CHOICES TODAY
COST TOMORROW
GRADE 9 LESSON 4
FIVE STEPS TO MAKING DECSIONS
Stop before You Start!
You were taught as a small child to stop and look before crossing the street. This was to keep you from being
hurt. You still use that advice today. So stopping before you act is good advice. Today we are going to learn
how stopping before making decisions can actually prevent causing problems in your financial future.
Why do I want to do this?
You know what motivates your decisions. Sometimes you may want something for a couple different reasons.
When this happens you can face conflicting motivations. In other words, you may know that doing something is
not going to have a good ending, but you may feel peer pressure to do it anyway and don’t want to be left out
or rejected by your peers.
For many teenagers, if decisions come down to doing what is right or what is popular, the majority of teenagers
will almost always choose what is popular.
What are my options?
You often have several possible choices in any given situation. For example, when faced with the possibility of
stealing something from a store with friends, you could a) take the item, b) not take the item but ignore the
fact that your friends are stealing, or c) try to convince your friends that stealing is wrong. In most cases there
are often several choices.
What are the consequences of my actions?
"How much trouble will I get in?” You need to evaluate the risks and rewards of your decisions. The problem is
that you often underestimate the costs and overestimate the benefits of your decisions. In other words, you
often say “it won’t be that big of a deal” or “this is going to make everything better”, when actually neither is
true.
How will my decision affect others?
Because you often only think about yourself, you may not even think about who else or what else you might be
affected by your decisions. Learning to ask this question can help you make decisions that are most beneficial
to both yourself and others.
Is this decision in my best interests?
Understanding what is in your best interests and having these concerns outweigh your other interest is the goal
of the decision making process. A good tool to help encourage you to make good decisions is to post these
steps or questions in a noticeable place in your home, such as on your refrigerator or a mirror in your bedroom.
By asking yourself these questions each day it will help you to make decisions that are beneficial to your future
financially.
CHOICES TODAY
COST TOMORROW
GRADE 9 LESSON 4
Practice Making Decisions with Your Teen
Use the following chart to practice how to use these 5 steps to
help make better decisions.
Steps to Take
Your Reponses
Stop before you Leap
Think about the
situation before doing
anything
Why do I want to do
this?
What are all of my
options?
What are the possible
consequences of my
actions?
How will my decision
affect others?
Is this decision in my
best interest?
Possible Financial
Consequences