Make the Next Good Decision

None of us makes the right decision every time. I certainly haven't.

I've made decisions I wish I'd made differently. I've wasted time. I've put things off. I've said things I probably shouldn't have said and sometimes failed to say things I should have. I've made choices that didn't lead where I hoped they would.

That's life.

What I've tried to do, however, is make a good decision when the next opportunity presents itself.

Because no matter what happened yesterday, last week, or even five minutes ago, there's usually another decision coming.

And you can make that one better.

You Don't Have to Fix Everything at Once

One of the problems we sometimes face with personal development is thinking too big.

We decide we need to get in shape, fix our finances, improve a relationship, get more organized, become more productive, or completely change some aspect of our lives.

That's a lot.

Instead, ask yourself a much simpler question:

What's the next good decision I can make?

Maybe you haven't exercised all week. You can't change that. But you can take a walk today.

Maybe you've been eating poorly. You can't uneat yesterday's meals. But you can make a better choice for your next one.

Maybe you've wasted most of the day. That doesn't mean you have to waste the rest of it.

Maybe you've neglected someone important to you. You can pick up the phone.

Maybe you've made a mistake. You can acknowledge it, learn from it, and decide what you're going to do next.

The past may influence where you are, but the next decision belongs to you.

Don't Let One Bad Decision Become Five

This is where things can really go wrong.

We make one poor decision and use it as an excuse to make another.

We miss one workout, so we stop exercising for the week. We spend money we shouldn't have, so we figure the budget is already blown. We procrastinate for an hour and decide the entire day is lost.

One bad decision doesn't have to become a string of them.

You can interrupt the pattern.

That's part of what I think of as developing your Warrior's Edge. It's not about being perfect. It's about developing the discipline, resilience, and adaptability to recognize where you are and take positive action from there.

You adjust.

You move forward.

You make the next good decision.

Three Questions to Get Yourself Moving

When you're overwhelmed, discouraged, stuck, or simply know you've gotten off track, ask yourself:

1. What can I control right now?
2. What's one good decision available to me?
3. What action can I take in the next five minutes?

Then take that action.

It doesn't have to be huge.

Send the email. Take the walk. Put away the junk food. Apologize. Make the appointment. Read the first page. Clean one corner of the room. Put ten dollars into savings. Turn off the television and work on the project for fifteen minutes.

One good decision creates an opportunity for another.

Your Next Decision Matters

I haven't always made the best decisions in my life, and I'm sure I'll make plenty of imperfect ones in the future.

But I've tried to learn from them, adjust when necessary, and make a good decision when the next opportunity comes.

That's something all of us can do.

You don't need to have everything figured out today.

You don't need to fix your entire life this week.

Just look at what's in front of you and ask:

What's the next good decision I can make?

Then make it.

A better life is rarely built with one enormous decision. It's built by making the next good decision, over and over again.

Be aware. Be prepared. Keep moving forward.