Confident Decision-Making
Making confident decisions knowing you are doing the right things for the right reasons. This happens best when we understand the values that drive our decisions. A major part of building confidence is knowing what is essential to you. What are the values you hold dear?
We were handed our first values by our parents and the other important adults in our lives when we were children. As we matured, we studied the values of our parents, our people, our nation, and our world, we made decisions about what kind of person we want to be. Examining and choosing our own values is a part of the solid core that confident people have.
Aspirational Values VS Behavioral Values
You'll hear people say, “Do as I say, not as I do.” An appropriate response to that is, “What you do speaks so loud, I can't hear what you say.” Aspirational values are the values we say we hold to. Behavioral values are the ones we demonstrate we hold by the things we do and the choices we make. There are many values that drive our behaviors and our decision-making.
A major part of building confidence is knowing what values you hold dear. Values have a major influence on a person’s behaviors and attitudes and serve as broad guidelines in choosing what actions are best to do or what way is best to live. Examining our own values and choosing our own values is a part of the solid core that confident people have.
Let's take a look at the way our decisions are made when it comes to either working for a company or being self-employed. First, we need to look at our values in two important areas: our money and our time. What are your monetary values? To get rich? To be independently wealthy? To have enough money to get by? Do you want to live comfortably and take care of your family? Or have enough money to be generous to others?
What about your values surrounding time? Is recreational time important to you? Being able to do what you want with your time is a facet of valuing freedom. Lots of people who are self-employed have a strong freedom value. But there is a tradeoff. Being self-employed means you have the sole responsibility for whether your work will succeed or fail.
When you are self-employed, you are free to make your own decisions about what you're going to do, when you're going to do it, and how you're going to do it. But you have to meet the need of your customer in order to stay in business.
What about your values around money and work? Is having a constant reliable income a high value for you? Then being self-employed may not be a good choice. Self-employment is, by its nature, a feast or famine job. Sometimes you have lots of income and sometimes you do not. In order to survive, you have to figure out how to live with regular bills and sporadic income. If that is too much of a stressor for you, then working for somebody else for a stable income is a better choice. What you give up for that stability of income is some of the freedom to choose when and how you will work.
To make a confident decision about employed versus self-employed, you examine whether your freedom value is stronger than your financial stability value. Knowing which you value most makes your decisions about work easier. When you make this decision intentionally, it may not be as stressful to do what your employer tells you to do, since it means getting a steady income and you decided that was your priority. When you know what your basic values are, you can make confident decisions and life feels less stressful.
This is an excerpt from the book Abundance: Create Confidence, Contentment and Happiness
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