Think of all the times we looked for “the answer”. The one thing that would make everything better if you could solve quickly what faces you now. Then how disappointed we are when nothing works.
What I have found more helpful is to not look for an answer but rather spend time looking for multiple options or multiple ways to solve what is in your way. You need to first generate options as if they are all possible. Do not pass judgment when first discovered. The hard work is then thinking them through to see what is possible given your constraints and resources.
Finding options is something we are not trained to do. Growing up we were taught in school to always have “the” answer. In life, there are no “the” answers.
As an adult, the information we receive is never as structured as what we read in a textbook. Some information may be accurate while other sources of information may be too biased to give us a balanced representation of a topic.
Our lack of time to focus pushes us against the time we need to develop options. So we rush. Grab at pieces of knowledge believing we truly understand when we don’t. We embrace a friend’s input making us feel more at ease without ever considering if they truly have experience in what you are facing. Making their thoughts, ideas, and recommendations riskier without understanding when they are simply giving you their opinion.
The magic in discovering options is that in the process, you begin to understand the problem you are facing better. For every problem or situation, there is nuance and context. Helpful to understand when it comes time to choose your path.
Surprisingly, while creating options appears to create confusion it actually does the opposite after your options have been revealed. Clarity presents itself towards the end of the process. By reducing what you face or are trying to solve into something you now better understand and can easily explain.
Exposing just how rigorous a process you went through to make your choice or final decision brings a greater degree of credibility and confidence in the choice or decision you make.
The more impactful a choice demands, the more options and time are needed to generate them should be taken. Not to procrastinate or confuse. But rather to search with a belief that the journey will be a productive one.
Helping you to minimize errors in judgment over a lifetime. For we will never always be right but hope to be more right than “sometimes”.