Personal Feelings, Business Decisions

How Conceptualizing These Can Help Improve Your Decision-Making Habits

“You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all.”

—Marcus Aurelius

It’s their fault I’m injured, and I’m going to make them pay. I’ll drag this lawsuit out as long as it takes, and I don’t care how much it costs me. Maybe I win, maybe I lose. But I promise I’ll take this all the way to the Supreme Court. They’re messing with the wrong guy.

Recognizing the Personal and the Emotional

I sometimes hear sentiments like this when I mediate cases involving injured parties. Expressions of anger, frustration, sadness, rage, embarrassment, and fear aren’t always this extreme or obvious. But you can often find the feelings if you know where to look.

For an injured party in settlement negotiations with a belligerent defendant or insurance company, these responses are natural and to be expected.

You know what I mean. Suppose someone has suffered a legitimate injury that causes physical pain and an inability to work and earn a full wage. Suppose further that the p…