The One Question to Ask Yourself to Make Better Decisions

5.10.16TimetoDecide (Blog)

Here’s why our recent garage clean-out is going to help you make more confident decisions.

When we moved last August, we stored boxes…and boxes… of books in our new garage. Why? We’re avid readers but now we have a tiny human toddler running around, so we gave away our old bookshelves in the name of safety, replacing them with two slimmer, more secure ones.

Did we cull through our books immediately? Heck no. We did what most normal people do when faced with a fun Saturday task like that: we put it off.

Fast forward: We finally dug those boxes out and I’m rediscovering many beloved books. One of them is Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath. And, in a fit of irony, the page where I’d left off was still marked. Maybe therein lies while I’m still so indecisive?

Anyway, back to you.

In a twist of fate, I just got an email from Dan Pink, an author I adore. He wrote a surprising and wonderful book called Drive about what motivates human beings. It’s not as black and while as you think, so it’s a fascinating read based on studies and research.

Dan’s email linked to his Pinkcast Tip…on the one question to ask yourself to make better decisions when you’re stuck. He references….wait for it….Decisive!

Clearly, the Universe is trying to tell me to share this one golden nugget with you:

When faced with a decision, we often see every single side of it and hem and haw over the endless possibilities. However, studies show that when we give advice to other people, we do a much better job of it. This could explain why so many consultants (including me) are their own worst clients!  The Heath Brothers go more into it in their book as to why, but for now, here’s the golden question:

What would you tell your best friend to do?

Duh, right? We do this all the time, whether it comes to business or relationships or parenting. We are so damn hard on ourselves but when a friend asks us for advice, we can immediately see the right answer.

Simple can also be the most powerful. (Tweet this!)

So if you’re overwhelmed at building your business, or if your relationships are suffering or if you have an icky business partner who keeps screwing you over and don’t know what to do, ask yourself: What would I tell my best friend to do?

Image Credit via Flickr