Learning to make smarter decisions will help you to avoid painful and embarrassing situations in your personal and professional life. Unfortunately, many of us have to learn the hard way, or sometimes never at all, and are left wondering, “How did I get into this predicament again?” When it comes to our career and our relationships, we can not afford to make poor decisions.

The good news is that you can learn to make smart decisions and avoid undesirable jobs, people, and situations. In fact, smart decision-making can help you in all aspects of your life. When relationships or jobs don’t work out as planned, we seldom take the time to find the meaning in the “mess.” If you learn to make use of life’s disappointments and let downs, you will begin to see that all of it, the good and the bad, contain lessons to be learned. Think of yourself as a student, who is still learning about career development, financial management, relationships, and life in general. When you are student of life, you are willing and open to learning, and as a result, life seems to have more meaning.

How Can You Take More Control Over Your Life?

By following a thoughtful pattern of decision-making. Getting smart means raising your self-awareness, practicing active reflection, and following your intuition. Being analytical in these ways will greatly increase your chances of choosing wisely. Decision-making can be used in variety of life decisions. Think carefully to the following questions. You may want to write out your answers for reference throughout your decision-making.

1. Know Who You Are

What are your values, strengths, and weaknesses? What is unique and important to you? Where are you at emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially?

2. Know What You Want

Are you working on changing your personal or professional life? Whether you are seeking your life mate or ideal job, what are the qualities and attributes you want that person or position to have? What emotional, physical, spiritual, financial values should the person or job hold?

3. Compare Information

From Steps 1 and 2, how complementary are your own values and characteristics with what you want, for example, your ideal partner or job? Where are the differences? Do you need to adjust your expectations? Or are some differences acceptable to you?

4. Explore Your Options

Spend time getting to know what is available to you. Do some “comparison shopping.” For a job, gather information through research, networking, interviewing, or interning. For a life mate, meet a wide variety of people through social events, blind dates, volunteering, etc.

5. Make a Decision

Using the information gathered in the preceding steps, make your informed, thoughtful decision. At each step in the decision-making process, revisit the previous steps to ensure that you are following your inner guidance. And always objectively evaluate if what you are doing is working.