Making Perfect Decisions
Guest post by
Stephen K. De Silva
Recently a woman came in for help because she had a difficult decision to make. There were two different options she felt God had presented to her: 1) raise another child or 2) grow her consulting business. She already had one daughter and wanted another, but felt she couldn't balance these responsibilities. Both options were time-consuming, so she thought: I can’t say yes to both opportunities. Which do I choose?
This woman was scared to make the wrong decision, so she scheduled a meeting with me to see if I could help.
I told her early in the session that “What should I do?” was not the most important question. Instead, the critical points were:
“Who am I?” (What is my identity?)
“Why am I?” (What is my purpose?)
“What is my vision?” (What do I see happening in my life?)
Once she answered these questions, a clear path developed. She discovered her identity, purpose, and vision and identified something about her two ideas: they weren't competing. With some slight adjustments, she could focus on her dream of being a mom while running a business part time.
Too often in life, we make decisions from the tactical realm. This is the "What do I do?" world that so many people focus on. Tactical choices have to be made right now. They're urgent, so living from this place causes stress and anxiety.
When it comes to making decisions, the best option is to slow down and operate from your God-given purpose.
When someone comes to me and says, “Help me, Stephen! I don’t know what to do," I try to figure out their identity, purpose, and vision. Once we discover these truths, making tactical decisions is much easier.
How does this top-down approach work? Simple. If your purpose is to be a teacher, then you should say yes to options that strengthen that calling. If your purpose is to be an artist, then you should remove distractions that drain your creativity.
Making decisions from the top-down enables you to see with a bird's eye view. You know who you are, so you make decisions based on that reality.
The next time you face an important decision, answer these questions:
Who are you? (What does God say about you?)
What’s your purpose? (Why are you alive?)
What's your vision? (What do you see for yourself?)
How will you get there? (What's your strategy?)
What do you need to do? (What steps can you take today to feed into your strategy, vision, purpose, and identity?)
When you remember who you are, why you’re alive, and what your vision is, life gets a lot easier. In fact, I argue that you'll make "perfect decisions" because you'll be operating out of the identity God created for you.
If you want to know more about making perfect decisions, consider scheduling a Purpose Train session with me. I'd love to help you partner with God's vision for your life.
