Umpiring little league baseball was a great lesson in decision making for me. After every action in the game a call had to be made.

The rules in the game have to be upheld. The umpire has to make sound decisions and not back off.

Sometimes I was wrong on the decision I made. For instance calling the pitch a strike when it probably was out of the strike zone.

Mistakes and wrong calls will be made.

I had to accept that in my mind and not worry about it and move on to the next call.

People from all walks of life can learn from umpiring. Our lives are based on decisions we make every day and every minute. Here are four pointers in decision making for baseball umpiring that can be helpful.

• Focus on what is happening and what has just happened. Let it process through your mind. Go with your gut instinct. Make the call.

• Take your time. Make sure you see the situation all the way through. A hasty decision can more than likely be the wrong decision. There were times I would make a call and call the runner out at first base. But the first baseman had dropped the ball when it was thrown to him. If I had waited just a few more seconds until I felt the play was over I would have called the runner safe.

• Stick to your decision. Yes I made the wrong call. I had to stick to it. Unfortunately, in little league baseball there is no instant replay. This means that one of the teams will be upset. Go with what you decided and move on.

• Be prepared to give reasoning. Whether you make a wrong decision or right decision have an answer why you made the decision and let it be known.

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In life you’re going to have to make calls (decisions). Go with the your gut feeling. More times than not you will be right. But make a decision and stick to it.

(Post taken from my website www.paulmoses.co)