Characteristics Of A Good Choice

Global health expert Timothy A Carey Ph.D. considers good choices to be the actions we take that further our lives in a positive way. This obviously means that bad choices tend to work against our lives and can lead to failure, stress, and depression. (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-control/201508/making-good-choices).

 

In our daily lives we are inundated with choices ranging from what we eat, or what we wear all the way up to major career decisions. Hidden among these many daily choices are good options and bad options making it hard to always know what to do. There are, however, some key characteristics of good choices which may help you make better decisions. 

 

They Match Your Values

 

According to Professor Jay Parsons of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, values are important in making good decisions. We all have different values and goals in life so this is why it is key to understand ourselves before making important decisions. (https://agecon.unl.edu/cornhusker-economics/2016/seven-characteristics-good-decision).

 

If a decision path matches well with your personal values and aims in life this may be a solid indicator that it is a good choice for you. As an example, if you are an empathetic person who wishes to do something fulfilling to help others, the decision to follow a career path that matches this is likely a good choice.

 

You Understand the Choice

 

A key characteristic of a good choice is one that you fully understand. When it comes to clothes and food this is simple because you know what you like, these are simple choices. When it comes to more complex and impactful choices further understanding is required. Researching the path, you think you may take will help you understand if it is a good choice for you. 

 

The Pros Outweigh the Cons

 

This is a simple but important characteristic to a good choice, it must have more positives than negatives to your life. In the simplest format imagine considering wearing Summer swimwear to go outside when it’s well below zero and snowing outside. Unless you happen to be a swimwear model and are going to be paid thousands to do this there are no pros. There are countless cons, however, not least the risk of hyperthermia.

 

As decisions become more complicated the pros vs cons list becomes longer and sometimes less definitive. A good choice though will always be clear based on the pros of the decision being more beneficial to you than the cons. 

 

You Feel the Motivation to Push Forward

 

Any choice we make requires us to have the motivation to see it through. When choosing clothes to wear or food to eat there may be a lot of options but there is always ultimately motivation to follow through. This is because we must eat and to go out in public, we generally need to wear clothes.

 

When considering a more complex choice it is key that we have the drive to pursue this choice. If it’s a career choice that we really want and we feel fully motivated then this could be a good choice. But if the choice leaves us feeling unmotivated and we feel it will fail then this may not be the best choice.

 

Flexibility

 

Choices do not have to be set in stone in order to be good ones. In fact, a characteristic of a good choice is the allowance for flexibility. 

 

For example, if you take an educational course with the plan to pursue a particular career this decision can be even better if there are multiple different careers that such a course would be suitable for. So, a choice that allows for a pivot to a plan B or even C could potentially be a very good choice.