Making Responsible Decisions Career Preparedness

Impacts of Decisions Your decisions affect all of those around you. If you are having difficulty making decisions, you should ask for assistance from others who are better informed about that particular situation. How do you decisions affect others?? (Examples I use…) Using deodorant (I know…it’s crazy but my students LOVE this discussion. They think it is so funny. Have fun with it. In the morning it may not be quite as noticeable, but after PE you guys get ripe!! Your odor will begin to infringe on your friends space. Will this affect them? Will this affect their decisions? Could it affect your friendship? Buying a computer or cell phone… How do you inquire about what is best for you? Who do you go to?

Decision Making Process Identify the problem List the possible options Weigh the possible outcomes Consider your values Make a decision Evaluate the decision Give an example of a decision you have made (or students may make – college choices…) and step them through how to use the decision making process. Explain how your values impact your decisions… What is important to you? I always place emphasis on the importance of evaluating your decision. What can we learn from this decision? What is a good decision? Would we do anything differently the next time? Will this decision affect future decisions or how you use the decision making process in the future?

Practice these Steps: Scenarios Scenario #1: You need to decide what to do once you graduate from high school. Scenario #2: You need to decide what you want to do as a career (what you want to major in for your degree). Scenario#3: You best friend told you she stole a large sum of money from another friend. You need to decide what to do.

Avoiding Troublemakers Procrastination- waiting until the last minute to make a decision Impulsiveness – Not taking the time to think through your decision. Avoidance – Avoiding making a decision all together. Deferring – Allowing another to make the decision for you. Procrastination – waiting until the last minute to make a decision. (not leaving enough time to properly go through the decision making process.) Impulsiveness – Not taking the time to think through your decision. (I often use the example of the check out lines at stores. They flood that section with many items to be purchased without thinking about it. Have you purchased items there without thinking?... Can you use any of those stories as examples?) Avoidance – Avoiding making a decision all together. (The idea that the decision will go away or make itself.) Deferring – Allowing another to make the decision for you. (The only person who will make the best decision for YOU is YOU! – Often an example of this is students choosing to go to college together because they want to stay with their friends and not based on what school is best for their career choice)

Turn & Talk What’s an Example of Each? Procrastination Impulsiveness Avoidance Deferring