WARM UP

Task 1: You have been asked to choose a piece of art for your friend’s living room. Study the
pictures below then make a decision. Explain your decision making process.

Task 2: List 10 big or small decisions that you have made today.

1. _____________________________________ 2. _____________________________________

3. _____________________________________ 4. _____________________________________

5. _____________________________________ 6. _____________________________________

7. _____________________________________ 8. _____________________________________

9. _____________________________________ 10. _____________________________________

1. a) Do you think people make bad decisions because of peer pressure? Explain.

2. b) Describe a difficult choice you had to make recently.

3. c) What types of setbacks can you face when deciding which university to attend?

4. d) Have you ever changed your mind after making an important decision? Explain.

5. e) How can you help someone make up their mind? Give examples.

6. f) How can you prevent yourself from having second thoughts after making a decision?

Complete the sentences using the words in the box. You may need to change the tense.

1. He ________________ about becoming a teacher. Now he wants to be an engineer.

2. There’s been a ________________ to our weekend plans. The car has broken down.

3. Jack did not want to smoke but he was influenced by ________________.

4. Tina and Joe are having ________________ about buying the house.
 5. Hannah wants to go to Paris or Madrid. It’s a difficult ________________ to make.

6. He needs to ________________ about which restaurant he wants to eat at tonight.

TIP 1: REMOVE SMALL CHOICES

1. what small choices do you make every day?

2. How else can you avoid having to make small decisions each day?

3. Would you consider wearing the same thing every day to save ‘bandwidth’?

4. Give examples of big decisions people make throughout their lives.

5. Why is it important to save energy for these decisions?

6. Can a person ever truly know if they have made the right decision?

TIP 2: FUEL YOUR BRAIN

Your brain needs fuel to think just as more / much as your body does to move.

It’s the most complex / complicated and energy-demanding organ we have.

If you're / your hungry neurotransmitters can't be produced which results in communication between
the brain's 86 billion neurons breaking down / break down, compromising your ability to think and
make / do good decisions.

So when you need to make an important decision make sure you're not hungry / hunger. Research
shows / shown that drinking plenty of water and having a slow-release

carbohydrate breakfast like porridge will help you think clearly / clear.

Omega-3 is also a brilliant / resilient brain food. You can find it in oily fish and pumpkin and
sunflower seeds. It doesn't mean you can't treat / trick yourself but do try to give your brain this kind
of fuel too.

1. Explain your reasoning for choosing each word from the text.

2. How do you feel when you're hungry or thirsty?

3. How can being hungry or thirsty impact your decision making process?

4. Do you agree that you need to eat well in order to make good decisions?

5. Describe the traditional breakfast in your country. Does it help decision making?

6. Could you improve your diet at work to help you make better decisions daily?
TIP 3: LOSE THE FEAR
1. Can you think of a time when you felt afraid of loss when making a decision?
2. What are the advantages of making a safe decision every time?
3. Do you have a friend that will ‘drop some truth bombs’ if you need advice?
4. Would you be willing to drop some truth bombs on your friend?
5. Describe the pros and cons of dropping a truth bomb on a friend.
6. Do you think it's necessary to have fear when making big decisions? Describe how fear can
help or hinder a person.

EXPRESSIONS: MAKING DECISIONS

Task 1: Match the expressions from the box to the correct definition.

gut decision snap decision sure fire thing can’t put (one’s) finger on it weigh up (one’s)
options

1. A decision you think is certain to succeed / be correct.

2. To make a decision quickly, without any thought.
3. To think clearly about the advantages or disadvantages.
4. To make a decision based on instinct.
5. To feel like you understand something but you cannot fully recall clearly or why.

Task 2: Use the expressions to answer the questions in the correct manner:

1. Do you agree with the following statements? Make a gut decision.

o ● Your country is going to win the next football World Cup.
o ● Netflix will go out of business in 5 years.
2. Make a snap decision about the following:
o ● What are you going to eat for lunch tomorrow?
o ● What are you going to wear tomorrow?
3. Read the statements below. Do you believe they are a sure fire thing?
o ● It is going to rain tomorrow.
o ● Electric cars will be dominant in the next 10 years.
4. Answer the questions about “can’t put (one’s) ginger on it”.
o ● Can you think of something you can’t put your finger on?
o ● Do you have a similar expression in your native language?
5. Read the statements below. Before deciding what to do, weigh up your options.

 I am going to quit my job and travel the world for 2 years.

 It is better to invest in the stock market instead of property.

WOULD YOU RATHER?

Have fun while discussing the following questions. Would you rather...

make all the decisions for yourself o have an expert make all the decisions for you?
 r
o
make a decision based on logic follow your intuition and gut feeling?
r
make a decision that benefits you personally but o make a decision that benefits others but harms
harms others r you personally?

QUOTES
Discuss the quotes related to making decisions, use the questions to guide your answer.

1. Discuss the meaning of each quote.

2. How could you apply the meaning of each quote to your life?
3. To what extent do you agree / disagree with each quote?
4. Can you think of any real-life example where you have seen the meaning of each quote in
practice?

Quotes:

"The hardest thing about decision-making is not making the decision, it's owning the consequences."
"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."
"Indecision becomes a decision with time."
"The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that's changing quickly, the only strategy that is
guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."