Some decisions are really challenging. We may have done the groundwork, we may have thought long and hard, we may have sought counsel from our friends and colleagues. And yet still we agonize.
One trick I have been playing around with is Suzy Welch’s concept of 10-10-10 thinking. It goes as follows:
When you have a decision to make, ask yourself the following three questions:
- How will I feel about this decision 10 minutes from now?
- How will I feel about it 10 months from now?
- How about 10 years from now
The idea is that asking these questions helps you bring your priorities into sharp focus. By asking yourself how you’ll feel in the future, you get to align these decisions with your future vision — which helps you see which wants and needs are most important for making that future you want to have happen.
Also, it is certainly true for me that some decisions which seem fraught with risks and complexity at the time can feel like a non–event later. I am hoping Suzy’s tool can help me discern between these and the truly complex and risky upfront.
