From a fairly early age, I realised that the quality of the decisions I made had a huge impact on the quality of my outcomes.
I remember making some great decisions that I saw immediate benefit in. Choosing to go to hockey training instead of hanging out with my friends in a local council estate with other gang members; Choosing to spend my spare time dribbling with a hockey ball in my living room to develop my skills instead of playing on the computer; Choosing to support Arsenal instead of Tottenham 😉
However, I also remember making some terrible decisions. The interesting thing was though, was that I was always aware that the decision I was making would lead to a bad outcome… but I did it anyway.
As I look back on it with experience years later, I realise that the decisions I made were dependant on the state I was in at the time. The decision you make in a state of happiness is different to the one you make when in a state of anger. As is the decision you make in a state of hunger compared to a state of fullness; fatigue compared to a state of vigour, and so on.
So what is the answer? If I know my decision making is impacted so heavily by the state I’m in at the time, what can I do about it?
I made a conscious decision to make sure I was in a clear state of mind whenever I had to make an important decision – something I knew would impact on what it was I wanted to achieve. With hockey, I knew that my goal was to play for Great Britain at the Olympic Games. Every decision I made was either going to take me towards that goal or away from it. So, when it came to making a decision about something I knew would impact on my hockey, I made sure I kept that in mind, thought about what was the right thing to do, and acted.
Did I manage to do it every time? No. But I know that I made a lot more better decisions due to this than I would have otherwise.
What state do you personally need to be in to make your best decisions and achieve what you want to achieve?
Darren Cheesman 