Making Decisions: What, Why, and How
It's interesting to analyze how you make decisions in your life. Not only the what, but the why and the how.
What job are you currently in? Why are you in that job? How did you make the decision to get that job and not another?
What do you do on Friday nights, or Saturday mornings? Why do you do those things? How did you make the decision to do those things, rather than the countless other things you could do? 🤔
"How" you make a decision can be a lot of things: it can be a conversation, or a pros-and-cons list, or a deep analysis. It can be thinking, and journaling, and meditating. It can be a coin flip, if you want to leave a choice up to chance. Or, it can be a 3-step decision-making process that walks you through several different angles on the decision. 📝
I made a decision to devote my time and energy to ending factory farming, to help reduce as much suffering as possible and promote well-being for all (whether human or not). Connect For Animals began because I saw a big gap in the movement, and an opportunity to fill it. These things are very powerful "why"s that helped me make decisions about where to invest my time and energy. 📝
As for how I made those decisions... It's a bit messier. There was some analysis on sheets of paper; lots of research; many years spent doing grassroots activism and working at organizations; long conversations; attending conferences to meet activists; asking for phone calls; saying "yes" to building relationships; doing financial and impact calculations in spreadsheets; and so on. 📚
But it was all of those "how"s that actually got me to where I am right now. The "why" gave me motivation; but the "how" was the method of action. So it's important to analyze that method. 🚀
What decisions do you need to make in the next week, month, or year? How are you going to make those decisions? 🧠
Maybe just chew on it. And when you sit down to make a decision, see if you can figure out how you're making it—and whether you want that "how" to change. ✨
