My Decision

The process of Critical Thinking is an arduous one. It requires one to have focus and clarity. It also involves a thorough knowledge of the issue to which one is critically thinking on. Most scholarly individuals use certain ingredients in the critical thinking process. The ingredients include clarity, a clear concise thought or idea convinced in understandable manner. Precision is another component in critical thinking. Precise and accurate information is always beneficial in arriving at a logical decision.

Critical thinking in decision-making is paramount in arriving at logical decision. This often includes exercising sound judgment in a process that comprises several steps. Decision-making steps or intellectual standards as stated by Bassham involve clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, consistency, logical correctness, completeness and fairness.

One model an individual can use in decision making is the Cost Benefit Analysis. This model is easy and clear cut. I use this method for a majority of decisions I make on a daily basis. What will it cost me? How will this decision benefit my long term goals? Does the benefit out weight the cost? Is the cost worth the benefit? All of these questions are relevant in modeling the Cost Benefit Analysis.

When I first decided to go back to school the cost seemed enormous. Due to bad decision making and slothfulness I found myself in quite a bit of financial trouble. Most of decisions I made in my youth involved very little critical thinking. My decisions were based on impulse and immediate gratification. They were also based on a lack of knowledge and ignorance to the gravity of bad decision decisions would make on my future. Often costs are either one-off, or may be ongoing. Benefits are longtime, they require projection and patience. Both of which I lacked in my youth.

When I decided I wanted to pickup where I left off ten years earlier in college I couldn't because the finances with not there. My parents had fulfilled their obligation financially as far as college was concerned and I had not fulfilled my by graduating. Had I known the dead-end jobs and lack of advancement I would encounter over the years this would had made a big difference in my decision to do what was required to complete college. At the time the cost of not being studious and not asking for help out weighed the benefit of studying and seeking help. I lacked the tools needed to succeed in higher academia. I suffered from low self-esteem and a major inferiority complex from my fears of not being able to succeed. Even greater was my fear of failing. Wherein I did and continued to do, until I decided to exercise some serious critical thinking skills.

Now I sit here at my current situation,