By Michelle L. Casto / Published on January 1th, 2008 / Family
Learning to make smart decisions will help you to avoid painful and embarassing situations in your personal and professional life. Unfortunately, many of us have to learn the hard way, or sometimes never at all, and are left wondering "how did this happen to me again?" But when we stop to think-- it often comes down to our inability to make decisions. Instead of taking an active approach to our lives, we act clueless, and end up reacting to what life throws at us. But it doesn't have to be that way! The good news is that you can learn to make smart choices which will help you to avoid unwanted jobs, people, and situations.

Life is About Learning (Sometimes the Hard Way) Life's ups and downs are often cleverly disguised as learning opportunities. But when relationships or jobs don't work out as we planned, we seldom stop to find the meaning in the "mess." On the other hand, if you learn to make use of disappointments and let-downs, you will soon begin to see that all of it-the good and the bad, were nothing more than lessons to be learned. Yes, you are a student, still learning about being single, romantic relationships, career development, financial management, and life in general. Life is tricky, you have to make it work for you and not against you. The best way to do this is to learn your lessons, and to make smart choices on the front-end. This will enable you to follow the path of least confusion, which will prevent you from making costly mistakes.

How can you take more control over your life? By using the "Get Smart!" decision-making process. Getting smart means raising your self awareness, practicing active reflection, and following your intuitive guidance, which will greatly increase your chances of selecting the right person to share your life and family with.

The Get Smart! decision-making process can be used for a variety of life decisions. Just plug in your issue into the formula and go to work:

1.Know Who You Really Are (What are your values, strengths, weaknesses? Where are you at emotionally, financially, and spiritually)

2. Know Who/What You Want to Attract (What kind of values, strengths weaknesses will they have? Where are they at emotionally, financially, spiritually?)

3.Compare How This Information Seems to Fit (Is what you have to offer a complementary match for what they have to offer? Do you seem to have a similar vision for what you want from eachother?)

4.Explore Your Options (Spend time getting to know many people or investigating career options. Do some "comparison shopping" before making a final decision.)

5.Make a Decision (Use the information gathered combined with the Get Smart! Decision-making Process, and make a decision to continue moving ahead or moving along.)

Of course, you should be evaluating this process at each step, to ensure you are making the smartest decision. Check in with yourself at each stage to ensure that you are following what your heart and mind are telling you. Remember that knowing what you really want from life up front can help you to choose wisely and ultimately bring the greatest satisfaction.

Michelle L. Casto is a personal and professional development consultant residing in Atlanta, GA. She can be reached at (770) 281-4606. Or visit www.getsmartseries.com. She is also the author of Get Smart! About Modern Romantic Relationships- Your Personal Guide to Right and Real Love
Tags: There are no tags for this article