Have you felt powerless around the need to make certain decisions? Has the fear of change or transition created concern or an adverse effect on your life? If so, you are not alone. Everyday millions of people experience various forms of anxiety or fear while attempting to make the simplest forms of decision. Most of them, just like you, may not know that effective and functional decision making is a learned behavioral skill.

If you find yourself identifying with these feelings, or simply wish to sharpen, your decision-making skills, it may be time to ask yourself this simple question. How and why do I react to change in the way I do?

As we attempt to comprehend our unique relationship with change, we automatically start to develop a powerful decision making choice. We begin to instinctually choose decisions that create function and growth when we start to become conscience of their importance. At that point we can start to create a freedom from the fear of change if we choose.

Our ability to understand the core issues (beliefs) behind our fear of change is the key. The optimum goal of decision making is to operate out of functional intent, rather than being driven by imagined fears, beliefs or consequences. If we are successful with our decision-making process, we will be able to focus our attention on our intention. We create a desired outcome by using our ability to choose functional decisions that move us towards our intended goals, rather than no-target type decisions made from the fear of a consequence.

Like it or not, effective decision-making skills are neither intuitive nor inherited. Good or bad, our childhood environment, with all its' ideologies and beliefs, probably contributed more to this learned behavioral pattern than any MBA or Ph.D. we have acquired. The good news is that anyone, at any age can always enhance and improve this most important behavioral skill.

Is success really just the luck of the draw? I don't think so. It's what we do with our hand when it's dealt to us, that makes the difference. Successful people fearlessly embrace change moment to moment. They will tell you the catalyst for their success is how effective and consistent they are in dealing with transition and change the moment it is dealt to them. That's what they mean when they say, timing is everything. ?Copyright 1997 E.K.Bernshaw All Rights Reserved

Author's Bio: 

Eve Bernshaw, author of
TheTransitionProcess™ is well known for her work in teaching effective
decision-making to individuals and organizations . As a business development consultant
for over 25 years, she advises entrepreneurs on venture development projects. She
maintains a private practice, training & consulting firm in San Deigo,
CA and can be reached at 619-224-4491& www.transitionscounseling.com.