Choices and Decisions
by David Allen
Choices are more productive than decisions.
"Decide" embodies the same Latin root as "homicide," "suicide," and "genocide," and in a subtle way carries the same kind of finality and heaviness. There's a sense that decision is a point of no return – no turning back, no recourse, no freedom.
"Choosing" leaves us room to breathe, the openness to live and learn, to course-correct, to change our minds. Whereas deciding tends to frame our thinking as right and wrong, choices allow us to express a preference. Every choice is a decision, and every decision a choice, of course. But one of the greatest obstacles to effectiveness and success is the fear of making a wrong one.
So we can use all the ammunition we can get to support our willingness to make a mistake. Words have great power, and it's a good idea to choose the best ones.
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Amazing how simple words can contain seeds of powerful perspectives. I can choose to decide in the face of unknown factors, or choose to postpone deciding.
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