We all face big decisions in our lives and businesses. Whether changing careers, moving to a new city, making a major purchase, expanding or reducing operations, or evolving your staffing model. These major choices can feel overwhelming as we agonize over every detail. But this leads to analysis paralysis and missed opportunities. Relentless Simplicity, one of the six principles of One-day Success, can be a vital way to make big decisions quickly and confidently, personally and professionally.

Here are five steps to making those big decisions with Relentless Simplicity:

1. Identify your Key decision factors. Start by narrowing down to just one or two vital factors. Resist the temptation to consider everything upfront. For a career change, key factors may be purpose, passion, or work-life balance. A business expansion could be profitability, strategic fit, or growth potential in a new market. Get a laser focus on the essence of what matters most.

2. Gather only essential information. Collect just enough data to analyze options against your crucial decision factors. Refrain from diving deep into minor details at this stage, which could create confusion. If considering a major purchase, research only pricing and core features initially. If vetting a new product line for your business, zero in on profit margins and required capital investment.

3. Evaluate your options. With simplicity and clarity on decision factors, quickly eliminate any options that don’t meet your criteria. Avoid overthinking or perfectionism. Ask yourself if a given choice is “good enough” based on one or two key factors. Eliminate unworkable or far-out options before wasting more time analyzing them. (What if we bought a shipload of products and sold half to someone else?)

4. Make a decision. Or, as I recently said to a coaching client, “Let’s make the damn decision right now.” Set a deadline if needed to prevent delay due to uncertainty. Making an imperfect choice will feel better in the long term than remaining stuck in analysis paralysis. It’s also just as likely the quicker decision will be right as much as the long-drawn-out one.

5. Take immediate action. Once decided, move forward quickly and confidently on your decision before opportunities pass you by. Determine what are the next steps on implementation. You can still adjust the course later if necessary. Avoid second-guessing endlessly.

With Relentless Simplicity, you can rapidly make significant personal and business decisions. This enables you to capitalize on opportunities immediately before they disappear. You’ll experience greater confidence in your choices, less regret, higher profits, and improved life and work satisfaction.

When a big decision needs to be made, simplify. Focus on what truly matters, decide fast, and act decisively.

So let me ask three questions:

1)  What's the silliest thing you've spent way too much time deciding on? (Mine was whether to have a taco or burrito for lunch. I chose the enchiladas.)

2) If simplicity was a song, what would it be? (I'm thinking "ABC" by The Jackson 5)

3) What are some specific decisions that you can make right now using Relentless Simplicity?