Entrepreneurs make choices all the time.

Have you ever wondered how really successful six-figure entrepreneurs do it?  How do they get it all done and seemingly make really good business decisions consistently?

Making choices is part of nearly everything an entrepreneur does in business.  But if you are an entrepreneur-in-the-making, or in the start-up phase of building your business, you may get stuck in the loop of indecision and find it very difficult to make the best business decisions. If you struggle, procrastinate or labor over decisions, being an entrepreneur can be a difficult and lonely place.

Entrepreneurs make choices all the time. We constantly evaluate how to prioritize what’s most important in business on a minute by minute basis.  If choosing and deciding are critical skills with which you struggle, I have some good sound advice that can help you move forward.

Key indicators that you struggle to make decisions

• You put off decisions because you’re just not sure how you feel just yet…
• You postpone because you haven’t done your research on all the options…
• Your focus wanes and your priorities shift often…
• You avoid or postpone getting back to people who ask for your opinion…
• You find yourself down the rabbit hole in unrelated work too many times during the day.

If these habits plague you, you likely struggle with how to choose.

There are two critical components to making decisions with confidence: First whether you have control over things, and secondly – whether you choose to take action or NOT.  What you want to do as business owner is move more towards those things over which you have control and away from those things over which you have no control.

I frequently write about and discuss the concept of flow with my clients. I have been a flow student for some time, and the concept of flow has driven many of the business decisions I’ve made lead to consequential results.

If you are new to the concept of flow, it is defined by experts as: the effortless unfolding of life events. If you seek to live a life in ‘flow’, you need to learn how to control your inner experience… then it is loosely defined as what goes on in your head on a minute by minute basis as you progress through your life.

Better decisions are the result of consciously deciding to move toward flow

[Tweet “Flow comes when you consistently let go of what you cannot control and take informed action.”]

Flow is more easily attained when you practice letting go of what you cannot control and move forward with what you have control over.

Let’s face it, there are things you can control, and things you can NOT control,

And, (although sometimes it doesn’t seem so), you always have the choice to either take action or NOT take action.

The Free Choice Model™ for Decisions

Each decision you make will have consequences and each time you take action, you will create consequences.  I designed this Free Choice Model™ to help you visualize how this all works together:

• When you TAKE ACTION on things you CANNOT CONTROL, you will SPIN YOUR WHEELS and get nowhere (Top left quadrant)
• However, when you decide to TAKE NO ACTION on the things which you CANNOT CONTROL, you are LETTING GO (Bottom left quadrant)
• When you TAKE NO ACTION on the things you CAN CONTROL, you will be GIVING UP (Bottom right quadrant)
• And when you begin to TAKE ACTION on the things over which you CAN CONTROL, you begin to MOVE FORWARD – and move more toward flow.

The trick to making better business decisions is to begin to let go of that which you have no control over, and start to prioritize taking action on the things that you wish to control to move you forward. Instead of spending your time taking action on things you can’t control, stop spinning your wheels. You can decide to let go, and take no action over that which you cannot control… and it’s totally fine to decide to give up when you want to. Many people honor working hard for the sake of working hard. But standing in your power, and making choices to give up that which no longer serves you is reasonable, sane, and gives you the freedom and authority you need to make better decisions overall.

Will there be consequences? Of course! However, when you realize that those consequences no longer serve where you want to go, you will enjoy the freedom to choose more effectively. You will begin to experience more effortlessness in both your life and business… and move more toward living life in flow.

This one trick helps you make better business decisions.

The one thing that you can start to do today that may help you make better business decisions is to begin to ask yourself for every decision what do I have control over? And what is beyond my control?

How can you begin to know what you can and cannot control?

Begin to take an informed look at you business decisions – from the inside.

Your sanity assignment

Practice making better business decisions today by taking the following actions when the next business decisions arises:

1.  ASK & EXAMINE – Actually ask yourself:

• What is important to me?
• Considering everything I have available, what do I want?
• What don’t I want?

2.  CHOOSE – Determine your locus of control:

• What do I have control over?
• What parts of this decision are beyond my control?  (Remember that it’s okay to either let those things go, or give up depending on what you want…)

3.  DECIDE – Make your decision:

• YES
• NO
• Not at this time

4.  ACT – Take your next action and observe the consequences.

When you begin to see choice and business decisions with this new perspective, flow is much more attainable, choices become more conscious, and you will begin to experience both freedom and authority over your decisions. Being an entrepreneur requires you to make the best decisions you can with limited information. Understanding your focus of control in any given situation will help propel your decision-making and bolster your confidence.

What have you learned? What will you do differently? Where will this help you in your business and life today? Please comment on this post and let’s start this discussion!