Thinking about fundamental objectives and means objectives is relatively easy when the decision context is narrow (buying a telescope, renting an apartment, choosing a restaurant for dinner). But when you start thinking about your strategic objectives — objectives in the context of what you choose to do with your life or your career — the process becomes more difficult. Spend some time thinking about your fundamental strategic objectives. What do you want to accomplish in your life or in your career? Why are these objectives important?
Try to create a fundamental-objectives hierarchy and a means-objectives network for yourself.
If you succeed in this problem, you will have achieved a deeper level of self-knowledge than most people have, regardless of whether they use decision analysis. That knowledge can be of great help to you in making important decisions, but you should revisit your fundamental objectives from time to time; they might change!