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My kids are off school today so I won’t be able to get much work done.

Surprisingly, I’m cool with that. And if you need some help finding that balance, check out the latest episode of my podcast, Growing Your Business Without Losing Yourself.

Along those lines I’m going to do something a bit different today and share how I navigate challenging situations.

The easy way to make hard decisions

Ever get stuck making a tough decision? Here’s a simple prompt I use to unlock ideas and create momentum.

What if?

Admittedly this isn’t helpful without context so I’ll provide recent examples from both my personal and professional life.

PERSONAL

Situation:

My 7 year old daughter was excited to eat her Halloween candy.

Complication:

We try to keep it healthy around here, so our kids rarely eat candy. In the past we’d just throw it out and they’d forget about it within a day. Unfortunately they’re getting older and wiser, plus it just doesn’t feel right tossing out candy that someone already paid for.

Question:

How can I avoid ruining my daughter’s childhood by taking away her candy while also keeping her healthy?

Tool:

“What if?”

You can use this prompt to theorize different scenarios and how they might play out.

Ex.

• What if I pitched that client, even though I don’t feel qualified?
• What if I start offering free workshops to build my sales pipeline?
• What if I’m cordial with this person, even though they’re kind of a jerk?
• What if I commit to posting on LinkedIn every day?
• What if I stop letting this pet peeve annoy me so much?

Answer:

Here’s where my “What if?” led.

What if I offer her a toy in exchange for all the candy? This way she still gets something tangible that she’ll be happy about and I avoid a hefty dentist bill.

To my surprise, she balked at that offer and instead suggested selling her candy at school, then using the money to buy her own toys.

As you can tell, her idea was even better than mine!

That’s the power of “What if?” – it easily allows you to explore multiple options (and the associated outcomes) before deciding on a specific course of action.

PROFESSIONAL

Situation:

I recently landed two speaking engagements for a rather large client. They take place on consecutive days in Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Complication:

Two weeks later a colleague invited me to a dinner party that takes place at the same time as the speaking engagements. The dinner party will feature prominent authors and publishers. Since my goal is to write a book in 2024, attending would give me access to extremely influential people who can help me achieve my vision.

Question:

Should I lead the speaking engagements or attend the party? If I cancel the engagements I’ll not only lose out on the money I would have earned, I could also damage the relationship with my client. But, if I don’t attend the party, I’m missing out on an opportunity to get in front of influencers and decision makers in the book publishing industry.

Tool:

“What if?”

Answer:

What if I attended the speaking engagement? I’d make decent money but the topic isn’t aligned with the type of content I want to share going forward.

What if I attended the dinner party? I’d miss out on the money made from the speaking opportunity – and potentially damage that relationship – but this opportunity is aligned with the future version of myself.

I decided to back out of the speaking engagement. But instead of making up some random excuse, I just told the truth. Beyond that, I connected them with another speaker who could take my place.

Here’s the response I received.

“Hi Terry,

Thank you for letting me know; I appreciate the thoughtful note and completely understand. The mastermind sounds like an amazing opportunity to honor your son and fulfill such a meaningful mission.

I would love an introduction to Cynthia when you have a chance. Please let me know if there’s anything we can do to support you.”

As you can see, the doomsday “What if?” scenario didn’t play out with my existing client and I’m now available to attend the dinner party, guilt-free.

In fact, an hour later they reached out with another opportunity that paid 5x the speaking engagement that I turned down. Plus, it was great to help Cynthia launch her speaking career.

Key Takeaway

Sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to live in the vision you have for your personal or professional life. But those sacrifices can and will lead to greater outcomes.

Your Turn

How can you use “What if?” to help you make a tough decision?