3 Reasons Why Making A Decision Can Be So Difficult

Decisions. Big and small, they are part of our everyday life. Everything from choosing what to eat, where to park, what to pay attention to, who you date, who you marry, what you buy; these decisions determine ones future. Yet we don’t consider this when making most of these decisions; specifically the day to day ones.

Anyhow, the decisions we tend to focus the most on are in the “life changing” category, the ones that have the most impact for us. Think about the time you’ve made a “big” decision, such as deciding on taking a promotion, who you want to marry, whether to have kids or not, whether to move to another city, these are “life changing” decisions and most people have difficulty making them.

I think it’s useful to understand why some decisions can be so hard to make. With that said, some decisions are hard to make; why?

Why decisions can be so difficult

Ultimately, what defines a hard decision isn’t so much the decision itself, but how it is perceived by the decision maker. You might feel that a decision is hard because:

  1. the stakes are high for you;
  2. two or more options weigh the same in your mind;
  3. this decision brings back unhelpful memories or fears. This is the case, for example, where a choice is reminiscent of disappointing past choices. It is also the case for the individual whose psychological complexes are triggered by certain challenging situations. For example, a decision might unconsciously reignite a past traumatic event and alter your judgment as a result.

For me, the best decisions I make are the ones that push me to grow, to be better. It’s all about improvement for me. I always pick the boldest move, with careful consideration for the ramifications of doing so. I’ve made that decisision, and it’s how I choose to live my life.

I’ve understood most people don’t think this way, and you rarely know if someone is making a rational decision. For example, an opportunity opened at my company, a woman on a team had the background and skillset to take on that position but decided not to. Why? Because the stakes are high for her. Yes, that’s what she said. Even though we would train and develop her, she didn’t want to do it. We really wanted her to take on the challenge, but she didn’t want to.

Maybe it was the right decision for her, only she really knows.

Anyway, that’s it. Anytime you’re stuck in making a “tough” decisions, understand why you feel that way and evaluate so you can make the best decision for yourself.


Bottom line: The decisions you make today determine your future; so be aware of them, and improve the quality of your decisions so you can make better ones.