How to learn to make the right decisions in life. How to make the right decision when in doubt

NATA KARLIN

A person, being at a crossroads when making an important decision, is guided by two extremes - good and bad. What comes after we do or don't do something important? Will it be the end of the world or will peace and harmony reign? Why do we go to extremes? Is there really no middle ground?

From an early age, every person regularly faces a choice:

Should I wear pants or a skirt today?
with a handsome guy or spend an evening with a smart and interesting admirer?
Should I go to college as a vocation or should I listen to my parents in choosing a profession?
Want to get an interesting or profitable job?

You can continue endlessly! How difficult it is to make the right decision when the choice concerns such serious things as the choice of profession or workplace.

There are people in the world who do not doubt the correctness of the decision made. One can only envy them.

Fatalists don't give a damn.

This category of people involuntarily. They do not torment themselves with choice, they go with the flow in the direction where the “finger of fate” points. It’s easier for them to reach out, take out what they’re grabbing from the closet, and put it on without thinking. Go on a date with whoever calls first. Go to study at the institute that... Whatever job comes up first, you will stay in that one for the rest of your life. And, in their own way, they are absolutely right! Why torment yourself with unnecessary doubts if life itself will put everything in its place?

Intuition.

There is another category of people who never doubt the correctness of their choice. These are individuals with developed. Or those who believe that they have this feeling. They never doubt the correctness of the decision made. After all, the confidence that intuition will not let them down will not leave them.

But such people are in the minority; the rest are tormented, tormented and doubtful.

When you doubt the correctness of a decision, the “Descartes square” will help

What does a person rely on when he doesn’t know what to do correctly in a given situation?

It is possible to calculate the development of events down to the smallest detail only if you use the theory of probability. And then the value will be very approximate. However, few of us know how to do this. Therefore, by trusting to chance, you can achieve better results than those when a person intends to “swim against the tide” only in order to prove that the decision was correct.

To learn how to correctly assess the current problem and take the decisive step, use the “Descartes square”.

There are many ways that can show the pros and cons of a decision. For example, you can divide a sheet of paper into two parts. In the first column, write down the advantages that you will gain as a result of the decision made. The second is the cons.

The most effective method is considered to be the “Descartes square”. Now the sheet of paper is divided into four parts, each of which contains a question that requires a detailed answer:

Positive aspects of getting what you want. (What awaits if you accomplish what you planned);
Positive aspects of not getting what you want. (What awaits if you don’t accomplish what you planned);
Negative aspects of wish fulfillment. (What can be avoided if you get what you want);
Negative aspects of not achieving what you want. (What can be avoided if you don’t get what you want).

By answering the questions asked in each square, you will quickly come to the right decision. Here you need to evaluate and weigh all the pros and cons that may arise as a result of your decision, and make the only correct one.

What influences the search for the right solution?

What is the right decision? This is the distance between the starting point (task) and the point at which a person will receive satisfaction of his needs and plans (solution). This process involves all components of a person’s personality: mind, will, character and motivation. All this both helps and hinders the right decisions. Assess yourself, try to remember what exactly motivates you at that moment when you need to mobilize all your efforts to concentrate on one task. Sweep away the unnecessary and remove the unnecessary from yourself.

Confirmation.

When searching for the right solution, a person weighs all the components of the expected success. Choose based on the facts, do not be guided by speculation and illusory “what if.” Ignore information that you consider contradictory, look for a rational grain.

Subsequence.

Every action you take to solve a problem must be consistent.

The vector of thinking about the problem should be directed to one point. Take the shortest route, without being distracted by lyrical digressions from the topic.

Mobility.

This refers to a person’s ability to respond to a changing situation. With the emergence of new facts that contradict the decision you have chosen, you should adequately assess the situation and take appropriate measures.

Concentration.

When making a decision that is important to you, it is advisable to abstract yourself from other problems. The brain’s efforts need to be directed to a specific task, the completion of which determines peace of mind, material well-being, or the future in general.

Selectivity.

Choose facts that are truly noteworthy. Discard unnecessary information, do not consider important what is not worth your attention and effort.

Life experience.

When making serious decisions, you should not rely only on your own experience. Consult with smart people, watch TV shows, look for advice on the Internet or books.

Don't put your abilities first. The successes you have achieved before are a combination of your contribution, the help of others and a happy coincidence of circumstances. Draw conclusions from mistakes, try not to “step on the same rake” in the future.

Concentrate, choose the path you will take to make a decision, calm down and act. In the matter of awareness and development of an action plan, there should not be excessive haste, fanaticism and inflated forecasts about the result. These moments reduce the effectiveness of the process and give victory a bitter taste of dissatisfaction.

3 strategies will help you not doubt your decision

The method of Canadian professor Henry Mintzberg will help you make the right decision. In his opinion, there are three steps to success:

Action.

This process means you don't have time to think. There is a category of decision making that implies that there is simply no time to think. We must act immediately. Then the attitudes laid down by the instinct of self-preservation, personal experience and the mistakes of other people come into force. To properly evaluate such situations, learn to learn from everything that life throws at you. In a specific situation it often saves.

The process of thinking about a situation for a long time is inherent in representatives of Western culture. It implies an algorithm of the following actions:

And the formulation of the problem;
Systematization of the received data;
Direction adjustment;
Assessment of parameters influencing the result and selection of the necessary means for;
Search for alternative solutions and options for the development of events;
Assessment of possible outcomes of events;
Decision and action.

Intuition.

People who make decisions on an intuitive level are guided by inspiration, which they themselves characterize as a kind of “insight” that came suddenly. It happens that a person has been looking for an answer to a specific question for a long time that haunts him. He falls asleep and wakes up with this thought. One fine day, he realizes that there is no problem at all, the solution is already in his head. In the subconscious of every person there is a hidden system of knowledge and life experience. At a critical moment, all body processes are activated, which allows you to quickly navigate the current situation.

There are four stages of decision making on an intuitive level:

Identifying the problem and collecting information about it. This process involves thinking, emotional aspects, personal experience and environmental influences;
Concentrating all mental functions on understanding the problem in order to feel the depth and possibility of its solution;
Insight (illumination), which replaces reflection;
Double-checking facts, comparative analysis of the results of developments and final adjustments.

How to make a decision and no longer doubt

So, what is considered the most important factor for good decision making? Of course, there is enough time to think, systematize factors, find the right course of action and choose one solution from several possible ones. To learn how to make decisions you will never regret, use the following tips:

Time and place.

Don't act spontaneously in taking important steps. Schedule time when you can be alone.

If you wake up the next morning feeling relieved, go for it! If not, then the solution is not correct, or not the only correct one.

Making a fateful decision. You get the feeling that there is a wall in front of you, against which you have rested your forehead, and there is no further passage. Step away from the problem for a while. For example, go to the cinema to dispel. Distract your brain from the load that forces it to work under time pressure. But as soon as you feel that the feeling of heaviness in your soul has passed, return to the problem with renewed vigor.

Important and necessary.

Think about the necessity of what you are doing now. Is this really of such value to you that it’s worth the effort and nerves? If you are on the right path, then doubts about the need to solve this problem should be dismissed. If not, then you must clearly decide for yourself what benefit is driving you.

Having made a preliminary decision, do not rush to act. Once again, evaluate the options for the development of events, compare them with previous experience, remember the mistakes of your friends, and only then proceed to implement the planned plan.

The moment you realize that your decision is the only possible and correct one, you will feel relief. Now everything has fallen into place. It’s easier for you, but you have to act strictly according to plan. Do not forget that the result you want to achieve depends on the accuracy of the sequence of actions.

February 24, 2014

The philosopher Jean Buridan lived in France in the 14th century. I composed a lot of things. But he was remembered by posterity for his parable about a donkey who died of hunger because he couldn’t choose which one was better to start with from two identical armfuls of hay. Don't we also look like such ass when we try to make an important decision?

Our expert - psychologist Marianna Gorskaya.

From early childhood until the end of our days, we are forced to live in a state of constant choice. What to wear: a blue dress or a red one? Which fan would you prefer: reliable or witty? Where to go to study: to a prestigious university or where it is easier? Which job to choose: profitable or interesting? And so - in everything. I really don’t want to make a mistake when the choice concerns really important things!

A million torments

It’s easiest in this regard for fatalists and people who don’t care. You float according to the will of the waves - where fate will steer you, and you don’t know trouble. Whichever dress hangs closest is what you should wear. Which of the suitors will be more persistent will marry him. Whichever employer shows more interest will get it. People with developed intuition also have a good life, as well as those who consider themselves such, and therefore are convinced that their choice is always infallible. Everyone else suffers, doubts, despairs and wonders how global decisions can be made, relying on ephemeral intuition or the blind will of fate! However, it is precisely this approach, condemned by many, that, according to psychologists, often contains great life wisdom. After all, it’s impossible to calculate all the possible developments of events, so sometimes it’s better to just trust your sixth sense or even rely on Russian chance. And then act according to the circumstances.

But before you take the final step, it would be nice to weigh everything carefully. And only if, after much thought, the answer does not come by itself, then you can use your intuition or take risks.

Comprehensive approach

There are many rational methods of decision making. For example, there is a well-known psychological technique: write down the pros and cons of a particular choice on a piece of paper in two columns, and then use a simple mathematical calculation to decide which one is more profitable. There is a more advanced way. It is called "Descartes square". This method of decision-making is ideal when you need to choose whether to take a life-changing step or whether it is better to leave everything as is. For example, you can resort to this method to decide whether to divorce your husband or not, change your job or stay the same, take out a mortgage or not, put up with your mother-in-law or not communicate with her for the rest of your days. The essence of this simple technique is to look at the situation more broadly, not from one or two, but from four different sides. To do this, you need to divide a sheet of paper into 4 columns and answer 4 questions:

• What will happen if this happens? (The benefits of getting what you want.)
• What happens if this doesn't happen? (Pros of not getting what you want.)
• What will NOT happen if this happens? (Disadvantages of getting what you want.)
• What will NOT happen if this does NOT happen? (Disadvantages of not getting what you want.)

After all, we often consider only the pros and cons of the occurrence of a possible event, but do not take into account the positive and negative aspects of the “status quo”. And a comprehensive assessment allows you to avoid unnecessary risks. And then you won’t have to endure annoying losses that could have easily been avoided. We wish you to make fewer mistakes!

All our lives we choose something, that is, we make decisions. It’s not difficult to make simple everyday decisions - personal experience or tips come to the rescue. It is more difficult to decide on vital decisions on which a lot depends.

Every day a person makes some decisions - simple, insignificant ones relating to everyday life and very serious ones, sometimes even global ones, which can significantly change the usual established course of life.

Simple solutions are given absolutely easily, quickly and with virtually no stress. But if there is a very serious issue on the agenda, then it is really very difficult to make the right choice.

Indeed, in this case, the right decision can lead to colossal success or, on the contrary, become the only reason for serious failure. This is why it is really important to know how the right decision is made.

How to do it right

1. Limit yourself to a strict time frame for making the right decision.

This is necessary because such a limitation “helps” you choose the most effective option in a particular case, and is explained by the so-called law of forced efficiency.

2. Try to collect the maximum amount of useful information

From a large number of facts, it is much easier to choose the only one that suits you, and besides, this will help you take a more objective look at the specific situation at hand.

3. Turn off your emotions

In this case, they seriously interfere with making the right decision, because while they are gushing, you are not able to reason soberly, detachedly and sufficiently objectively. It is much more useful to wait until all feelings have calmed down, and only then start thinking, otherwise it is so easy to make not the best decision in the heat of the moment.

4. Find the right algorithm

If the search for the correct algorithm of actions is directly related to work, then the implementation of this issue can simply be delegated to someone else. This way you can significantly save your own time.

And remember that if you complete a task at least once, then, most likely, you will subsequently do it constantly. Such additional employment without any benefits and dividends in the future is absolutely useless. Therefore, a rational approach in the form of delegation of authority is an excellent way to properly organize your own work schedule.

5. Learn to correctly prioritize your thoughts.

Try to structure your thoughts according to the principle of greatest importance. This skill will more than once allow you to find the most correct way out of absolutely any situation. This skill will allow you not to get confused in your own reasoning when analyzing complex problems.

6. Try to get rid of such feelings as fear of possible failure.

It really makes it difficult to choose and make the right decision. Because of this conflicting feeling, many actually suffer serious defeat. In order for obsessive fear to recede and not interfere with you, you need to analyze in detail all the possible consequences that may sometimes arise as a result of various choices, and only after that you can begin to act.

7. Try to make decisions in a calm environment with a sense of inner balance

If you are such a suspicious person whose imagination simply knows no bounds, then try to calm down and relax by resting a little, listening to pleasant music, drinking tea or simply taking a sedative.

8. Be as objective and honest with yourself as possible.

There is absolutely no need to exaggerate or embellish certain facts, which may have unnecessary influence and subsequently lead to the wrong choice.

9. Learn to set priorities correctly and correctly

This is very important when developing different options for action. Decide what is truly most important to you: children, family, career, work, money or anything else. Always be aware of possible costs, because they can have a fairly large impact on the correctness and effectiveness of a particular decision.

How to make a really good decision

How often do many subsequently sincerely regret what they did, because they are sure that the choice in the current situation was absolutely wrong. If we approach the issue more globally and sensibly, we can draw the unexpected conclusion that, in essence, there are no right or wrong decisions.

If you are serious about achieving a specific goal, which is extremely important and priority for you, then all your further actions that you periodically take in its direction will be exclusively correct. But in essence, choosing a true solution is an exclusively subjective concept, so do it yourself.

Sometimes the current situation does not require an immediate decision, and the choice can be postponed for some time until the nuances are clarified. But very often new facts can make the decision-making process even more difficult.

This paradox is explained by the fact that in some cases, the more persistence and effort expended to obtain a result, the much worse everything turns out. Or in other words, the longer you solve a problem, the more incomprehensible facts unexpectedly emerge in this difficult matter.

This is why we need a certain time frame for making a decision. It is time that significantly limits the ability to analyze a lot of options.

In other cases, a hasty decision leads to a colossal collapse. In such situations, on the contrary, it is much more productive to wait some time so that it is possible to objectively assess the problem. But indecision and artificial delay in making a decision can lead to someone else getting ahead of you or the situation itself becoming more acute. Then you will regret that you did not hurry up with your choice.

"Helpers" in making the right decision

If the problem is truly serious, then it does not have to be solved solely by one person. Seek help and advice from your friends or family. Psychologists say that if you voice the problem several times, the situation will become clearer, and you will be able to find such a simple, but truly ingenious way out of it.

And an outside perspective can be really insightful. But you shouldn’t get hung up on the problem and tell everyone you meet about it. This way you will only waste a lot of time complaining and lamenting, and this will in no way bring the possibility of solving it any closer.

If before you very rarely made decisions on your own, and almost always consulted with someone, then in a situation where the issue needs to be resolved quickly, just imagine what you would be advised to do. This kind of internal dialogue can be really very productive and incredibly useful.

Try to analyze the situation from the point of view of the availability of alternative possibilities. Do not choose only one option, believing in its absolute correctness.

Come up with several of them so that you can compare something else with your first option. Play out the situation in your head as if that original idea simply did not exist, how would you act in this case? you are sure to discover several alternatives that will help you in your difficult choice.

Remember the old saying that the morning is much wiser than the evening? This is true. You need to “go to sleep” with the problem, and in the morning you may come up with a simple, but truly ingenious solution. There is a rational explanation for this: our brain and our subconscious already know the maximum number of all possible ways out of this current situation. During the night's rest, the analysis process does not stop or stop for a minute, and in the morning you get the best option.

In the complex process of making the right decision, your own intuition plays an important role, so you should not completely ignore it. Listen to your own feelings more often, and if you feel some discomfort, then look at other options. Believe me, your inner voice is sometimes much less likely to make mistakes than your mind.

Making the right decision is only half the battle

It is much more important to follow it (see “”). That's why:

• start acting immediately and without delay, because various hitches and delays significantly reduce the chances of achieving success;
• try not to change your decision after half the path to the goal has already been completed - this is ineffective;
• remain true to your initial views - this will give you confidence in the exceptional correctness of the decisions made and the speedy achievement of success;
• if, after the first steps, you suddenly realize that your path is wrong, then you need to abandon it as soon as possible; find your balance between perseverance and flexibility - this will allow you to move towards your goal quite persistently, but if you really need to quickly change your plan of action without significant losses for yourself.

In making the right decisions, your own experience will provide you with invaluable help, which is the most devoted and faithful adviser in difficult situations.

What should you do if you are a leader and you are faced with a difficult choice? Remember, as in a fairy tale: execution cannot be pardoned, dismissal cannot be left, and it is unclear where to put a comma. In this article we will talk about several ways to make the right decision. This will help not only businessmen, but also ordinary people who find themselves in a difficult situation.

If you are trapped

Usually, making a difficult decision is necessary in a difficult life situation. Stress affects a person in different ways: some withdraw into themselves, some worry and don’t sleep at night, some become hysterical and take it out on loved ones. One thing remains unchanged: a person seems to fall into the trap of his own psyche; he is often unable to make a choice on his own and acts under the influence of emotions or his close environment. Time shows that impulsive and ill-considered decisions are ineffective and can ruin your business, your career, your relationships, in the end. Remember: all serious decisions are made with a cool head. Therefore, before you put into practice the methods described below, do this: turn off your heart and turn on your head. We'll show you how.

There are several ways to pacify emotions:

• short term - breathe correctly. Take 10 deep, slow breaths - this will help you calm down;
• medium-term - imagine that your friend finds himself in such a situation and asks you for advice. What will you tell him? Surely throw away all emotions and try to look at the situation detachedly, objectively. So try it;
• long-term - take a time out. Just let the situation go for a while, do other things, and come back to it after a week or month. This way you will kill two birds with one stone: firstly, you will cut off impulsive decisions and will not cut from the shoulder. And secondly, the right decision will ripen in your head like a ripe fruit - you just need to give it time.

Now that emotions no longer influence your choices, let's talk about eight reliable methods for making decisions.

1. Pros and cons method

Use the good old method: take a sheet of paper and a pen, draw the sheet in half. In the left column write all the advantages of the chosen solution, in the right column - respectively, the disadvantages. Don't limit yourself to just a few items: there should be 15-20 items on the list. Then calculate what will be more. Profit!

The essence of the methoda: even if you endlessly scroll through the pros and cons in your head, you are unlikely to see the full picture. Psychologists advise making written lists: this helps to organize the accumulated information, visually see the relationship between pros and cons, and draw a conclusion based on pure mathematics. Why not?

2. Create habits

This method is suitable if it is difficult for you to make a choice in everyday matters. For example, to increase the salary of a new employee, or if it’s not worth it yet, put it on the website or another company. What to eat for dinner, in the end, French fries or fish with vegetables. A difficult decision, of course, but still not a matter of life and death. In this case, it is useful to consciously create habits for yourself and follow them in the future. For example, introduce an iron rule: increase employee salaries only after six months of working in your company. Buying office supplies exclusively from Skrepka is cheaper. Eating light and healthy dishes for dinner will soon thank you. Well, with the call back you get it, yes.

The essence of the method: following habits, you will make simple decisions automatically, saving yourself from unnecessary thoughts, without wasting precious time on nonsense. But then, when you need to make a truly responsible and important choice, you will be fully armed.

3. “If-then” method

This method is suitable for resolving current problems in business, team, and personal life. For example, your employee speaks impolitely to customers and does not respond to comments. Question: Should I fire him immediately or try to re-educate him? Try using the “if-then” technique. Tell yourself: if he again mistreats a client, you will deprive him of his bonus. If the incident happens again, fire me.

The essence of the method:as in the first case, this is the creation of conditional boundaries within which you will act. The burden will immediately be lifted from the soul, and life will become much easier. And most importantly, you don’t have to waste time thinking and thinking about the fate of a careless employee.

It was invented by the famous American journalist Susie Welch. The rule is: before you make a difficult decision, stop and answer three questions:

• what will you think about it 10 minutes later;
• How will you feel about your choice in 10 months;
• What will you say in 10 years?

Let's give an example. Let's take a young man who works as a manager, doesn't like his job, but puts up with it because he needs money. He dreams of quitting his job, taking out a loan and opening his own business - a small pub, but at the same time he is desperately afraid of going broke and losing everything he has. In general, a classic case when a bird in the hand is preferred to a pie in the sky.

It’s difficult for our hero to take the first step - quit his hated job. Let's say he does this. In ten minutes he is unlikely to have time to regret his decision. In 10 months, he will already have time to rent the premises, equip the pub and receive clients. And if it doesn’t work out - he’ll find a job as a manager anyway - so what’s there to regret? Well, in 10 years, this choice is unlikely to have any significance at all: either the business will continue, or our hero will work in another place - one of two things. It turns out that if you follow the 10/10/10 rule, making a decision no longer becomes such a difficult task, because a person clearly understands what awaits him in the future.

The essence of the method: when making a difficult decision, we are usually overwhelmed by emotions: fear, anxiety, or vice versa, joy and excitement. A person feels it right here and now; feelings obscure the prospects for the future. Remember, as in Yesenin: “You can’t see a face face to face, a big one is seen at a distance.” As long as the future seems cloudy and vague, the choice of solution will be postponed again and again. By making concrete plans, presenting his emotions in detail, a person rationalizes the problem and stops being afraid of the unknown - because it becomes simple and understandable.

Read also: Three real stories.

5. Solve within 15 minutes

Paradoxical as it may seem, the most important, strategic decisions should be made in 15 minutes. A familiar situation: a company has a serious problem that requires immediate action, but the point is that no one knows the right solution. For example, competitors have done something nasty, and it is not clear what to do: respond in kind or get out of the situation with dignity. Or the crisis has hit your company, and you are confused: to move to a less prestigious place or to lay off a dozen employees. How can you make the right choice, and is there even one? And you begin to procrastinate, unable to make a decision, in the hope that everything will resolve itself.

If you don’t know which solution is correct, just imagine that there is no correct answer to this life problem. Give yourself 15 minutes and make any, absolutely any, decision. Yes, at first glance this may seem crazy. What about planning, and what about testing and verifying solutions? Ok, ok, if you can quickly and with a minimum of investment check the correctness of the solution, check it. If this requires months of time and millions of rubles, it is better to abandon this idea and immediately record the time.

The essence of the method: Needless to say, if you waste time, nothing gets solved: crises don’t go away, rental prices don’t go down, and competitors become even sharper. One unmade decision leads to others, the business sags and becomes ineffective. As they say, it is better to do than to regret, than not to do and regret.

6. Don't limit yourself to narrow boundaries

The same thing we wrote about at the beginning. Execute or pardon, buy a car or not, expand or wait for better times. One of two things, hit or miss, oh, it was not! But who said that a problem has only two solutions? Get out of the narrow framework, try to look at the situation more broadly. It is not necessary to organize a large-scale expansion of production - it is enough to launch a couple of new positions. Instead of an expensive car, you can purchase a more modest option, and apply disciplinary measures to the employee who committed the crime for the first time.

The essence of the method: when there are only two solution options, there is a greater chance of choosing the right decision, and many deliberately simplify their lives by dividing the situation into yes and no, black and white. But life is much more diverse: don’t be afraid to look it in the eye and accept all possible options. The solution may be a compromise, a rejection of both extremes in favor of a third, completely unexpected solution, or a successful combination of two options. This often happens when the owner of a small business cannot decide what to do: sit on the phone, deliver orders, or engage only in management activities. Start combining - and then you will see what works best. This will be the optimal solution to the problem.

Throughout our lives, we repeatedly have to make various decisions. And it often happens that we hesitate: should we do this or that way?

Or we don’t even understand what to do... What to do in such cases? How to behave so as not to regret what you did later? In fact, there are many ways that will help you.

Method one. Reasoning.

It is suitable for people who think rationally and are used to reasoning with.

Try to calculate the consequences of this or that action. It's best to write down all the pros and cons on a piece of paper to make it clearer. Let's say you've been offered a new job, but you're unsure whether to accept or not. Take a sheet of paper, divide it into two halves and on one half write down all the advantages of the proposed position, for example, “high salary”, “growth prospects”, “social package”, on the second - negative factors - “work far from home”, “irregular schedule” , “little information about this company”, etc.

Look at both halves of the sheet and count how many pros and cons you have. Now highlight what is your priority. After all, let’s assume that salary and career can completely compensate for some inconveniences. And it also happens that money and career are not the main thing for you, but you want to return home early and spend the weekend with your family. This method will simply help you visually put everything into categories, and this will make it easier to finally make a decision.

Method two. Intuition.

Suitable for people with an intuitive type of thinking. Listen to what. If you have been offered a job or, say, marriage, and the offer seems good, but for some reason you are not inclined to accept it, then maybe it’s not worth it? And, on the contrary, if your mind doubts, but your heart tells you to do just that, shouldn’t you follow its lead? If your intuitive premonitions have already been justified before, then that means you can completely trust them.

Method three. Try your luck.

This is for magically minded citizens. We're talking about different ones. Not even necessarily traditional ones, like cards or the I Ching. You can simply wish: “If the next candy I take out of this bag is green, then I will go to this place, and if it is red, then I will refuse the trip.” The main thing is to get the candies without looking.

You can also “tell fortunes” using a watch. Experts say that if on the dial, when you glance at it. there will be a “jackpot” - say, 11 hours 11 minutes, then you can rest assured: the upcoming meeting or undertaking will be successful for you. If the first two digits are greater than the second two, say 21 hours zero three minutes, you should not rush to make a decision. If, on the contrary, for example, the clock shows 15:39, it means that time is pressing for you: hurry up so as not to miss your chance.

Now special balls for decision-making have appeared on sale. You formulate a question, shake the ball and look at the answer in the window. Just remember that the ball does not predict the future, but only tells you what to expect and how best to act in a given situation.

Method four. Reading the signs of fate.

Suitable for those who are interested, if not in mysticism, then in psychology and. When thinking about a solution, pay attention to what is happening around you. Suppose you are planning to go somewhere, but you are not sure whether to go or not. And then suddenly the phones start ringing and you are bombarded with requests from friends, you lose the keys to your apartment and discover that the sole of your shoe has fallen off... Most likely, Providence is telling you: it’s not worth going to this meeting.

Or someone offers you cooperation, and his last name turns out to be the same as that of a person whom you knew many years ago and with whom you had some kind of unpleasant situation... Is it a coincidence?

Or you are planning a tourist trip, and suddenly, by a strange coincidence, you come across a post on the Internet from a former client of that same travel company, who recalls with horror how he used its services...

They ask you to borrow a large sum, and then the title of the note catches your eye: “Company N has gone bankrupt”...

You have had a stabbing pain in your lower back for three months now, but you can’t decide whether to go to the doctor. And then you catch a snippet of someone else’s conversation on the subway: “I did an ultrasound yesterday, they said there was a kidney stone...”

You are wondering whether to go on a date with the gentleman who invited you, and on the radio they sing: “Don’t go to meet him, don’t go. He has a granite pebble in his chest.” Why not a hint?

A “picture” can also carry a hint. For example, you are not sure whether you should connect your destiny with this particular person. And suddenly you see a couple of tender swans on the pond. Or, on the contrary, you meet a couple of cats desperately fighting on the street... Draw the appropriate conclusions.

Of course, you shouldn’t take literally every little thing for granted. But if a word or event caught your attention, stuck in your memory, or it clearly seemed to you that “it’s all about you,” that it’s connected specifically to your situation, then it makes sense to take it into account. Good luck with your decisions!