A day is made up of hundreds of small decisions. I’ll wear this； I’ll buy this； I’ll have this for lunch； I’ll go here at 3’oclock； I’ll respond to this e-mail； I’ll delete this one.

一天是由上百個小的決定組成的。我會穿這個；我要買這個；我午餐要吃這個；3點鐘我要來這里；我要回復(fù)這封電子郵件；我要刪除這個。

For some people， none of these is a big deal. For others， however， making decisions （big and little ones） isn’t easy. They agonize over1 what to do， vacillating2 back and forth， and second-guessing themselves even after the decision has been made.

對于一些人來說，這些都不是什么大問題。然而，對于其他人來說，做決定（無論是大的還是小的）都不怎么容易。他們會在該怎么做上搖擺不定，甚至在已經(jīng)作出決定后思考再三。

Emily was in the diner with her husband. After several minutes of reading the menu， she said， “Um， let’s see. I don’t know what to order. Maybe I’ll have the burger... no， wait， the pasta seems good. Or， maybe the soup and salad. Don， what are you ordering？ OK， that sounds good. I’ll have that， too.”

艾米麗和她的丈夫在餐館就餐。在看了幾分鐘的菜單后，她說：“嗯，我看看。我不知道該點些什么。也許可以點漢堡包……不，等等，意大利面似乎也很好。呃，或者湯和沙拉也不錯。唐恩，你想訂什么？好吧，聽起來不錯，我也來份一樣的。”

Don gets annoyed. He doesn’t understand why she finds the simplest decisions so difficult. Just decide， he tells her. And stick with it. To short-circuit3 her indecisiveness4， he sometimes makes decisions for the two of them. Emily does not find this helpful. Indeed， she gets annoyed with him for being so controlling. “But we’d never decide anything if I left it up to you，” he retorts.

唐恩生氣了。他不明白為什么她只是做個最簡單的選擇會如此困難。他告訴她，只要決定，并且堅持就行了。為了減少她的猶豫不決，他有時會替兩人做決定。艾米麗并沒有覺得這樣有用。事實上，她對唐恩管得這么多感到惱怒?！暗绻业饶阆聸Q定，那我們?nèi)魏问乱捕ú幌聛?。”唐恩則反駁道。

Good decision-making is a skill that comes easily to some people， not so easily to others. Choices are confusing. Choices can make you anxious. They can cost you peace of mind， even after you’ve made the decision. Have you ever spent hours in your head trying to“undo” the choice you made？ “Oh my gosh， I wish I hadn’t done that！”

做出好的選擇對某些人來說是一種很簡單的技巧，而對于其他一些人來說則不是那么容易。選擇是混亂的。選擇會讓人感到焦慮。即使你已經(jīng)做出了決定，它們也會打亂你內(nèi)心的平靜。你有沒有花幾小時時間試圖在你的腦海里“撤消”你所做的選擇？“哦，我的天啊，我真希望我沒那么做！”

But it’s not just the number of options that gives us difficulty in making decisions—it’s the amount of information each option has that trips us up， too. Because we are presented with so much information， the overload of options and data leads us to falsely believe that， even a fairly easy task， has great significance than it really does.

但是，讓我們產(chǎn)生選擇困難的并不僅僅是因為選擇的數(shù)量太多——每種選擇所帶給我們的信息也占部分原因。由于我們面臨著如此之多的信息，過量的選擇和數(shù)據(jù)讓我們錯誤地高估了一件相當(dāng)容易的任務(wù)的重要性。

What we may regret most， is the extra time spent analyzing and comparing each and every bit of information， which can lead to frustration.

可能讓我們最后悔的，是浪費在分析和比較每個信息上的那些時間，它會讓我們沮喪。

If you would like to improve your decision making， here are five strategies that might help you do just that.

如果你想提高你的決斷力，下面有五個策略，可能會對你有所幫助。

1. Accept that you can’t have it all.

Decisions force us to close the door on other possibilities. You can’t order every delicious dish on the menu. And there will be paths not taken， careers not chosen， experiences not encountered.

Fantasize all you like， but you’ll never really know. Let the past be. Live in the present where what you do today will make a difference.

1. 接受這樣一個事實：你不可能擁有的一切。

決定迫使我們關(guān)閉其他可能性的大門。你不可能點到菜單上每一道美味的菜。你總會有沒有走過的路，沒有選擇過的職業(yè)，沒有經(jīng)歷過的經(jīng)驗。

你腦補著所有你喜歡的事情，但永遠不會真正地了解到它們。讓過去的就那樣過去?；钤诋?dāng)下，你今天所做的才會讓一切變得不同。

2. More thinking is not always better thinking.

It’s often good to think through your decisions. But don’t overdo it. Many good decisions can be made based on intuition5.

2. 思慮過多并不總是好的。

對你的決定深思熟慮通常都是好事。但是不要做得過頭了。許多好的決定同樣可以基于直覺。

3. Don’t defer decisions endlessly.

Yes， sometimes， you want to put off making a decision. Perhaps you need more information. Maybe you wish to discuss with your friends， or wait for a less stressful time. Just don’t wait so long that the decision is made for you by someone else （“You didn’t take care of it so I did it my way”）， by the passage of time （“Sorry， the application deadline was last week”） or by your being so upset with your own indecisiveness that you make an impulsive6 decision （“Oh， what the heck， I’ll just sign it”）.

3. 不要沒完沒了地推遲決定。

是的，有時你想推遲作出決定。也許你需要更多的信息。也許你想和你的好友討論看看，或等到時間不那么緊張的時候再考慮。但不要等太久，一直等到由別人為你決定（“既然你不關(guān)心這個，那么我就按我的方式來”），或者等到由時間本身來決定（“對不起，報名截止日期是上周”），又或者等到你對你自己的猶豫不決感到沮喪而做出沖動的決定（“哦，見鬼，我馬上就簽字”）。

4. Trust your intuition.

Intuition is an impression. It can also be an important source of information. Do not ignore it. But don’t confuse intuition with impulsiveness. Impulsiveness is the urge to do something to meet an emotional need of the moment that often （though not always） leads you down a path you’ll regret.

4. 相信你的直覺。

直覺是一種印象。它也可以是一個重要的信息來源。不要忽視它。但不要把直覺和沖動混為一談。沖動是因為一時的渴望做些事情來滿足情感需要，通常（但并不總是）會讓你選擇一種你會后悔的方式。

5. Some decisions don’t work out as expected； this doesn’t mean that you did anything wrong.

No， no， no. You did not make a stupid decision. It’s just that sometimes the unexpected happens. You’re understandably disappointed. Just don’t be hard on yourself or blame yourself for what happened.

5. 有一些決定不可能像預(yù)期的那樣實現(xiàn)；但這并不意味著你做錯了什么。

不，不，不，你沒有做出愚蠢的決定。只是有時候一些意想不到的事情發(fā)生了。你失望了，這是可以理解的。不要對自己過于苛刻或因所發(fā)生的事責(zé)怪自己。