The Decision Ladder, in one sitting

Most stuck decisions are two decisions wearing one coat. This episode walks through the four questions I use with every client — the question, the cost, the people, the date — and what to do when the answers disagree.

Overview

If you have been carrying the same decision from one Monday to the next, the problem is rarely courage. It is usually that the decision has not been written down in a form anyone could act on.

One sentence, or it is two decisions

Start by writing the decision as a single sentence with a verb in it. If you cannot, you are holding two decisions that need separating before either can move.

Name the cost of waiting

Every option has a price. So does another month of not choosing, and that one rarely gets a number next to it. Put one there.

Put a date on it

A decision without a date is a worry. Choose the day by which it is made, tell one person, and let the diary do the work your willpower has been doing.