I was listening to a podcast based on the book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath and was struck by one central theme – when we are making decisions the research is clear that we often do not think about enough options.

The podcast suggested that if we pay attention to our language we can sometimes catch ourselves getting boxed in our thinking about the options. When you hear yourself say (or think) – “ I am not sure whether to do (a) or (b)” you need to stop and look for more options to choose from. One of the ways to force your creative hand is to do the vanishing option thought experiment.  In this experiment, you make the assumption that your first 2 options are not available to you. You don’t need to dwell on why – they just are not available. Now what will you do? When you are thinking of options use the 10-10-10 rule (what will this decision mean in 10 days, 10 months or 10 years) to ensure you consider both the short and long-term implications.

Once you have outlined several options it is important to make sure you fall in love with more than one of them. This allows you enough emotional distance from your decision to ensure you are not overly invested to allow for a course correction if it is warranted.

The podcast covered many other points and the book is steeped in research about decision-making with tangible strategies for improving your decisions. I have already decided I am going to read it from cover to cover.