At bakeries, I can't decide whether I want a croissant or a cupcake.
At school, I can't decide on a topic for a blog post.
And at home, I can't decide on a school to attend for the next four years.

Indecision plagues my daily existence but I've finally made the decision to end it. In an attempt to improve my dealings with daily decisions I have decided to analyze the benefits and disadvantages of indecision as well as compile some ideas about how to be more decisive.

What's so bad about indecision anyway?
Right off the top of my head, I can think of three great excuses for being indecisive.

Being indecisive gives my brain extra time to sift through the pros, cons, and in-betweens of a decision.
All that time allows me to really understand all aspects of a situation and envision several different outcomes or reasonings for an eventual decision.

Another benefit of being indecisive is that I can take into account people's opinions. Rather than immediately bolting for a chocolate cupcake I'm able to stop and think about what the person I'm with
might want from the bakery or how we could optimize the situation so that we can both get different things to share and try (chocolate cupcake for me and lemon bar for you).

Also, when a decision does come easily to me I know that it must be something important since I didn't have to take my time with it like I do with everything else.

Overall, indecision gives me the ability to be contemplative about my life and fully examine everything that happens.

Make a decision right now (to keep reading)
So all of those reasons sound pretty convincing, right? It's not as if indecisiveness is the worst character
trait, but it's also not the best. Most of the time I over-analyze things to the point where I am so
overwhelmed that I feel stuck and eventually opportunities pass me by.

So... here are some of the most helpful tips I've discovered for making decisions quickly and effectively.

Go with your gut feeling
This one seems simple enough but is easy to ignore (how many of us have changed an answer on a test
only to find our first answer was perfect?). All of your previous experiences will give you a good idea of
the outcome of your decision. Trust your natural instinct!

Imagine the outcomes
This idea comes from Steve Griggs (some CEO guy I found on the interwebs). He recommends envisioning the best and worst possible scenarios for the situation. If you can live with either outcome, say yes! If not, walk away. It's that easy. Sometimes just taking a peek
into a possible future is all you need to make a positive change for the present.

Give up on perfection
This one is the hardest for me to implement because I'm constantly striving to be the best. Unfortunately,
or maybe, fortunately, nothing is ever going to be perfect. Once we give up on that unattainable idea that
somehow nothing will ever go wrong, we're free to take risks and make mistakes without feeling bad.

So those are my tips for keeping indecision in check. I hope they help!