Parenting Tips-Decision Making Skills
It is important to teach children the skills they will need as adults. One of the skills that many adults are lacking in is the area of decision making. Why are decision making skills such a difficult thing for so many people?
Fear
Fear of the consequences of the decision. Fear of making the wrong decision. Fear that the outcome will be negative. It can also be difficult because the skill was never developed.
Life is filled with decisions. Some decisions are small like what to eat for breakfast and what to wear. But some decisions are life-altering such as what job offer to accept and what college to attend.
We all know that we are called upon to make decisions throughout our lives. The average adult makes 35,000 conscious decisions every day. This is why decision making skills are so important to living a healthy, fulfilling life.
It is possible to learn decision making skills after reaching adulthood but if decision making skills are fully embraced throughout childhood even better.
How to Teach Decision Making Skills
Teaching decision making skills starts when a child is young. Many parents make all of the decisions for a child. The younger they are the more they need us. But this changes as the child grows and it is important to look for opportunities to teach this important skill.
Offer choices and allow the child to choose. Make sure that the options you present are ones you can live with. An example of this would be to give the little girl a choice of 2 or 3 outfits. Allow her the freedom to choose what she wears. This lets her practice decision making skills. As the child grows, the decisions become more complex and life altering but if the child has never developed any decision making skills before this the consequences could be unfavorable.
Another thing to consider is if a teenager is allowed to make a decision, even bad ones, you have the opportunity to discuss it and help them learn from the good and the bad decisions while you still have influence in their life. Allow your children to practice the decision making process and they will be equipped to be successful adults.
The Decision Making Process
- List out the choices-Write out the different choices for a particular decision that has to be made.
- Pros and cons-Brainstorm the pros and cons of each choice and list them out in writing.
- Who will this decision affect-Every decision we make has in impact not only on ourselves but also other people around us. It is important to take that into consideration.
- Possible consequences-Each decision will have consequences. Some can be seen in advance and it is important to take them into consideration.
- Pray and ask for wisdom-Once you have done all of the above it is important to take this decision before the Lord for wisdom. The bigger the decision the more important this is.
- Speed-Don’t be too hasty but neither be too slow to make a decision. Many have missed out on opportunities because they were too slow to make a decision. Be certain you are timely in your decisions.
To launch successful adults it is important to teach the decision making process as well as decision making skills so they are equipped to tackle the vast amount of decisions they will be called upon to make. Start teaching decision making skills when they are young and gradually give them more opportunity to practice this vital skill.
