The character trait for this month is Decisiveness.  The irony is that as I was studying the topic of decision-making and preparing these remarks I certainly felt indecisive as I tried to determine what to include or exclude. Decisiveness is defined by the Cambridge and Oxford Dictionaries as the ability to make decisions quickly, efficiently or confidently.  We can all likely think of examples where decisiveness is a life and death matter – the battlefields of war or emergency work of first responders.  We watch action movies that are saturated with decisiveness – actions that quickly change the course of the movie and the heroes are often decisive charismatic leaders. Consider for a moment, though, the people in your lives who are quite wise.  We treasure their advice. You might hear those wise people say things, such as…

• Take your time and consider all your options.
• Don’t move too fast or you could make an emotional decision.

How does one marry the need for decisiveness with the need to be wise as a decision-maker?

Roy E. Disney shares insight on this topic.  He says, “It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are.”  Let that resonate a moment.  “It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are.”

We can spend enormous amounts of time on evaluating options – which stock to purchase, what car to buy, which job to pursue, which person to marry, and more.  While certainly these decisions are important, just think how much more decisive we would each be if we invest our energies on our values and then let the decisions follow. Here’s an example in my life.  As a professional educator, each decision I make in some way affects the education and future of a child.  The weight of that is humbling and causes me to take decisions quite seriously. If I take Roy Disney’s advice and invest in knowing what my values are, then my decisions will follow. Here are a few of my values:

• Every child is a unique and valuable individual.
• Each child in the world should be treated with respect and dignity.
• Each child has unique gifts and talents.
• Correcting or redirecting a child helps them develop their full potential.

So what questions follow:

• Should a child be corrected when the child makes a mistake?  Yes. I can be decisive about that because redirection is in the long-term best interest of the child.
• When a child makes a mistake, should the child be shamed publicly? No. I can be decisive about that because shaming a child is highly disrespectful.
• When a child struggles with reading, should we invest resources in helping her? Yes, I can be decisive about that because helping a child learn to read is maximizing the child’s potential.

You see the pattern. I recently read Andy Stanley’s, Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets.’  In it he shares, “Every decision you make becomes a permanent part of your story.  The Story of your life.” I encourage each of us to spend quality time determining what our life values are. Then, we will live a life of decisiveness because each decision becomes a reflection of the values we have chosen to write our life’s story.