I am action-oriented and I am quick to make decisions.

Here’s a short story to illustrate. A few years ago, I was working in the summertime. I biked to my meetings around the city, but one day I found it really tough. It was windy and my nice clothes got very sweaty. Taking the bus was not an option; it took me half a work day to commute around town. So I decided to purchase a car.

I didn’t spend too much time researching what I needed, and I didn’t forecast upcoming expenses that this car would have. I looked on Kijiji and quickly bought a Kia Magentis. Even though it might have been an “impulse buy”, I did enjoy it. I called her Halo. She was a fast and fun car, with a V6 engine, sunroof, and leather seats. However this big purchase depleted my savings account and during the year I was stressed with unexpected car expenses.

Prudence is known as the mother of all virtues. Why? Because prudence means to choose the good in any situation. You can’t make good decisions if you don’t know what a good decision looks like. Sometimes we can make decisions quickly and other times, deliberately. But the question remains: are we choosing the good in the situation?

I’ve noticed in my personal leadership that I can be impulsive, as evidenced by the car purchase. What I have learned is a small mantra, “Stop and think”, to help me in my pursuit of prudence.

Putting the brakes on a decision can be good: we can fully evaluate pros and cons, look at other alternative courses of action, and seek out opinions from respected people. Do we want a good decision or a great decision? Deliberation is part of prudence and helps to make great decisions.

To help me in my prudence and decision-making abilities, I’ve undergone a 50 day prudence examen. I’ve chosen prudence because it’s a virtue I’m trying to grow in, yet it could be applied to any virtue. I set aside 5 minutes at the end of my work day and I ask myself these three questions:

• Where in the past day did I show good deliberation?
• Where in the past day did I make rash decisions?
• Where can I practice prudence in the next 24 hours?

Growing in virtue requires practicing habits. Having an examen every day keeps me intentional with decision making. Decisions include what I will make for dinner, how to use my time wisely in the evening, or what investment I should purchase.

Put the brakes on. Stop and think. There might be better decisions out there.