What if I told you a single book could change your perception of decision-making by dissecting each step of the process to gain a successful outcome? Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions is your one-stop shop to improve the complex decision-making process. This book caught my eye through three words in the title: Smart, guide, and decisions. These words alone sparked my curiosity about what I was about to read. Specifically, with the word “guide,” I think of organization and lists. This encouraged me to open the book and start reading because some aspects of my life are organized, but others, the more significant concerns, are not.      

The purpose of this book is to encourage people to stop and reflect on their thought processes when making a decision. Many people struggle with choices, big or small, and this book guides the reader through a multi-step process to help ease some concerns when deciding. The layout of Smart Choices is pretty simple in that each chapter highlights an aspect of making a decision and how to work through it. The chapters were titled using the well-known decision-making framework known as the “PrOACT” approach. The authors broke this down to show the success of this method correctly. As explained, the first three chapters are “Problem,” “Objectives,” and “Alternatives.” These decision-making areas are crucial because the participant must know what they are trying to work towards and other options they might not have considered. This component allows the chapters to build off each other and create the ultimate decision-making strategies, like puzzle pieces completing a puzzle.

The writing style of this book is primarily expository writing, and I enjoyed it because the author's goals were to educate the reader and provide information on a specific topic, in this case, decision-making. One thing I appreciated from this book is an “application” section at the end of each chapter that showcased a hypothetical family and their decision on whether to renovate their house or sell it. As each chapter grew and more aspects of decision-making came to light, the couple ultimately made the best decision for their family. Following the “application” section is “lessons from the application,” an area where the authors analyzed how the couple came to the conclusions they did while providing a segway to the next chapter. This made the book easier to understand because a real-life example was provided. In addition to the scenario at the end of the chapters, the authors offered other stories to support their research on effective decision-making. 

I have never considered myself a strong reader. Throughout elementary and middle school, I was the slowest reader during ‘popcorn reading,’ where all the students took turns reading aloud in the classroom. This concern has made me shy away from reading for fun. However, when I saw Smart Choices, I knew it would be a great book to segway into pleasure reading. I was pleasantly surprised once I finished it because I accomplished something monumental and gained new insight into how I can make more meaningful decisions in my life. I would consider myself indecisive, whether it is something small like choosing what to eat for dinner or something big like where I want to live after college. This book is geared towards strategies that help make more significant decisions because of the lengthy process, but there are resources present that will help the audience make smaller/ less valuable decisions. 

The most noteworthy chapter to me was the final one. It acted as the last piece to the puzzle, summarizing all eight elements of decision-making and placing them in one spot for the reader to come back to for assistance. I will use this chapter in a pinch to refresh my brain on specific bullet points stated in previous chapters. The final page, the “roadmap for smart choices,” acted as an index organized by chapter and highlighted vital concepts and terms that could be revisited. These are credible writers because they invented this framework and have done the necessary research to prove it is successful for anyone seeking help. After creating this, they converted it into a “user-friendly” book where people can use their method when faced with a decision worthy of serious thought.         

 The book provided concrete information and examples to truly understand the ‘PrOACT’ approach. Before reading this, I had never heard of that framework. I am so glad I stumbled on this book because I can honestly say I will use this approach to help me work through more significant life decisions. Smart Choices has taught me to think through every step of the decision-making process to maximize options and see the bigger picture instead of checking a box and moving on. I would rate this book 4/5 for its readability and application, but it is not a perfect score because it lacks examples in some places and focuses heavily on defining terms. One thing they could have done differently is add an index in the back of the book so that the reader could go back to a specific term if they had forgotten it while reading. I would recommend this book to someone who is also struggling with making decisions or a person who often acts impulsively.     

Quotes

“Our approach is proactive, encouraging you to seek out decision-making opportunities rather than wait for problems to present themselves.” (Hammond et al., 1999, p. vii). This excerpt is from the book's first few pages, and I loved how it set the tone for what was to come. I resonate with this by learning to be more proactive with my decision-making.   

“The ability to make smart choices is a fundamental life skill.” (Hammond et al., 1999, p. 2). This quote also helps set the pace for the rest of the book. Many people struggle to make choices, myself included; by knowing the information from this book, more people are less likely to make ineffective decisions.  

“Deciding by default, by not deciding, almost always yields unsatisfactory results, if only because you spend time wondering if you could have done it better.” (Hammond et al., 1999, p. 218). I appreciate this quote because it is straightforward and encourages readers to work through the decision-making process instead of avoiding it. Many people self-reflect on past decisions, wondering if they were right, making the reader less likely to regret a previous decision.