it might as well be stuck out a lot.
Thanks for sharing Grant! I have believed that Dr. Carson was a wise, pragmatic man. This just shows that wisdom need not be complicated.
Very welcome Joe. Thanks for reading. I highly recommend reading the book. It has much to offer and a good look at Dr. Carson's life and background story as well.