Teen years. Taking up smoking; using drugs; quitting school; choosing “bad” friends; irresponsible sex; having a child; driving recklesslyAs you go through life, there are thousands of little forks in the road, and there are a few really big forks—those moments of reckoning, moments of truth.
—L. Iacocca
Mike was overwhelmed. He badly wanted a large-screen television. Most of his friends had one. Now it was his turn to move up. Based on his experience watching sporting events at his buddy’s apartments, Mike was sure he wanted at least a 42-inch screen.
Mike spent a Saturday afternoon going from Best Buy to Sears to Costco. He saw TVs that ranged in size from 42 inches to 65 inches. He saw flat screens, plasmas, front-projectors, and back-projectors. He looked at sets made by Sony, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, JVC, RCA, Vizio, LG, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, and Toshiba. Mike was, to put it mildly, overwhelmed. He went by the library and read what Consumer Reports had to say about the various sets. Then he went online and read reviews by users. The more he read, the more confused he became. After spending more than 20 hours over three weekends pondering his options, Mike decided to wait. “This is a major decision. I don’t want to make any mistakes. I got overwhelmed with information and choices. I’m going to take some time to think this over.”
There’s nothing inherently wrong with Mike’s decision to postpone buying a new TV. However, his dilemma provides us with an opportunity to ponder whether this is really an important decision for Mike. A lot of people seem to get confused about what decisions are truly important and deserve careful analysis and those that may seem important but on closer examination fail to pass the importance test.
What’s the importance test? The importance of a decision increases in direct proportion to its effect on your future. A decision you make today that will shape your life 20 years from now is considerably more important than one whose influence will last only a few months.
Let’s return to Mike’s concern about buying a new television. Do you think that set will be influencing his life in 15 or 20 years? Probably not. Like many electronic products, most of us replace them before ten years are up. If Mike makes a mistake and buys a TV he later regrets, the long-term implications are relatively minor. The difference in picture quality among all the sets he’s looking at is relatively minor, and the quality of Mike’s life is not likely to be adversely affected because he chose a 42-inch set rather than a 50-inch one.
What about a decision to buy a new car? Is this important? Most of us trade our cars every five or six years, so there are minimal long-term implications from a bad car choice. However, if you’re buying a car and expect it to be the last car you ever buy, then it might be an important decision for you.
So what are typical examples of important decisions? What decisions are life changing and justify a detailed and thorough assessment? Dropping out of school. Having a child. Committing to drugs. Staying with a “go nowhere” job. Note how all of these can change your life. Also note that for many people these decisions are often made on the spur of the moment with little or no thought given to their long-term repercussions.
When you’re 70 or 80 years old and look back on the key decisions that shaped your life, they’re unlikely to be related to choosing a computer, buying a car, or picking a vacation spot. However, many people spend a great deal of time worrying about and analyzing decisions such as these and fail to give the appropriate attention to those decisions that really make a difference. Some people obsess about the smallest decision. They’re convinced that every decision is important. In business, we often call this “paralysis by analysis.” The fact is you haven’t enough time or energy to try to optimize every decision. And if you don’t differentiate between critical decisions and the rest, you end up short-changing the truly critical ones.
If you don’t differentiate between critical decisions and the rest, you end up short-changing the truly critical ones.
There is no universal standard that defines for every person what is or is not an important decision. A few choices—such as quitting school early or becoming a parent—are probably life-changing for almost all of us, but each of us has to identify those decisions that are uniquely important.
Although I haven’t found any formal method to help you identify important decisions, I suggest that the importance of certain types of decisions varies with your age. Here are some examples of important decisions, organized by age. These are decisions that, if not properly considered, can lead to serious negative life outcomes: poor health, financial distress, loneliness, boredom, broken family relations, low self-esteem, and/or lack of lifetime achievements. Keep in mind that these are only suggestions and as generalizations may not be appropriate for everyone:
Teen years. Taking up smoking; using drugs; quitting school; choosing “bad” friends; irresponsible sex; having a child; driving recklessly
20s and 30s. Staying with a “go nowhere” job; failing to build a marketable skill; getting married; failing to develop a long-term financial plan (including beginning to save toward retirement)
40s and 50s. Switching careers; gaining a large amount of weight; avoiding regular physical exams; having any elective surgery; failing to develop multiple interests and hobbies
60s and up. Failing to plan for how postretirement days will be spent; failing to take prescribed drugs for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and so on
In summary, I’ve argued that all decisions are not equal. You need to define for yourself which decisions are important and which aren’t. You then need to direct a higher proportion of your time and effort to the important ones.
Direct a higher proportion of your time and effort to important decisions.
Important decisions are defined as ones that are life changing—those that have a direct effect on your long-term future.
Life-changing decisions tend to vary with age.