If you’re lacking vision, try asking this question…
I was talking with a friend about a pretty big business decision several months back. There were several directions they could go and while we were talking, I asked a question in the flow of the conversation:
What’s the right way to do this?
The answer was super clear to both of us.
Of course there were obstacles and issues (some pretty substantial), but they seemed pretty trivial in comparison to doing something that was a clearly “suboptimal” decision from the start. And one decision stood out from the rest.
Since that conversation, that question has been lingering in the back of my head about everything I do:
What’s The Right Way To Do This?
Often times you can get stuck building out long pro/cons lists of everything. Everything factor get it’s own unique weighting and the decision tree gets complicated.
You start listing out the reason something is impossible – and they all start to seem equally “impossible’ and the decision gets confusing.
The question that seems to clear the air and organize all my thoughts is:
What’s the right way to do this?
Can you do that?
If, “Yes” → What needs to happen to pull that off?
If “No” → What would you have to change to make that happen? Or, can you stop doing this and do something else entirely?
Why This Works
When you start anything – the most important thing is to get unstuck. You need to build momentum – any sort of the kind – in any direction possible.
Fight and scratch however you can to get it.
- Show up to the gym. Flail around. It doesn’t really matter – you just gotta build the habit.
- If you’re starting a business idea, try a bunch of low risk things to see what sticks until you find a fit.
- When you work creatively, you have to sit down for 30 minutes every day and just put words on paper – even if they’re bad. Just get used to the work.
But, once you build the habit – you can get used to doing the rote activity even if it’s not the best to go after what you want.
- If you’re working out for aesthetics – you have to watch your food as much as your lifts.
- If you’re scaling a business – you need to water the ones that are growing – not spread more seeds.
- If you’re writing a book – you have to write the chapters outlined in a structure – not just whatever you feel like for the day.
What’s The Right Way To Do This?
If you have any sort of traction, you the answer probably jumps off the page at you.
It’s also followed by a flurry of “but you can’t because…”
Ignore those for now – when you ask “what’s the right way to do this” – what’s the answer?
— your answer goes here —
Last year, I was busting my butt in the gym, but I felt like my performance was plateauing and I didn’t feel like i looked like I was doing the type of work that I was.
I knew what to do and I knew what was holding me back – so I got a coach to yell at me (thanks Matt).
- Do you want to just be in the gym a certain number of days or do you want to look & perform a certain way?
- Do you want to try a bunch of things or scale a business?
- Do you want to just write everyday or do you want to write a book?
Everything is hard, so if you’re going to do something g- you might as well make sure it’s worthwhile doing.
Vision Clarifies Action
That question forces you to clarify your vision.
When you get the answer to that question you start to realize that
- You might be making things harder on yourself.
- You might be able to eliminate a bunch of stuff you don’t even like doing.
- You might be smarter than you were when you first started and would build it better from the ground up now.
Where there is no vision, the people perish
If you don’t yet have a vision – you might need to experiment a little more.
But once you have an answer to the question – instead of trying to stair-step your way to the end goal – step back and build it the right way.
What’s he right way to do this?
Do that.
Or don’t.
It might be better to not do it at all than waste time doing it sub-optimally when you know better.
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