Making wise career choices

Alternatives and options abound in our lives; and while some necessitate minimal contemplation, others call for meticulous consideration. As far as your career is concerned, it is possible that you have exercised tricky options and the likelihood of encountering several more in the future cannot be discounted.  

Every decision-making process has inherent reciprocity. You cannot achieve or obtain anything without foregoing something. A wise career choice entails reflecting on possible disadvantages vis-à-vis prospective benefits. It calls for prognosticating and presupposing things; occasionally you may have to take plunges on the basis of trust or confidence alone. There is no choice that could be deemed as hundred per cent correct or implicit. All choices are convoluted affairs and are viewed by different people from different perspectives.

In all your personal and daily endeavours, disenchantment cannot be totally discounted. The best of decisions can boomerang. Therefore, a choice is at best a speculation made in anticipation of a positive outcome. So, what do you do? You need to advance forward from your current state with suitable deliberation and thoughtfulness. The presumption that you make or the estimate that you arrive at has to be the best possible. Here are some issues that you must always remember while making decisions:

·   Your choices speak of your principles:  The choices that you exercise have a bearing on your life. They have to be in consonance with your core principles; and hence whittle the very veracity of your persona and aspirations. In case you are not pleased with the choices that you made earlier, you must analyze your principles and standards; and also reflect on what prompted you to take a decision that you are repenting now. You will realize that somewhere there was a divide between your values and the decision that you made.    

·   Do not hasten things:  Your decision-making abilities are impacted unhelpfully by angst and pressure. You should not rush through a decision without proper valuation. Time will always be at premium nevertheless, you should not impose any cut-off dates or timings on yourself. Remember that you should never deviate from attention to detail.

·   Avoid restrictive thinking: To resolve a problem, there will be a plethora of choices that you can make. If you get ensnared in restrictive thinking, the real chances will neither be perceived nor noticed. Let there be no false or feigned constraints and restraints influencing you. When encountering any such predicament, it is always best to focus on the rather unsure centre that will invariably be a storehouse of opportunities. 

·   Focus on building confidence:  You should place great reliance on others and yourself. Assume that nothing will go wrong, even if the emerging situation is not what you had envisioned. Never forget that change is a constant development and that you are always equipped to deal with it. The choices that you make have ramifications on your very realism; therefore, you will never be devoid of a chance to make a choice that will bring about a new validity for you.

·  Your sentiments sway your choices:  You must acknowledge that your sentiments play a big role in the entire gamut of your decision-making. You cannot afford to hold them back in totality. They sway your conduct and actions; and hence, you must try to see their hidden meanings. In fact, both your sensitivities and brainpower have to prompt you to arrive at the best way out. 

·   Not exercising a choice is also a decision: Nothing can be expected to move in your favour without a decision. If you do not make a choice, you are relinquishing your authority – that itself is a choice. The foregoing notwithstanding, sometimes not making a choice, implying letting a circumstance unfold itself on its own, is desirable too. Depending upon the state of affairs, the decision to not make a choice can also be justified.    

A choice that is premeditated can never turn out to be wide of the mark. Pointing fingers at yourself when things do not turn out in your favour could well be enticing, but will not lead you anywhere.  Since living a life of remorse is no life, you should learn from your experience on a continual basis and keep marching ahead.