Who's Going to Tell You "Keep Going" or "That's Stupid"
I’d been considering writing a honest, vulnerable article “peek behind the curtain” of the The Guide Kickstarter. Things are kind of tense right now due to some unrealized sales expectations with an overdrawn ad spend, and instead of trying to play it off, I felt a calling to talk about the reality of the situation.
But was it a good idea?
Making any decision is the universally right decision. Rather than overthinking yourself to analysis paralysis, make a choice and go with it. The choice of making a decision means it has to be the right choice because there’s no going back. Make a choice and own it.
But leading up to a decision there’s massive value in full analysis.
Part internal, part external.
In our head we justify, rationalize and convince ourselves without significant checks and balances.
It’s really hard / impossible to see all angles from inside our own perspective so it’s crucial to seek external feedback. But honest, real, valuable, applicable and actionable feedback can’t come from everyone.
You can’t just ask anybody to give you feedback. Most people don’t care. A majority are emotionally unconnected to your outcome. Only a couple people will have real world experience that applies. And there’s the aspect of baseline intelligence (don’t take advice from people who don’t have the results you’re looking for).
Finding council who can add value to your decision making process is important : who is that in your life?
When there’s a lot on the table, who’s going to give it to you straight with truly valuable feedback? Who will help you figure out the best move (not tell you what to do)? Who can unbiasedly offer checks and balances to your moves?
Gratefully I had a number of people fill this role for the “Coming Up Short” article. I had in depth conversations about the various angles of value and danger of publishing. Multiple people from different walks of life shared their feedback and ultimately I decided hitting publish was the right decision.
Cultivating the relationships with people who’s feedback you can trust is crucial. Having people in your life to give you tangible, applicable, relevant checks and balances is a major value that can pay massive dividends for important decisions… do you have these people? Are you that person for other people?
