I favour responding to change over following a plan, so my decision-making process is lightweight, almost instinctual. I generally make decisions that apply only to the next 30-60 days of my life, when possible, because I rarely have enough information to act beyond that. There are obvious exceptions, like buying a house, getting married, buying a car, etc., but I try to keep my decisions as small as possible.
But it really depends on the type of decision being made.
When buying clothes or other material items, for example, I'll use the Pavlina-esque "Is this me?" When ordering food from a menu I've never seen before, I literally force myself to pick something in under a minute.
With bigger decisions that have "dramatic consequences" like firing a client, ending a relationship, or moving to another city, I usually act from the heart, rather than deeply thought-out guesswork about The One True Answer. I'll often go through a prolonged period (a few weeks, a few months, sometimes longer) where I'm unhappy in the current situation and have been thinking about the alternatives, and at some point I'll just reach a breaking point and take the plunge.
But even the decision to start my current company was made in probably 30 minutes at most. I wrote no business plan. I don't plan features more than a few weeks in advance. I just jumped into taking action, realizing that I always have the power of the present moment to change course.
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