Decisions, decisions. We make them all day long and they direct the outcome of our daily lives.

The toughest decision I ever made was wrapped up in knowing what needed to be done, knowing it was time to do it, and knowing how to do it.

As an executive recruiter, my goal is to ensure clients hire the most qualified candidates who will have a significant, long-term impact on their organization.

If only I didn’t have to work with some of these people,” you’ve thought. “I wish I could just start my own business and be on my own.”

Decisions face us every day, thankfully, most of them benign and unimportant. I am not immune from the usual range of ordinary decision-making moments, such as whether to uncork a Shiraz or Sauvignon Blanc on a summer’s eve.

Of the many tough decisions I have made while owning a branding and graphic design company for five years, the one I am currently working through, is by far my most difficult to date.

My hardest decision did not happen at a single point in time. It was lifelong decision to make decisions and exert some control over the circumstances swirling around me rather than sitting back and letting those circumstances determine my destiny.

I sold my business after owning it for more than 10 years. It was time to do it — I’d lost the passion and focus it took to be successful and grow the company. But it was still one of the most difficult decisions of my life.

As everyone who reads the news knows, the buying public no longer relies on shopping locally. Instead, many people have become virtual consumers, traveling the world via the Internet, shopping “Big Box” Internet providers for the best deals.

2008 was supposed to be a great year in my business life. Bimm Ridder Sportswear was turning 20 years old in April. Sure, we had weathered some tough times, but those seemed to be in a distant past. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, it took a while before I figured out that it was the bottom line that mattered, not just the top line of revenue.