Jim Camp e-book “Press On” Chapter 3 pt 5 “Unifying your life and existence”

September 18, 2012 · Posted in Camp System, Decision Making, Mission and Purpose

Unifying your life and existence

I have highlighted all these to enable you become aware of the extent, impact, and influence of your decisions. They are merely an invitation to live up to your responsibilities. They are also an invitation to improve the quality and effectiveness of your decisions and decision making.

In order not to be pulled apart by the demands of and for, effective decisions and decision making in your life, I stated that your decisions must be anchored and rooted in a valid M&P. The M&P contributes powerfully toward unifying and harmonizing your life and existence. This is why I teach and coach that a valid Mission & Purpose Statement is the foundation of all effective decisions. My take on Mission & Purpose is contrarian and contains a twist that gives it power and effectiveness. This is what I turn to, now.

Effective Vs. Ineffective decisions

An effective decision is one that is in harmony and that receives its guidance and orientation from your valid M&P. An effective decision also

Enables you achieve a particular objective which in turn moves you closer to achieving an outcome/result you desire
Helps you execute the plan you designed to achieve this objective
Focuses only on what is within your control.
Seeks to influence what you can control.
Is a re-reaction not a reaction.
Does not rely on assumptions or guesses.

An effective decision cannot be defined in terms of a result or an outcome nor is it equivalent to the right decision. In decision making is you must never aim for a 100% track record. That is impossible. Reality shows that in hindsight, we often see aspects, consequences and impacts of our decisions that we did not, at the time we made them. You are neither all-knowing nor all-powerful. We all make mistakes. If you equate effective decisions to always being right, you will be on the road to becoming a neurotic and you will actually paralyze your decision making, ending up with non-decisions rather than effective or ineffective ones. You will also deny yourself the opportunity to learn. Mistakes are a source of genuine learning for us humans.

It is also important to state that becoming an effective decision maker is not an attempt to become a perfectionist. I believe that perfectionism is abnormal. I urge you to aim for mastery instead. The objective is to improve the quality of your decisions and decision making within the limitations of our human limitlessness.

Jim Camp

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