Making decisions

Sometimes it seems like the only difference between a good decision and a bad decision is the follow through. What I mean is that sometimes it seems like almost any decision is a good one with the right follow through. I guess I am excluding obviously suicidal decisions. For example, in chess it really doesn't matter if you play a brilliant move or not. It is the follow up that matters. If you play a brilliant move but with the wrong idea it can be worse than playing a mediocre move with the correct follow up.

 

The struggle that I alluded to in a previous post is about making decisions. Obviously we try to make better decisions as time goes on. We try to learn. But it is a tough job. It's certainly possible to draw erroneous conclusions.

 

Basically the struggle is about pursuing a strategy. Pursuing a strategy is a matter of consistency. It can seem like (to me) that if I can just make a decision with sufficient depth of feeling then the rest will take care of itself. But the reality is that it is necessary to follow through regardless of how deeply felt a decision is.

 

I find it difficult to pursue strategies consistently. I tend to choose strategies kind of willy nilly and when I meet resistance I am quick to abandon them. Sometimes it is not even resistance so much as just getting pushed away from a decision by the currents of my own feelings. Sometimes I feel afraid of regret so I backtrack when it seems I will have to sacrifice something. Sometimes I plunge ahead without due regard for the consequences.

 

I feel the true path of games as a spiritual discipline has to do with making a study of decisions and learning to make better ones by building coherent strategies.