Decisions, decisions, decisions. Each day we are forced to make decisions. Starting from the moment we wake up, we have to make a cognitive choice to get out of bed or stay in bed. Do we then let the dog out or choose to stay in bed and check out our social media new feed? Take another five minutes to snooze, or tend to the needs of our little ones as they wake up and want to start the day?
Some decisions making choices are nearly instantaneous. For example, a screaming hungry baby immediately results in a quick choice to offer the baby nourishment. Other choices, however, do not have such a quick response time through the decision making process. Those are usually the choices that tend to have the greatest number of alternative choices and the ability to wait to act upon the decision.
Take the example of purchasing a family friendly vehicle. That was a decision that required a multistage decision making process. We recently were provided the opportunity to make this decision and it was one we did not take lightly. We didn't approach this using a systematic decision support tool, nor did we have any equations to lead us through the process. We created a "must have" list and went from top to bottom, determining together what areas we could compromise on and which we needed to uphold.
While I do appreciate the formulaic approach, I feel that if I were to use something this complex, my husband would immediately check out. Being someone that is often referred to as an "over-thinker," this would just add to my over-thinking tendencies. In decisions, I try to find a balance between impulse and paralysis.
So how did we make the choice to buy our vehicle?
Knowing there would be precious cargo inside the vehicle, we chose safety as our top requirement. We wanted a vehicle that would fit all of us and be able to store a stroller and groceries. Thankfully, we now have enough room for a stroller, wheelchair and groceries. We went on websites for the institute of highway safety and looked at crash reports. Those are a little more reliable than crash testing in a laboratory.
We knew we needed something in our budget, used and we wanted to make sure it could withstand different types of terrain, in case we needed to move. It needed to allow me the safety and comfort of knowing what we value highest (the lives of our family) would be protected. It needed to allow my husband the feeling that he was not becoming a soccer mom.
About 2 months into the search, we purchased a used 2005 Land Rover LR3, which in all crashes throughout the U.S. had zero fatalities. Zero. That number was worth more to us than being able to have 11 more miles per gallon on the highway. It was more important than a sticker price that was $2,000.00 less. While there might be a really cool dad out there somewhere driving a Ferrari that has extra stroller storage space, my husband and I are very happy with our decision, and our little one sleeps safe and sound as we take her for her late night car rides to get her to sleep.
Is this decision making model perfect? No. Are there logical flaws? Sure. However, we tried to look at what would be the greatest cost to us long term. That would be the loss of one of us in a vehicle accident. We then weighed that against what we could afford and what was available on the market. We couldn't go without a vehicle, but we also didn't want to perform an impulse buy. We tried not to have myopic thinking and looked at the decision from multiple angles. My husband was about to give up on the search out of frustration right before we purchased. We are so thankful now that we did take the time, we did look at this from multiple vantage points and we chose to obtain additional coverage/warranty on the vehicle to ensure it continues to operate to functional performance.
As for the decisions in between, most generally take about a full day and maybe a night's sleep to mull over. If it is something that proves to be a greater risk than potential worth, it is something we pass up. At this stage of our life, we are not looking to take large risks. We would rather make the more predictable choices to ensure there is food on the table, clothes on our backs and enough financial strength to get us through each day. It might be boring, but it has been what has kept us going and for that we are thankful.
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