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©Learning ZoneXpress
By “Colleen Angel, CFCS”
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Everyday life is filled with choices.
We make decisions – big and small
– from morning until night.
5 simple decisions you have made today.
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 List
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Definitions
The process defined.
 Goal:
• Something you want to accomplish.
• The decisions you make will affect your goals.
 Decision:
 Decision-Making Process:
• A set of logical steps to follow
when making decisions.
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• The act of making a choice or
arriving at a solution to a problem.
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Definitions
 Critical Thinking:
• Clarifying a problem or situation with reflective reasoning.
Ask yourself:
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Do I agree with….
Have I thought about…
What does my heart say…
Can I live with or without…
 Consequence:
– For example, if you decided to go to your Grandma’s house for the
weekend — missing practice and not tell your coach — you could
be cut from the team.
 Resources:
• Time, money, energy, and people.
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• The result or effect of a decision.
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Today’s Decisions
What decisions do you make?
 List decisions that you have to make in your
everyday life.
• List as many as you can in 30 seconds.
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 Ready-Set-Go!
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What to wear/buy.
To get a part-time job.
What to eat.
What movies to see.
Who to hang out with.
College/Higher education.
To do your homework.
Hobbies.
To study or not.
Hair style.
Who to talk to about a problem.
To smoke or not.
What to do with your time.
Sports to play.
Saving or spending money.
What music to buy/listen to.
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Sample Decisions
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Tomorrow’s Decisions
What decisions will you make in the future?
 List decisions that you think you will have to make
later in your life.
• List as many as you can in 30 seconds.
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 Ready-Set-Go!
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Future Decisions
Marriage/Relationships.
Job/Career.
Having/Raising a family.
Getting along with co-workers.
Education for children.
Promotions/advancement on
job.
Paying bills.
Health-related.
Making investments.
Leisure activities.
Time management.
Buy/Sell a house.
Yard work.
Types of insurance.
Purchase/Maintain/Repair
automobile.
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Discipline for children.
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Goals
What do you want to accomplish?
 The decisions you make will affect your goals.
• Which should happen first?
– Set a goal or make a decision?
• Setting your goals first helps you make the decisions.
• Let’s say you want a pro-sports career. Yet, you skip
practice frequently to hang out with friends.
• What will happen to your skills?
 List 5 of your goals.
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 Plan and set goals to be in control of your life.
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Critical Thinking & Consequences
Let’s take that pro-sports career.
 What are the consequences?
• What if you don’t like to go to practice everyday?
• What happens if you decide to smoke cigarettes?
• What things do you have to give up to reach your goal?
• What question should you ask yourself?
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 Use critical thinking to analyze the goal of having a
pro-sports career.
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Critical Thinking & Consequences
Now take someone who has errands to run.
 To save time, gas and money, they should plan
before they take off in the car. They have to:
Return library books.
Get groceries.
Get stamps.
Drop off insurance papers
at the dentist.
 What are the consequences if they don’t plan?
• Use critical thinking skills, reasoning and reflective
thinking.
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Ways People Make Decisions
Every time you make a decision, you give up other choices.
• Do Nothing!
• Decide on an impulse.
• Decide by habit (the way they
always do something).
• Decide by imitation (what others do).
• Let someone else decide.
 If you want to go to college, but use these ways to
make a decision, what happens in each case?
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 When faced with a decision here are the things
people often do:
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Decision-Making Process
Writing it down will help make your decision!
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Define the problem or decision you need to made.
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Advantages and disadvantages of each choice.
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How each choice affects your goals.
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Make your decision and give
reasons for your decision.
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 List your choices.
Decision-Making Chart
Decision that needs to be made:
List choice 1:
Advantages
List choice 2:
Disadvantages
How are my goals affected?
My decision is:
Reasons for my decision:
Advantages
Disadvantages
How are my goals affected?
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Making a Good Decision
Here are some hints to making a good decision.
 A decision you make should FEEL right to you.
• Friends might put pressure on you to do what they want you to
do. You need to make this decision on your own.
 Think about how you make an easy decision everyday.
• What works? What doesn’t?
 Decisions have good and bad results.
 You may have to make compromises.
 Consider your goals and “process” the information alone or
with people you respect.
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• Rarely is a decision perfect in every way.
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Making a Good Decision
More things to consider.
 Accept the outcome.
• Make the best decision you can.
• Next time the decision might even be better because of
what you learned.
 A decision can sometimes be changed.
 Don’t depend on luck and other people.
• Use planning and thinking skills to help decide.
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• Sometimes situations change.
• What consequences are there if you change your mind?
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Resources
A resource is anything available that helps
you make and carry out a decision.
 Human Resources:
• From people – their personal qualities and talents.
• They may be natural or learned abilities and skills.
• Resources that aren’t from people that
can help you make a decision.
• They are usually tangible objects
or sources of information.
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 Non-Human Resources:
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Resources
Learn to use YOUR resources!
 List
5 human and 5 non-human resources.
Did you list any of these?
Good health, energy, endurance,
maturity, patience (all personality
traits are personal talents), friends,
family, relatives, teachers,
workplace, experts, counselors,
community agencies…
Non-Human
Computers, library,
databases, the internet,
books, brochures (all
sources of information),
time, machines, food,
money…
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Human
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Reliable Resources
Use good resources, with reliable information!
 Unbiased Resources:
• Provide facts and information to benefit the person making
the decision.
 Biased Resources:
 List
5 unbiased and 5 biased resources.
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• Provide information that might not be absolutely true
because it benefits the one providing it.
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Apply What You’ve Learned
Did Natalie use biased or unbiased resources?
 Natalie is looking for a new cell phone.
 She calls one cell phone company, and the sales
person tells her why their phone is better than the
competitors’ phone.
– The sales person will probably make his or her own
product sound superior.
– Natalie should ask several cell phone companies about
their products and compare the results on her own.
– What are her resources?
– How do they influence her decision?
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• Answer: Biased.
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Apply What You Learned
Did Hong used biased or unbiased resources?
 Hong just turned 16 and is looking for a car.
 He wants a car that is reliable and safe and uses
several sources of information like consumer guide
magazines, internet, car sales people and others.
– Hong should be able to get a reliable information
when he compares all his resources.
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• Answer: Unbiased
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Influences on Decision-Making
Decisions are individual.
 The decision-making process leads to different
outcomes for different individuals.
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 Much depends on the personal factors and resources
that each individual brings to the situation.
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Influences on Decision-Making
Influences on an individual’s decisions.
 Maturity: age, ability to reason, past experience, etc.
 Values: ideas and beliefs that are important to the individual.
• Many values are formed by the people around you and the
environment in which you grew up.
 Standards: measure of quality the individual expects from
themselves and others.
 Resources: the human and non-human help available so you
are more informed.
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 Goals: plans for the immediate or distant future.
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Influences on Decision-Making
What may have influenced different decisions?
 Evan and Basma each wanted a good deal on a
1960’s style lava lamp.
 They found some online for $10.
 Basma bought the lamp online for
$10 while Evan bought the lamp
downtown for more.
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 They also found a vintage store
downtown selling the same
lamp for $18.
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Influences on Decision-Making
List possible influences for each of the following categories.
Basma is not old enough to drive downtown, or Evan is
underage and needs a parental credit card to order online.
Values
Evan values personal relations more than Basma and wants to
know the person he is purchasing the lamp from.
Goals
Evan wants to finish decorating his room tomorrow and needs
the lamp now, or Basma’s goal is to save money.
Standards
Evan wants to see the lamp first and make sure it is in perfect
condition before purchasing it.
Resources
Evan does not have a computer to order online, or Basma does
not have the time or resources to go downtown.
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Maturity
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Smart Choices
Practice making decisions.
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To buy a new CD player.
You got a “D” on a math paper.
To take a babysitting job every Friday night.
Your best friend isn’t talking to you.
To eat pepperoni pizza every day for lunch.
Your dilemma’s, challenges, and tough decisions.
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 Use the Decision-Making Chart to make a decision
for one of the following:
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Summary
 Decision-making skills are needed throughout your entire life.
You will make hundreds of decisions every day.
 Improving your decision-making skills takes practice.
 Setting a goal first, helps you make a decision.
 Understand that maturity, values, goals,
standards and resources influence your decisions.
 Write it down! Use the decision-making chart to help analyze
and make challenging decisions.
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 Make use of your resources
— human and non-human.
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Practice What You’ve Learned
You’re the expert!
 List one large decision you are currently trying to
make or you will need to make soon.
 Give an example of one decision you made as a
child that you would be much
more capable of making today.
• Write a sentence telling what
your new decision would be.
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• Include the resources you can rely on in your search for the
final decision.
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Decisions & Choices Quiz
Choose the best answer for the following questions.
1. When you discuss and process information,
what is this called?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Decision
Goal
Critical Thinking
Consequence
a.
b.
c.
d.
Have your friends tell you what to do.
Use reliable resources to get the facts.
Set you goals.
Both b and c.
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2. Before you make a decision, you should:
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Decisions & Choices Quiz
Choose the best answer for the following questions.
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List two things you can do that will help you make a
decision.
Put the 5 steps in the decision-making process
in the correct order:
 List advantages and disadvantages.
 List choices.
 Identify the problem.
 Make decision, give a reason.
 List how goals are affected.
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3.
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Web Resources
Suggested web sites for more information on decisions & choices.
 Decision Making - Your Key to Success
• http://www.decision-making-tools.com
 Six Thinking Hats. Looking at a Decision from all points of view.
• http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED 07.html
 How to make decisions stick.
• http://hairee.com/how to make decisions.html
 Virtual Salt - Problem-Solving Techniques
• http://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook4.html
Please note that web sites are constantly changing and being updated.
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 Take an online self-esteem quiz.
• http://region.peel.on.ca/health/commhlth/teenpowr/sequiz.html