MAKING THE DECISIONS

As most of us have discovered in our lives, making decisions can really be hard at times. I refer to this process as churning. We can churn a thought or idea to death and almost become paralyzed in the process. I have over my years simply not allowed this to become a habit or normal behavior. I try to create a matrix of check points, leaving the emotional response out of the equation and try to move forward towards the best decision based on the information at that moment. Do I get it right all the time?  No, but even then, I continue to move forward with a positive attitude and make the necessary adjustments without abandoning my goals. Now that’s just me, but when my wife and I must make the decision that both can agree on, then there’s one enormous word comes to play really quickly.
That word,  Compromise! But I still use my formula of success in processing the task at hand.

To this point and specifically to the point of this article. Making choices and decisions about your new home can be a struggle and almost a paralyzing process. I suggest you never allow the indecisive and counterproductive thinking that starts the eroding and negative process to ruin an otherwise amazing adventure to happen. I will share the formula I developed many years ago for making decisions and now the commitment to this process is just a natural ingredient to my thinking and solving any issue.

Three letters form my thought process and listed below. IAR are the acronyms:
I-  IDENTIFY
A- ANALYSE
R-  RESPOND

IDENTIFY
Identify your objectives first, and assign a budget number you are comfortable with, allowing for some measure of contingency as I can guarantee just like the vacation, there will be some extra and unforeseen expenses.

When you are searching through a multitude of house plans, it becomes almost impossible to make a choice if you haven’t qualified just what you want, can afford or exactly need in your home. Until you, collectively, have created a clear list of these objectives, you might be creating a small nightmare of indecision and disappointment. Think of it like planning a month long vacation across our beautiful country. You want to travel three or four thousand miles to see everything you possibly can and enjoy each day in the process. You must create a plan, pull out the map, spend hours on the internet searching for just the right place to stay. There’s also things to see along the way, and keeping in mind the budget number you have collectively agreed upon in mind, right? Well folks, this homebuilding adventure is very similar in concept.

ANALYSE
Analyze collectively how important each attraction or place you are wanting to see is in relative importance to the overall objective of the trip. This speaks to the list of items, the size, how many bedrooms, closets, etc. you have agreed upon prior to the selection of the house plan. Just remember, don’t test drive a Porsche if you really need a more moderately priced and convenient automobile as you just might be disappointed driving the family SUV daily. The same thing will occur when searching for a home. Become educated on just how much the items and choices for your home cost before the final decision is made about those items. I will expand on this very disappointing action in future articles.

RESPOND
Now that you have worked through these simple objectives, you have accomplished your goal of creating a great vacation that everyone agrees with. Well almost everyone, right. There were adjustments to the plan also on this trip, but compromise doesn’t have to become a negative item. The creation of your home is much the same in theory. You won’t have everything in your dream home you want, but you will quite possibly have everything you need and will enjoy. Remember, just like this incredible vacation we are planning above, this home will become your memory maker for many years.