What’s the most important part of decision-making?

Author Brian Tracy says, “Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.”

Putting off key decisions is like burying your head under the sheets so that the bogey man in the closet doesn’t get you.

Here are 3 mistakes that are unnecessarily stopping managers and leaders from making the very decisions that must be made, and fast.

Mistake #1: You tell yourself you need more time

There’s a decision sitting right in front of you, but rather than decide, you tell yourself you’ll make the decision later. Then you settle into doing something else altogether.

Needing more time is an automatic strategy for some people who can’t make up their minds. It’s as if time has a magical power in and of itself. Somehow, after a certain number of hours or days, the time will be right for this decision. In the meantime, you don’t have to do any analysis, thinking, or consulting at all.

If this sounds like you, ask yourself, how will time passing bring this decision closer to me? (It won’t.) Can I just make the decision right now? If not, what has to happen above and beyond the passage of time in order for this decision to be made?