How to Make Decisions

Every single day of our life we are faced with the question on how to make decisions. When we wake up first thing in the morning we had to decide whether to get out of bed or not. We decide what we’re going to eat for breakfast and whether or not to read the paper or watch the news. We decide if we’re going to say our prayers, read something positive, check on how our kids are doing with their homework, etc.

We literally make hundreds if not thousands of decisions every single day. A good resource for decision making is located here. Most of those decisions are not life-changing but rather just simple choices. Depending on what type of work you do though, many very important and potentially life-changing decisions can be made every single day. A doctor working in an emergency room is probably the simplest example. The firemen or policemen on the job also deal with difficult issues every single day.

But the issue I want to talk about here are the detailed and important life-changing decisions faced by the average person. It would include things like deciding what type of education to get, who to marry, going into business, buying a home, etc. These type of decisions occupy much of our thinking and there are numerous small decisions that lead to the major ones. Although each of them are major decisions, rarely are they a singular decision with no other factors involved.

A friend of mine came to me the other day asking me for my opinion regarding a major decision that he faced. He was a pilot for a major airline but due to the downturn in the economy, has not been flying for the last two years. He had other business ventures to occupy his time and provide him an income but in the last six months had just had his first baby girl with his wife. Now the airlines want to have him back but it would mean being gone for three months and then back for one month, thus rarely seeing his baby and wife.

Obviously this is a major decision. He had been married before and it is possible that his flying schedule was the reason for the divorce, but it’s a big deal to turn down an $80,000 a year job especially in this economy.

What would you do in this case? What advice would you give him on how to make decisions? What major decision like this have you faced and how did it work out?

Everyone of us has major decisions, sometimes several times in our lifetime. I have found the formula for reaching the correct decision in times like these. In one sense it’s almost totally foolproof, but in another it isn’t. Let me try to explain.

A basic understanding on How To Make Decisions

You and I are children of God, brothers and sisters descended from heavenly parents. One of the reasons for coming to this Earth was to gain this physical body and to learn numerous personal experiences. It doesn’t matter how many books you read about a subject, a vacation, a painful experience, skydiving, going bankrupt, etc. it never compares to the real thing. In our Pre-Earth life we learned about all kinds of things would happen to us, our mortal life is where we learn about them firsthand from personal experience.

This life required that we live outside the immediate presence of our Heavenly Father. It’s a lot easier to keep the commandments and believe in things in His presence that away from him. This life is a time to grow and therefore a veil of forgetfulness was placed over our minds so that we would not remember our Pre-Mortal life.

In order for us to learn and develop and grow in faith, God speaks to us through prophets today and has throughout history as long as the people were willing to receive it. The records of those revelations that have been given to prophets in the past have come down to us in two major books: the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith also received many revelations which are compiled in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. It becomes our duty to study these writings because within them are the answers to the problems we face.

When we put forth the effort and energy to study God’s Word contained in these writings, we may liken them unto ourselves because they all faced similar problems. Many people like to think that in our ultra-enlightened age of technology, those experiences of our ancestors had no bearing upon us, but that would be false. The visions seen by many of those prophets are far more important and dramatic than anything produced by the marvelous movie-making qualities and technologies of today.

For over 25 years I have read my scriptures every single day and only missing about 40 days. I cannot tell you how many times I have had interesting, uplifting, edifying and words of warning experiences by reading, pondering and praying about the stories I’ve read. Whenever my mind and heart are in the right place, when I am desirous to know and humble in my attitude and willing to receive that which God would want to tell me, I have been blessed with the answers I seek.

Sadly, I wish I was stronger than I portray for many times I have not had a humble heart and ignored the revelations that were given causing me great distress. Almost every single major catastrophe that I faced in the last 25 years could have been avoided if I had sought His will in a proper manner. Yet the times that I have received these things, I have been greatly blessed.

I will only give you one incident of many to share with you. In 1990 my father’s sign business was falling apart all around him. He had made mistake and thought the IRS would wait: they didn’t. 65 people were put out of work and his business was gone. About six months before its final destruction I was reading and pondering a story in the Book of Mormon about the broken bow incident of Nephi and his family (pages 33-36). Without his bow they were unable to obtain the food necessary to feed each other. They all complained, even the great prophet Lehi (Nephi’s father) about their situation.

Nephi did not complain but went and made a bow and some arrows and went to his father asking for guidance from the Lord as to where he may go to obtain the food they need. His father received a revelation and they were spared.

Here I was in a fairly similar situation: the ability to provide for my new family and my father’s family was in great jeopardy (although surely not as bad as Nephi’s time). But as I read those words and likened them onto myself, I felt impressed that I needed to be like Nephi and do my part to find a solution. I needed to stop complaining about the situation and get up and do something about it.

An idea came to me, almost like a vision of the future regarding “digital printing.” I had it in my mind that somewhere out there were machines that could imprint color across a wide swath and that these could be mounted onto a card, metal or even vehicles. This idea so entrenched my mind that I became totally focused on finding this equipment. I knew it would radically change and alter the sign business that I grew up in.

While these types of printers a virtually everywhere nowadays with thousands of options, they were nowhere to be found in 1990-1992.

For two years I searched in every way that was possible: I made phone calls, read magazines, attended seminars and conferences, wrote letters, etc. My father reopened his sign company in a new location and I went with him, continuing my research while working for him. Eventually I found a system, one that seemed to be close to the desired option I envisioned.

This was a very expensive set of equipment and it was far more expensive than three times the value of my home. This was also a very frightening time for me and my family by taking on this much debt, but through another miraculous experience I was assured that this was the right decision. I became the third person in the world with this type of technology and a year later I was the second person in the Western Hemisphere with another much bigger type of printing system. My father folded his sign company and came and worked for me.

Within just a few short years I had 33 employees and did work for major corporations all over the United States including Disney, Universal Studios, Apple Computer, IBM, General Motors, Macy’s, The Gap, Calvin Klein, Elton John, and many more.

I attribute all of this to receiving inspiration through reading a story contained in the Book of Mormon.

One of the most important things to do when deciding how to make decisions is to refer to the Scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon

The sad part of the story is that several years later when I was making all kinds of money and doing very well, I did not have a humble heart in making decisions and I thought I knew what was best. I continued to pile on more and more debt and in the end I lost it all because I did not follow the same formula that got me there in the first place.

I wish that was the only incident in my life with which I had made the wrong decision, but it wasn’t. I have found that whenever I do not follow this formula by reading and pondering and praying about what I read in the scriptures, likening them onto myself and coming to a decision by the inspiration I feel, I am left to my own intelligence and sometimes it doesn’t amount to very much.

I have learned the hard way that making major decisions requires a humble heart and a desire to know God’s will regarding the decision. I have found that when I do not feel inspiration one way or the other, many times I believed it was something I just needed to decide on, but I’ve come to understand that I hadn’t done enough research yet and if I made a decision without knowing the right path, I was left to my own devices for the consequences that eventually would follow.

Here is how it works:

1. You decide that there is a major decision in your life. You research your options and write down a possible path.
2. Read the Scriptures (especially the Book of Mormon) and Ponder over the stories you read. Understand that these stories were written for YOU and may be a way to guide you.
3. Liken them unto yourself and your situation-they were no different than you.
4. Feel the inspiration from God that there is something you can learn from this example. Make sure that your heart is right and you are willing to do the right thing.
5. Decide what it is that you need to do to and the direction you need to go. Make a decision-no waffling.
6. Pray that the decision is right with humility and desire. You will usually feel it as a sensation in your heart. Then,
7. Move mountains to reach that decision and make it come true.

Now this formula only works for major decisions and is not to be used lightly. Deciding whether or not to buy a car, may or may not fit this formula. Deciding which kind of car to buy probably won’t be answered in this manner.

We have to work at making the decisions that are before us. We have to research and study and decide and then seek God’s verification of that decision. It isn’t enough to just kneel down and pray for an answer, we have to do the work before we are able to get the answer. The more effort and work you put into making the decision come true, the mire God will help you.

Now another side note must be mentioned here-if you are not right with God you may not ever get the answer you’re seeking. You need to do what you can to get in a position to be ready when the inspiration comes. A mind and body filled with sin, guilt, alcohol, drugs, filthy language and immoral acts will never hear the whisperings of the spirit regarding the answer. I’m not saying you have to be perfect because no one ever is (and neither am I), but you’ve got to be on the right path. In fact, the desire to be on the right path may be enough to receive the inspiration requested.

I hope that this will help you in coming to a conclusion regarding the decisions you face. When the apostle Paul once said, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12-13) he knew what he was talking about. Major decisions are not to be taken lightly and they may affect your eternal salvation.

Please share with me stories that you have had regarding God’s help in helping you reach a decision. Please fill out the comment section below and I promise that I will answer it (as long as it’s respectful). I would love to hear your comments regarding this issue on how to make decisions.