“Linking Theory With Practicality” (Wiser Next Week: On Decision Making)

About the Wiser Next Week Series: These entries will involve posting my book, Wiser Next Week, chapter by chapter, freely available to the public. Additionally, I’ll be recounting a story about something I’ve learned based on the chapter’s topic since the months that have past when the book was published in December 2018.

But You Got A Good Thing Going Here

Whenever I leave a place, there is always a thought on the back of my mind. It goes,

“I got a good thing going over here, why do you want to leave?”

Normally because I’m not completely happy with my situation, some examples:

I was making a steady income as an accountant in Reno, my higher ups were happy with my performance a year into it. They gave me a substantial raise and I was included in the year end bonuses.
When I was in Bangkok, Thailand as an EFL teacher, at one point I contemplated staying longer then a year, several years in fact. Yet at the end of the school year of the first year, I left.
Getting redirected from a cattle ranch in Costa Rica to Mexico because of the global lockdown, I had a good spot in Mexico City (CDMX) to set up while I waited for borders further south to open up, once again I left.

The Weighted Average Decision Matrix

All 3 examples have the commonality of a dissatisfaction and a gut feeling that there is something better out there. A more succinct way of putting it is by using the Weighted Average Decision Matrix (WADM):

Weighted Average Decision Matrix (WADM) – Big Decisions
1. Create a list of considered decisions.
2. Create a list of factors affecting the decision making.
3. Rank the factors in order of importance. The higher the number the more important.
4. Score each decision on the factors, 1 through 10, the higher the better.
5. Multiply the Decision Score with the Weight of each factor. Here is an example referring to deciding where to live:

Factor (Higher Importance, Higher Number)	Los Angeles	San Francisco
Weather: 2	8 (score[8] * weight[2])=16	6(score[6] * weight[2])=12
Proximity to Family: 1	6 (score[6] * weight [1])=6	7(score[7] * weight[1])=7
	(16+6)=22	(12+7)=19

LA is chosen based on this example.

A inspiring video from Gary V about seizing the initiative

From Theory To Practicality

Weather, learning and upside potential were among the factors whenever I decided to go or stay. In most instances, staying would mean contentment and “settling” which would lead to long term unhappiness/regret while picking up and going somewhere new meant leaving everything I’ve built, smashing it all to chaos and in turn leaving no guarantees of success.

But going practical, especially when you’re young, isn’t always the right choice.

In the end, the factors of learning something new and the upside potential of a new environment far outweighs all other factors. Perhaps an even higher weight then the 1-10 scale of the WADM.