Most people don't think about their choices; instead, they agonize, ruminate...

Most people don’t think about their choices; instead, they agonize, ruminate, and worry until they are forced to pick at the last second. Below is a quick guide that you can use to make better and faster decisions.

Thinking requires internal calm. For most people, thinking happens as an internal dialogue. If the mind is not calm, that dialogue ends up becoming a shouting match between your different mental aspects and emotional drives. The loudest drive wins, even if it’s the worst part of us. Nothing good comes from making decisions like that.

Do this: Make a habit of using mindfulness meditation to clear your mind of superfluous stuff that gets in the way of clear thinking. Then, when you need to make a quick decision, you will be primed to achieve mental calm and clarity quickly.

Emotions are important. Feel your emotions; don’t ignore them and take any lessons from them that you need, but don’t let them direct your internal dialogue. Emotions are like advisors, pointing us towards opportunities and threats that need our attention.

Do this: Perform regular mental hygiene using a system to process and clear your excess emotions. Learn how you react emotionally to situations and what that reaction means to you personally, so that you can use that information to make better decisions.

Are you taking your time to decide, or are you procrastinating? How can you tell if you are wasting time on a decision? Life happens quickly, and decisive decisions are rewarded more often than not. How do you avoid wasting time?

Do this: Give yourself a decision-making budget. For example, when I am offered a big opportunity, I will set aside 1 to 3 days to not think about it and, at the end, 1 hour to internally debate the opportunity. Thus, I avoid wasting too much time thinking about it.

You already know what to do. Do your due diligence, but remember that we are often oversaturated with information yet starved for wisdom. If the problem is within your area of competence, you probably already know too much to make an easy or quick decision; don’t look for more information to muddy the waters.

Do this: Use only the top three most important or relevant points to make most decisions. If you are working outside your area of competence, then get an expert opinion from someone you trust who can demonstrate a history of being right, rather than trying to condense 20 years of professional experience into 2 hours of research.

Finally, be decisive. If I can’t say a strong and confident yes to an opportunity after a short period of contemplation, then it’s a no.