Did you ever make a decision that didn’t turn out the way you had planned? Did you ever wonder why? Discover how the Life Map Cycle process will help you organize your thoughts, develop a plan, and execute it. When used, you will make and execute better decisions because of your responsible Inward planning and Outward Living.
No matter who we are and what role(s) we occupy in our personal and professional lives, we all need to make decisions. True, some are higher stakes than others, but it’s a fact that decision-making is a part of life. Did you ever make a decision that didn’t turn out the way you had planned? Did you ever wonder why? I had this happen to me many times, and I was always perplexed by it. After all, I had spent time collecting information and didn’t rush into the decision. Somehow, I had missed important facts, and the decision didn’t have the results I’d hoped
Over time, I realized what the problem was – it’s not enough to take information and data in – there are other critical steps that should be taken before a decision is made. What happened to me was that I short-circuited the decision-making process and jumped to the end before going through two other important steps. The process I developed is called the Life Map Cycle. It is similar to decision-making processes used in other industries. For example, Charles Camarda, a former NASA astronaut, compared it to an aerospace engineering method called guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) which relies heavily on feedback loops and control theory to keep vehicles on course even when traveling in deep space.
The Life Map Cycle is a tool that will help you organize your thoughts, develop a plan, and execute it. When used, you will make and execute better decisions because of your responsible Inward planning and Outward Living. There are four stages in the Life Map Cycle.
The first one is the Evaluate stage. This is when you take in the raw data that you observe. Many people think that this is all that is involved in decision-making – taking in the data and then making a decision – but there are two other important steps to take before you make a decision. The second step is Calculate. This is when you organize the data, so it makes sense. Your observations aren’t unrelated pieces of information. You need to sort through them and determine which pieces relate to each other, and which have a common cause, implication, or theme.
After you organize the data, you go to the third stage – Formulate. This is the time to formulate your decision. You confirm your earlier thoughts about how to proceed, or modify your plan based on how you have evaluated the data. Finally, you make the decision, take action, and implement your new plan. I refer to this stage as Navigate because you take command and steer your decision into the world.
The next time you are faced with a decision, remember the Life Map Cycle, and use all four stages before taking action. Try it on a small, low stakes decision first. When you experience success with it, you will be confident to unleash it on more important tasks.
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