Whether we like it or not (and most of us do not) our lives are filled with decisions. Every day there are a million little decisions and a handful of more crucial ones to get to grips with. From the personal and emotional to the professional and dispassionate the way in which we solve these daily problems can have a considerable impact on our lives.

For this reason it is important to be able to step back and analyse our decision making processes. All too often we rush in to rash 'solutions' to a given problem because said problem stresses us out or panics us when what we should actually be doing is taking the time to define terms and thinking through the selection of possible options and variables open to us.

Academically speaking there are six stages to the decision making process and, like many such sets of rules, when laid out in front of you they appear so obvious as to be almost patronising. Surely we all do these things instinctively, right? Well, think of the last significant problem that you had to find a solution to and then ask yourself whether you followed these half a dozen tenets to reach your conclusion. I think you may be surprised at the answer.

The first crucial step to take is to define the terms of your problem. The key here is to be as objective as possible so that you can lay out the bare bones of the issue at hand uncluttered by any emotional baggage or anxiety that the problem may produce in you. At the same time as you define the central problem you need to be clear about what you desire the outcome to be; this projection will help you to clarify exactly what you want to achieve and provide you with a goal and motivation to follow.

The nature of a decision is that there is more than one possible path to take and so it is important that before you take the plunge you have exhaustively examined all the options available to you. This is more than just a case of considering the two most obvious actions; rather it is the consideration of any and all conceivable possibilities as the solution to a tricky decision can often come from thinking outside of the box.

Evaluating the alternatives is where the real work comes in. The wisest cause of action is to note down the options that you have identified and then compare the pros and cons of each. Rating each option can also be useful to cement the 'winner' in your mind and lead you smoothly on to the fourth stage of the process which is actually making that all important decision.

But making the decision is not the same as implementing the solution which is what you need to do next. This is the central crux of the whole process but, having rationally analysed the possibilities and rated which option has the greatest chance of success, it is much more likely that the solution you opt for will be the correct one.

However, implementing the solution is not the end of the process as the results of our decisions have manifold consequences and repercussions on both ourselves and other people. With this in mind you need to monitor these effects of the decision that you have made and consider whether the outcome is the one that you expected at the start of the process.