Chantal Vallée: Don't be afraid to make a decision

As a five-time national champion head coach of university basketball, Chantal Vallée has learned that being decisive is more important than making the correct decision right away.

With pressures on the court and on campus coaching the University of Windsor Lancers women's basketball team, Vallée has spent a lot of time acting as a coach and a counsellor to her student athletes.

In the latest installment of her ongoing series on CBC's Windsor Morning, she shares her advice on how to eliminate the fear of making the wrong decision.

Crippling fear

After observing years of players making mistakes and missing on some performances, I came to the conclusion that those mistakes came from fear. Players choke, cry, withdraw, under-perform or make mistakes because they are scared of making a mistake.

In a team sport, if you observe a group of players performing you will notice a difference between those who move forward quickly in their decision-making process on the floor and those who are hesitant. 

Often, those who hesitate end up making mistakes, which certainly raises their stress and anxiety level. 

Then they're second-guessing themselves. What if I make the wrong decision?

Do it, love it, own it

My advice: Do it, love it and own it. It is better to make the wrong decision, than no decision at all. At least you're now engaging. 

In a basketball example: I have the ball in my hands. I made a bad decision and my team turns the ball over. If I stop, the opponent will score. If I react quickly, I may get back on defense, communicate with my teammate to stop the ball handler and maybe fix it or change it.

I can guarantee that we will make mistakes and a lot of bad decisions, but we need to keep going and make the best out of it. It's normal to make bad decisions sometimes, but how we react to them is what matters.

The more my players made a decision, the better they got at making decisions. I started to realize that decision-making was a skill and it could be developed and could improve.

Just remember:  

• Do it: Make a decision. Be conscious and active about the life you want to live. 
• Love it: Embrace the idea that you can work on your decision-making skills.
• Own it: It's not about making the right decision. It's about making the decisions in order to get the result that's right for you.

Vallée appears every other Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. on Radio-Canada's Matins sans frontieres 105.5 FM and 1550 AM and at 8:10 a.m. on CBC's Windsor Morning, 97.5 FM.