“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.” -C.S. Lewis

Columbia researcher Sheena Iyengar has found that the average person makes about 70 decisions every day. That's 25,500 decisions a year. Over 70 years, that's 1,788,500 decisions. The 20th century philosopher Albert Camus said, "Life is a sum of all your choices." You put all of those 1,788,500 choices together, and that's who you are.

One example of a man who became who he was because of bad decisions was Gedaliah who was appointed governor of Judah (Jeremiah 40:5-41:2).

But Gedaliah didn’t ask the right questions and ended up being a terrible decision maker.

In fact in one instance he made a bad decision because he didn’t use the information that was available to him to make a good decision.

Eventually Gedaliah was assassinated and he never reached his full potential as a leader.

Our decisions determine our future.

As a leader we’re faced with decisions every single day and our decisions don’t just affect our own lives, but those around us and those that we lead. That’s why it’s so important that we make choices with lots of thought, prayer and consideration of others.

Each time you are faced with a decision ask yourself these 7 questions to help.

1. How does this affect the big picture?

2. Is there any information that I don’t have that would help me make a better decision?

3. Have I asked all of the right people the right questions?

4. Which options do I need to eliminate so I can focus on the actual reap options?

5. Which option best reflects the mind of God?

6. Which option benefits the most amount of people?

7. Which option aligns itself with the mission that we are trying to accomplish?