As Americans we are proud of the fact that we get to choose our government leaders. We may not always like the choices presented to us on the ballot, but we get to vote. Additionally, as American consumers in a free market economy, we’ve come to expect a lot of choices when it comes to products and services.
For example, which TV service do I use and then once it's hooked up, which channel will I watch? Do I want a regular coffee or a coffee drink? What should I wear to work? Which route do I take to get to work? Do I “like” a friend's post on Facebook? You get the idea. So one might wonder, just how many decisions do we make in a day? (You can decide if you want to keep reading.)
Researchers at Cornell University estimate we make 226.7 decisions each day on food alone. And as your level of responsibility increases, so does the multitude of choices you have to make. It’s estimated that the average adult makes about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions each day. Each decision, of course, carries certain consequences with it that are both good and bad.
There are certain decision making styles and strategies that guide the process:
The reality is, we utilize a combination of these decision-making strategies in order to cope with the sheer volume of decisions that must be made. And that decision-making strategy that is utilized is actually the first decision to be made.