A key part of being human is making decisions. Some are routine, for example deciding to get up in the morning and start your daily routine, while others are unique and much more complex.

Decision making oft results in positve or negative outcomes with varying level of impact (magnitude) but on the whole we seek to make good decisions, those with a high degree of positive impact.

It’s a Process

Ultimately we can act with little thought or a great deal of analysis. This is often related to how impactful the result will be. Also as noted routine decisions generally are overlooked, it’s just easiest to act routinel as usually, no harm seems to occur.

Surprisingly, because so many of our actions are autonomic, the first step to good decision making is concious realization that a decision, a fully aware decision, is in order.

Of course this can take up time and effort for what may seem to be an inconsequential item, so little value. Frequently it is the little things that can in fact have significant impact.

The Butterfly Effect

In chaos theory, the butterffly effect is thesensitive dependence on which a small change can result in large differences in a latter state.

For example a butterfly’s movement in the arid air of the gulf of Mexico creates a minor disturbance which is the catylst for what is later a powerful hurricane.

The concept is simply that a minor decision overlooked today (treated as routine) could become a missed opportunity for a major positive impact down the road.

Why take the chance? Take a moment to consider if your minor choice is as minor as you think. Good things may unfold.