The Importance of Decision Making: A Lesson from Joseph Henry

The Importance of Decision Making: A Lesson from Joseph Henry

This story is from a book by Steve Goodier, One Minute Can Change a Life. It is one of the best stories on the importance of decision-making.

The Story of Joseph Henry

Joseph Henry wanted a pair of shoes, so his grandmother paid a cobbler to make them for him. The cobbler measured his feet and asked him to choose between two styles: a rounded toe or a square toe. However, Joseph couldn’t decide. It seemed like a huge decision—after all, these would be his only shoes for a long time.

The cobbler gave him a few days to decide. Joseph visited the shop multiple times, carefully examining both styles. The rounded-toe shoes were more practical, but the square-toe shoes looked fashionable. He kept procrastinating and couldn’t make up his mind.

One day, when he went to the shop, the cobbler handed him a package wrapped in brown paper. Excited, Joseph ran home and unwrapped it, only to find a shocking surprise—one shoe had a rounded toe, and the other had a square toe!

This experience taught Joseph a crucial life lesson: “If we don’t make decisions ourselves, others will make them for us.”

How This Story Relates to Our Daily Lives

We can easily relate this story to our daily activities. Consider online shopping—we often struggle with choosing what to buy. We add multiple items to our wishlist and seek opinions from others instead of making our own decisions.

If you struggle with small decisions like selecting shoes or perfume, how will you handle significant life decisions? Important choices such as closing a business deal, switching jobs, or starting a new venture require decision-making skills. If you develop the habit of relying on others, you may never gain the confidence to make crucial life choices independently.

The Habit of Decision-Making

Joseph learned this lesson as a child, which likely helped him later in life. However, if people don’t learn to make decisions early, they often struggle with this issue well into adulthood. If you don’t take charge of your own decisions, others will do it for you—leaving your life in someone else’s hands.

Decision-making is a critical factor that determines whether a person will succeed in life. If you are a parent, you should never make every decision for your child. Let them decide for themselves and face the consequences. This strengthens their mental muscle, preparing them for professional life. Overprotective parenting may seem caring, but excessive involvement can lead to dependency and weakness in adulthood.

The Consequences of Avoiding Decisions

When others make decisions for us, the outcome is unpredictable. In Joseph’s case, he ended up with mismatched shoes—something he couldn’t even wear unless mixed-style shoes became fashionable.

Who was at fault? Was it the grandmother, who should have ordered for him? Or the cobbler, who made the final choice? The only person responsible was Joseph himself. He had the power to choose but left the decision to others, learning a valuable lesson.

Take Control of Your Decisions

When we avoid making our own choices, we leave our fate to others or to random circumstances. While relying on others may sometimes work out, it’s always a gamble. The question is: Why depend on others when you have your own mind to make decisions?

Start by making small decisions in your daily life and gradually build confidence to handle bigger ones. This habit will positively impact both your personal and professional life.

Take charge of your decisions—because if you don’t, someone else will.