“Don’t entrust your future on others’ hands. Rather make decisions by yourself with the help of God’s guidance. Hold your beliefs so tight and never let go of them!”–Hark Herald Sarmient

This week, we continue to explore the concept of growing through a storm. Last week, we discussed the importance of developing and refining a personal philosophy. Today, let’s look at how our personal philosophy impacts our decision making process. Do you understand that success and failure are attained the same way? Failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day. Success is a few simple disciplines practiced every day. Success nor failure happen overnight.  If we have a concrete well thought out philosophy, then it makes it easier to make sound decisions. It reduces our tendency to vacillate between different decisions. It strengthens our resolve. If we base decisions on core values, then we know how we will respond to most situations beforehand and stick to our resolve.

Here are some ways to use our personal philosophy to guide our decisions:

*Set goals and priorities.

*Use when this happens, always do this…For instance, if my child is sick, I will always stay home.

*Do this before this…For instance, no matter what, I consult my faith leader, mentor, and/or professional advisors before I change jobs, positions, relationships etc.

*Use time guidelines. For instance, I wait 3 days before signing major contracts etc.