I’ve always hated making decisions. Maybe it’s the feeling of confusion over the choice about to be made, or perhaps the fear of the consequences of my decision. Actually, it’s a mixture of both. I hate having to make choices, especially hard ones, because it stresses me so much. I’m hardly a decisive person. My choice almost changes instantaneously as time passes. When there are deadlines, I rarely meet them with confidence in my decision.
It takes long for me to finally accept the fact that I have to make a decision. Normally, I enjoy it more to watch things fall into place without me thinking about them. Of course, it’s not possible for me to go on with life without making choices. When I realize that I need to make a choice, I first think of what I want to happen in the future. Then, I think of the options I have. I also try to identify the ideal characteristics of a perfect choice and outcome. After this, I try to evaluate my choices, comparing them to that ideal choice and to one another. The last step I make is to select my option. Though it seems as if I follow each of these steps in decision-making, it doesn’t mean that I’m able to do so effectively.
One of the latest and most important decisions I’ve just made was about what kind of vehicle I was going to buy. Manual or Matic? I had asked my parents to buy me a car for my 18th birthday. I enrolled in a driving school last summer, and the car I used was manual. At first, I was very eager about learning how to drive. Soon, however, I realized that driving wasn’t exactly my thing. I almost never got used to making the car start running. Somehow, I kept encouraging myself that I could get through it. Perhaps I needed to practice just a bit more. I was overconfident. Even though I wasn’t ready to drive, I already asked my mom to get me a manual. It was a bad decision.
I ended up settling for manual because of several influences. First, my father wanted me to drive a manual car. He reasoned out that manual cars were cheaper, and had lower gas consumption. Talking to some of my guy friends changed nothing. They said that a manual would be much cooler because I’d be in total control of the vehicle. It would be much easier to speed up than in automatic. Well, I still have nothing against the things they said. Apparently, most of them were true. Soon enough, I believed I should be crossing out the automatic in my list. It relieved me somehow to see that automatic cars really do cost more than manual ones. I was convinced that I was on the right path. Many of my other friends commented that I should just get a matic, so I can pull myself out of the possible stress of driving a manual. Indeed, based on experience, it was a lot easier to drive an automatic – it was a lot like riding a bump car. However, I insisted to them that I’m not the lazy type of person. I said I was up to the challenge. I had so much excuses to convince myself and others that manual was still better for me. From this point, it could be seen that I committed the confirmation bias. I almost rebutted my friends who thought I should just buy a matic. Aside from this, I had too much belief in my decision, which was why I also had the overconfidence bias. Without much basis and experience on either type of car, I immediately decided on what to get. I wasn’t even finished with my driving lessons when I made the choice. I thought I could just get over it easily, but now, I think I’ve proven myself wrong.
I realized what I missed during my decision-making process. I wasn’t able to identify all the relevant dimensions for evaluating the alternative to the choice I made. Back then, I only thought about money and prestige. True enough, driving a manual car could save me some money, but I failed to realize other important aspects I should have considered too. One of that was comfort. Quezon City always has major congestion problems, and driving a manual in this area may be difficult. I also realized that driving a manual takes my entire concentration, whereas it’s so much easier when I'm driving an automatic. It’s also quite tiring, having to use my left foot and my right hand when they could just be resting. Now, I’m wondering if I really made the right choice. Actually, my mom’s wondering too. Until now, I haven’t gotten the hang of driving the manual. As a consequence, my car’s just stuck inside our parking lot, because I can’t make it work without something going wrong. Obviously, I’d have no choice but to try harder, because I already bought it.
It often crosses my mind how it would have been if I just got an automatic. Probably, if I did get a matic, I'd already be driving myself to school right now. I wouldn’t have to bother my mother to fetch me whenever it’s raining or when I have heavy stuff to bring to school. On the brighter side, I’m thinking that maybe this would pass. Maybe I was right in the first place (oops, hindsight bias!). Maybe I could be better than how I am now. But If I were to assess my decision based on what’s going on right now, I know I should have bought an automatic instead. So much for my hasty decision-making.
1. C 2. C 3. C 4. C 5. C
It takes long for me to finally accept the fact that I have to make a decision. Normally, I enjoy it more to watch things fall into place without me thinking about them. Of course, it’s not possible for me to go on with life without making choices. When I realize that I need to make a choice, I first think of what I want to happen in the future. Then, I think of the options I have. I also try to identify the ideal characteristics of a perfect choice and outcome. After this, I try to evaluate my choices, comparing them to that ideal choice and to one another. The last step I make is to select my option. Though it seems as if I follow each of these steps in decision-making, it doesn’t mean that I’m able to do so effectively.
One of the latest and most important decisions I’ve just made was about what kind of vehicle I was going to buy. Manual or Matic? I had asked my parents to buy me a car for my 18th birthday. I enrolled in a driving school last summer, and the car I used was manual. At first, I was very eager about learning how to drive. Soon, however, I realized that driving wasn’t exactly my thing. I almost never got used to making the car start running. Somehow, I kept encouraging myself that I could get through it. Perhaps I needed to practice just a bit more. I was overconfident. Even though I wasn’t ready to drive, I already asked my mom to get me a manual. It was a bad decision.
I ended up settling for manual because of several influences. First, my father wanted me to drive a manual car. He reasoned out that manual cars were cheaper, and had lower gas consumption. Talking to some of my guy friends changed nothing. They said that a manual would be much cooler because I’d be in total control of the vehicle. It would be much easier to speed up than in automatic. Well, I still have nothing against the things they said. Apparently, most of them were true. Soon enough, I believed I should be crossing out the automatic in my list. It relieved me somehow to see that automatic cars really do cost more than manual ones. I was convinced that I was on the right path. Many of my other friends commented that I should just get a matic, so I can pull myself out of the possible stress of driving a manual. Indeed, based on experience, it was a lot easier to drive an automatic – it was a lot like riding a bump car. However, I insisted to them that I’m not the lazy type of person. I said I was up to the challenge. I had so much excuses to convince myself and others that manual was still better for me. From this point, it could be seen that I committed the confirmation bias. I almost rebutted my friends who thought I should just buy a matic. Aside from this, I had too much belief in my decision, which was why I also had the overconfidence bias. Without much basis and experience on either type of car, I immediately decided on what to get. I wasn’t even finished with my driving lessons when I made the choice. I thought I could just get over it easily, but now, I think I’ve proven myself wrong.
I realized what I missed during my decision-making process. I wasn’t able to identify all the relevant dimensions for evaluating the alternative to the choice I made. Back then, I only thought about money and prestige. True enough, driving a manual car could save me some money, but I failed to realize other important aspects I should have considered too. One of that was comfort. Quezon City always has major congestion problems, and driving a manual in this area may be difficult. I also realized that driving a manual takes my entire concentration, whereas it’s so much easier when I'm driving an automatic. It’s also quite tiring, having to use my left foot and my right hand when they could just be resting. Now, I’m wondering if I really made the right choice. Actually, my mom’s wondering too. Until now, I haven’t gotten the hang of driving the manual. As a consequence, my car’s just stuck inside our parking lot, because I can’t make it work without something going wrong. Obviously, I’d have no choice but to try harder, because I already bought it.
It often crosses my mind how it would have been if I just got an automatic. Probably, if I did get a matic, I'd already be driving myself to school right now. I wouldn’t have to bother my mother to fetch me whenever it’s raining or when I have heavy stuff to bring to school. On the brighter side, I’m thinking that maybe this would pass. Maybe I was right in the first place (oops, hindsight bias!). Maybe I could be better than how I am now. But If I were to assess my decision based on what’s going on right now, I know I should have bought an automatic instead. So much for my hasty decision-making.
1. C 2. C 3. C 4. C 5. C
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