Bottom Lines of Making a Decision

March 8, 2009

While facing a trade-off, when i have to choose from A or B to do during a fixed period of time, the bottom line is to make sure that i have the largest control of my own time.

For example, i have a night at hand, i can choose whether to attend a lecture that might or might not be helpful to my further study, or to study in the dorm on my own. In making the choice, my first concern will be to ensure my largest as possible reign of my own time. If i went to the lecture and find it unworthy, i would still have to stay there, thus my time is "kidnapped". This will not happen to the other choice.

Along the way, no one can tell whether a choice is good or bad until I reached the end. The benefit and faults are in a dynamic process, which appear in turn and replace the latest outcome. In a word, i cannot see it through to the end. In this situation, i will make the choice which put me in the proactive position.

For example, yesterday morning, my roommates asked me to have lunch with them but i refused. Not a very thorough refusal though, because they made a little more attempt and i did not successfully wrap the conversation up. So the rest of the morning i was in the dilemma of whether to buy myself lunch or go back without. At last i went to the cafeteria and bought the lunch. When i go back to the room and told them so, they blamed me a little bit. I felt a little uneasy but did not regret. At least this will be the end of the problem. As long as i have my lunch secured, the rest did not concern me. Then they began the lunch and the five of them finished all the rice, leaving none for the two who was still purchasing food outside. If i had not bought the lunch, i would have to surrender my freedom of choice and obey whatever they will even if that means stupid leadership. That was a wise choice and it was wise for a reason.