Creating A Pro And Con List
Each person possesses the power to choose the path of their thoughts and actions. The ability to make wise and fulfilling decisions, however, is a skill that is learned over time. One way to hone your decision-making skills is through the use of an honest pro and con list. It may at first seem like a flippant way to address major life-altering decisions, but the creation of a list weighing the advantages and disadvantages of a choice can help you avoid focusing on the potential benefits or drawbacks of an option without addressing all the variables. A pro and con (or 'for and against') list represents a concrete way of looking at a problem. It can help you view a set of choices more clearly, giving you a chance to analyze each variable in an objective and detached way, while providing a sense of the most attractive outcome.
Creating a pro and con list is simple. Put the choice you must make into words and be sure you have examined as many of the ramifications of that choice as possible. Write the choice at the top of a sheet of paper, then write two headers, pro and con, beneath it, drawing a line down the middle between them. Some decisions have many aspects and may require you to make multiple choices and thus multiple pro and con lists. Others will simply involve moving forward or not, or changing or not, and will require only one list. Examine each potential outcome relating to the choice at hand. When you have reviewed each outcome, tally up the two columns and compare the pros and the cons. If you were objective, the results may surprise you.
By looking at a decision in terms of the positive and negative results that will or may occur, you can distance yourself from it. That distance creates a perspective in which the problem at hand is an issue that needs to be resolved, rather than a decision that will have an impact on the person you are. But the list is a tool and needn't have the final say in a decision. Rather, it can be a helpful and beneficial stepping stone in the decision-making process.
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