According to one of his secretaries, St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, had a four step process for making sound decisions.
First, he carefully considered each matter before deciding it. He was not one to rush to judgment.
Second, he prayed quite a bit about the decision and opened himself to the wisdom and will of God.
Third, he made it a point in every decision to seek out those who were competent in the matter and to listen to them, asking them about the many different factors that might be weighed in the decision.
Fourth, when he did not think he had sufficient knowledge to make a sound decision, he postponed it and "let some general opinions on the topic suffice for the moment."
Maybe our situations don't afford us the luxury of postponement. But we can certainly pray more and listen more.
Adapted and used with permission from Take Five: On-the-Job Meditations with St. Ignatius by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Kris D. Stubna, Copyright © by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
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