There’s no shortage of advice on decision-making. Social media feeds, newsletters, YouTube videos, books — all of them promising to unlock the secrets of problem-solving. Most of it sounds like this: “Here’s the one thing you need to know about making better decisions.”
But when you open the link or buy the book? That “one thing” turns into a bloated checklist of vague ideas. Classic clickbait.
I’ve learned to be sceptical. Especially when it comes to decisions that actually matter — like your health.
Think about it: is it easy to make good decisions about your health in South Africa? Not when you’re working with limited funds, not when your medical aid is really just glorified insurance, and definitely not when you’re navigating deliberately confusing options.
Take health plans. Decision-making doesn’t feel so breezy when you’re drowning in fine print, co-payments, exclusions, and meaningless package names. I’ve had several consultants try to help me find the “most affordable” plan — none of them were affordable. And don’t laugh too hard at the commission they earn. Most of them disappear before the job is done anyway.
In my case, it took a year to finally land on something halfway workable. A year. So don’t tell me decision-making is easy.
And then there’s the whole “consulting” industry. Everyone wants to be a consultant now. Everyone wants to sell the idea that consulting is simple, profitable, and slick. But the truth? Consulting is hard. You need time, effort, and a stomach for relentless sales pressure. I’ve met more than one self-proclaimed “marketing guru” whose real talent was just convincing people to buy — often at shocking prices.
So how do you “make consulting easy”? You don’t. It isn’t.
That’s the real issue. Too many people want to sell “easy.” Easy money. Easy consulting. Easy decision-making. But life isn’t easy — and the advice that pretends otherwise isn’t doing anyone any favours.
Let me end with this:
How many important decisions do you make in a month?
Are you equipped to solve every problem coming at you?
If you’re not sure — good. You’re thinking. That’s a much better place to start than pretending it’s all easy.
