Are you happy with the occupation you selected, or do you wish you had done things differently? What important decisions have you made recently?

How do you make important decisions? Do you plan your decisions, balancing both intellect and intuition? Do you agonize? Do you tend to put things off? Or, are you hasty and impulsive?

Can you detect some regularity in your decision-making style? To better understand your decision–making behavior, think of important life decisions you’ve made like education, marriage, divorce, residential moves or career shifts. Then, in each statement below, choose the one that best describes how you usually make big decisions.

1. Planning:

A.    I’m thoughtful, organized and plan.

B.    I can’t make up my mind. Frequently, I’ll put things off.

C.    I do what feels right, and make up my mind quickly.

2. Evaluating alternatives:

A. I think of a number of options, but stop after a reasonable search.

B. I keep going over possibilities.

C. I make a quick, overall survey of possibilities, hoping something will hit me.

3. Deciding among alternatives:

A. I take intellect and feelings into account.

B. I use my intellect or rational mind.

C. I listen to my feelings.

4. Assessing the consequences:

A. I think of both the good and bad outcomes.

B. I focus on the bad things.

C. I expect things to work out.

5. Describing my emotions:

A. I’m anxious and excited.

B. I’m anxious.

C. I’m excited.

6. Examining the time-frame:

A. I take a fairly long time.

B. I take a very long time.

C. I take little time.

7. Deliberating:

A.    I think it out carefully, then decide with few regrets.

B. I agonize over the alternatives.

C. I make up my mind quickly and stick to it.

8. Ambivalence:  

A. I rally behind it after checking it out.

B. I experience serious doubts and may change my mind.

C.     I don’t think about it after launching into action.

9. Reviewing:

A.  I think about what I’ve learned from it.

B.  I worry and regret not doing something.

C.  I put it out of my mind.

Scoring and Interpretation: Add your A, B and C responses.

6 or more A responses: You tend to plan your decisions taking both intuition and intellect into account. You make important decisions fairly slowly and are more concerned with reasonably good outcomes than with fear of failure or the need to be perfect. You usually plan and review without worrying a lot.

6 or more B responses: You tend to be anxious, slow and bide your time. You may make big decisions with great effort, hesitancy and apprehension. You may take considerable time thinking about the decision or ask others for feedback. You tend to put things off.

6 or more C responses: You’re probably an intuitive, casual, impulsive risk taker. You tend to make decisions quickly, with few mixed feelings. You may feel optimistic and spend little time in introspection. Once you’ve made the decision, you put it out of your mind.

Few people are entirely A, B or C risk takers. Because most people are mixed risk takers, there are a number of risk–taking styles, ranging from cautious to impetuous. The person who is slow to take a career risk may be more impetuous in another area of his life like when buying a home or playing the horses.

A person who operates largely on hunch may, through exploration and self–discipline, be able to identify the consequences before acting. Some inconsistencies are both inevitable and healthy.

There is no such thing as a wrong decision if you do it for the right reason. You can learn to make more important decisions with better results.