1:14

Don't make decisions when you're hungry, don't make decisions

1:16

when you're in a bad mood or when you're really super

1:19

stressed or up against a deadline or focused on something

1:21

else. You can't just switch your brain

1:23

over and context, switch like that and

1:25

expect it to be effective and clear.

2:14

It's time to make a big decision.

2:17

Actually scratch that it's time to make like any

2:19

decision big or small. Trivial

2:22

or life-changing, whatever it

2:24

is, you're faced with a decision.

2:27

And I'm guessing. You

2:29

have already made a lot of decisions

2:31

today. Even if you have,

2:34

even if all you've done so far today is get

2:36

out of bed and grab your phone

2:38

and turn on this podcast. Then

2:40

you've already made a decision of what

2:42

podcast to choose. Like what podcasts

2:44

am I going to listen to? That's. Already

2:46

sometimes for me, an overwhelming decision.

2:49

Like what Spotify station

2:51

do I want to listen to? Which email do I

2:53

respond to first? Like, oh my gosh, all day

2:55

long, we're being faced with so many

2:57

decisions. And as business

2:59

owners and as leaders, especially

3:01

within our businesses. We're

3:04

like expected to be these

3:06

magical decision wizards. Like everybody's

3:09

just coming to you. For

3:11

the answer is that. Please

3:14

tell me this is relatable. I feel

3:16

like because I'm in a position

3:18

of leadership in my community

3:20

and within my actual business, even

3:22

in my household with my family. With

3:24

my kids and all of that stuff. It's

3:27

like. Oh Yoda.

3:29

What's the answer. And I'm like, no, I,

3:31

ah, I don't know. I don't always have the answers. You

3:33

know what I mean? I'm not saying that anybody

3:36

like anybody in the world thinks of me

3:38

as Yoda. But sometimes we

3:40

almost feel that pressure, like

3:42

we are supposed to have this enlightened

3:44

answer for everything. And

3:47

it's exhausting. It

3:49

honestly can be. A

3:52

little debilitating at times. So

3:55

I was trying to make a decision

3:57

about what topic I wanted

4:00

to record. Today

4:02

for this podcast. And

4:04

I asked myself this question, I thought.

4:07

What. Do I need

4:09

right now? Like what is the podcast episode?

4:12

That I would see scrolling

4:14

through apple podcasts. And

4:17

be like, yes, that is what I need right

4:19

now. And for me,

4:21

it was how to make decisions.

4:23

So I started journaling about

4:25

that and I started realizing,

4:28

holy shit, I have been making.

4:31

So many really big decisions

4:33

in the past couple of weeks. And.

4:36

Do you have a system for it? And I do have.

4:40

Some really awesome

4:42

tips that I've learned. That I want

4:44

to share with you. And it's been a really

4:46

awesome reminder for me to just sit

4:48

and reflect on all of

4:50

the decisions that I've been making over the past. Few

4:53

days, few weeks. And

4:56

realizing, Hey, actually I need to give myself

4:58

a little bit of credit because I've made some really

5:00

big decisions and check those things off the list.

5:03

And, you know, not just me by myself, but

5:05

with Nicole and with our team. And

5:08

with my family. And so like,

5:10

let's talk about that because first

5:12

of all, let me tell you just like

5:15

I did. You might be feeling

5:17

decision fatigue, and you might be feeling

5:19

decision overwhelm and even like

5:21

decision paralyzed. Decision

5:24

parallelization, parallelization. Um,

5:28

That's how I was feeling a second ago, but I bet

5:30

you're also like me in that. If

5:32

you just sat and think about it and reflect a little

5:35

bit. You do have the answer.

5:37

Within yourself and you do have

5:39

the tools and you know how to use

5:41

them. We just get a little

5:43

flustered and caught up in our day to day.

5:46

And we're like, ah, I don't even know how to make decisions.

5:48

Like just shut down mode.

5:51

Right. So I think I actually

5:53

talked about this once in another

5:55

episode and I can't remember which one it was

5:57

or what topic it was in relation to,

5:59

but. I've told people this before.

6:02

I'm like, if I could magically

6:05

give myself. Like a skill.

6:07

It would be to be a very quick and

6:09

confident decision maker. And

6:12

I always say that, you know, the doctors

6:14

on Grey's anatomy that are like, In

6:16

the middle of the brain surgery and there's

6:19

like blood splurting everywhere. And the, the

6:21

nurses and the interns are like passing

6:23

out and frantic and running around. And

6:26

then there's like the one master

6:28

brain surgeon who's like, Knows

6:30

exactly what to do. He just like he

6:32

or she snaps right into gear and they're immediately

6:34

like, Do this and this

6:36

many CCS of that and hand me the thing. And

6:39

like, you. Whatever,

6:41

like all these different things come

6:43

into their mind immediately in the moment. And

6:45

whether or not they have time to sit and

6:48

they don't have time to sit and deduct the,

6:50

the right way to do it. They don't have time

6:52

to go back to, um,

6:54

their computer or their books or whatever,

6:56

and do research. They don't have time for that.

6:59

Somebody's life is on the line. And

7:01

everybody else is freaking out. They

7:03

are, everybody looks to them for the answer. And

7:06

they're like, I know exactly what to

7:08

do right now. And when

7:10

you, when you think about it, it's a really unrealistic.

7:14

Like treat to wish for. Because.

7:17

We would never know how we would respond in a situation

7:19

like that until we're put in a situation like

7:21

that, you know? But

7:24

when you think about somebody in that situation,

7:28

They might not be making the right choices. They

7:30

might just be jumping into action,

7:32

doing the best they can with what

7:35

they have in front of them. And with the experience

7:37

that they have, and they are totally trusting

7:39

and their experience. And they know that there's

7:41

no time for discussion. There's no time

7:43

for research and there's no time for second guessing.

7:45

It is go time. And most

7:48

of the decisions that we're making throughout the day.

7:50

Are not life or death and they're not

7:53

like. You have

7:55

a split second to make this huge

7:57

choice that is going to make or break your business

7:59

or your life, or even the moment

8:01

that you're in. So I

8:04

have decided I no longer am wishing

8:06

for that skill because it's totally.

8:09

Unrealistic. And it wouldn't

8:11

really come in handy that often. Right? It's

8:13

like that. I'm never going to be in that situation.

8:16

Oh, hopefully. But sometimes

8:18

it feels like it, it feels like the pressure is there and

8:20

everybody's looking at you with their wide eyes and

8:22

their little scalpels in their hands. Like, what do I do? What

8:25

do I do? You know, like, please

8:27

guide me as you're like, ah, I don't know.

8:30

You went to medical school to like, count

8:32

me out here, you know? So anyway, um,

8:35

okay. Let's get into what

8:37

to actually do when you're faced with a decision.

8:40

And I have come up with. I've

8:42

come up with seven things and I decided

8:44

I'm going to go through them. Backwards.

8:47

So I'm going to start with. The ones

8:49

that I think are the least effective, but still

8:51

could be helpful tools. And

8:54

I'm going to end with my favorite,

8:56

most important. Like. Best

8:59

piece of advice and mindset shift for you when

9:01

it comes to making decisions. So stick with

9:03

me. And it's going to get

9:05

good. I think it's going to get really good. You guys are going to like this one.

9:08

So. First

9:10

of all, let's talk about what types of like, for

9:12

me, here's what, here's what happens. Here's when I,

9:14

when I shut down and like freak out. It

9:17

literally happened earlier today. So.

9:20

It's when I am. In

9:23

like deep focus work. Or

9:25

I'm in the middle of a project or

9:27

I'm up against a deadline. So I'm like

9:30

really crunch time. In the weeds,

9:32

trying to get through something and get something done. And

9:35

then somebody comes in and

9:37

breaks your concentration. And asks

9:39

you a question that

9:41

they need your, an answer to that is.

9:44

In your opinion. Kind

9:46

of trivial and it's like, not

9:49

what you're thinking about in the moment. And you're just like,

9:52

Oh, my gosh, I can't even, what are you doing?

9:54

Go away. And you, you meet

9:57

might react in a way that isn't your favorite

9:59

look like, maybe not like on brand for

10:01

the kind of person that you want to be. So

10:03

I don't know. I'm definitely speaking about myself

10:05

in a specific scenario. So.

10:08

They're like asking me to make these quick

10:10

decisions on things. And I'm like, I need time

10:12

to think about that decision. I need to go through

10:14

my process. Sometimes,

10:17

um, you know, you can spit out something

10:19

quickly, but most of the time, these are actually things

10:21

that they actually expect you to have some thought

10:23

into it. So I need to like back

10:25

up, take a breath and either say,

10:27

first of all, Hey, I want to give that

10:29

decision a little bit more thought, can you please

10:32

write it down, text me, or slack me, or email

10:34

me or whatever so that I don't forget to

10:36

get to it later and give me a hard

10:38

deadline of when you need my decision by that's.

10:41

The first thing is like, we need to know when,

10:43

how much time we have to make the decision. Is

10:45

this, uh, in the ER,

10:47

whatever or moment,

10:50

like, I need a decision quick and fast right now.

10:52

Or do I have till the end of the day to make the decision.

10:55

So get that information and get that data first

10:58

before you react. Because

11:00

my very first tip for you is,

11:03

do not make any decisions.

11:05

Based on emotions. Or.

11:11

If you're not in the right state to make the decision,

11:13

which when somebody interrupts me, when I'm working,

11:15

I'm not in the right state to make a

11:17

decision other than the thing I'm working

11:20

on. At the moment. I hope that makes sense, but like,

11:23

Also if I'm not in the right physical state

11:25

to make the decision the other day. We

11:27

had one of our clients and friends, Allie

11:29

Thompson with the evolved mind. She's

11:32

a therapist that works with

11:34

like high level performers

11:37

and athletes. And she came in and did a really cool

11:39

team building. Exercise with ampersand.

11:42

And the heart of what I loved. She talks,

11:44

she actually had a whole slide and she talked about. You

11:47

know whether or not we respond or

11:49

react to conflict and people

11:51

in our lives and in the workplace. And it was just,

11:53

oh, this is a little tangent, but. One

11:56

of the things you talked about was how hangry

11:58

is like a real thing and how not to.

12:01

React to people, if you're hungry, like make sure that

12:03

you have some snacks throughout the day. That was a huge

12:06

takeaway. That was so simple, but like

12:09

there's a lot of studies and actual

12:11

truth about being hungry. So

12:14

I loved what she said about that. And it made me think

12:16

about it with this whole decision making thing too.

12:18

Don't make decisions when you're hungry, don't make decisions

12:20

when you're in a bad mood or when you're really super

12:23

stressed or up against a deadline or focused on something

12:25

else. You can't just switch your brain

12:27

over and context, switch like that and

12:29

expect it to be effective and clear.

12:32

So find out what

12:34

the deadline is. How long do

12:36

you have to actually think about this and go through your decision

12:39

making process? And that step

12:41

one, let's actually just assess the situation

12:43

here. Obviously, if it's like, if

12:45

somebody is like, Hey, really quick, do you

12:47

like this color? This color? You're

12:50

going to be like, I like that color better, but for me,

12:52

I'm like, I don't know. What is it for? Is it, is it for

12:54

like something that we're printing

12:56

on something for the business? It kind of depends.

12:59

Like I might actually want to think about that, you know, so. Really,

13:02

we need to have all the information upfront. Uh, before

13:04

we can even jump to a decision. And

13:06

that's one thing that totally drives

13:08

me crazy is when people come to me. With

13:10

a question and it doesn't have enough.

13:13

Context and it doesn't have enough. Information

13:17

for me to actually make the decision. Then

13:20

I will actually just say, Hey, can

13:22

you just gather some more data for me and some

13:24

more information and when you have it

13:26

ready to present to me, bring it back and I'll make

13:28

a decision at that point. And that's something that

13:30

I learned from the book. The

13:32

one minute manager meets the monkey. It's

13:34

really an awesome book. If you are managing people

13:37

at all, you definitely need to read this one and

13:39

go back and listen to our episode about that. But

13:41

okay. First of all, that's

13:43

my advice. Number, advice,

13:45

number seven or whatever, don't make

13:47

decisions based on emotion in the moment

13:50

or when you're not in the right state.

13:52

Physically state of mind, state of body.

13:55

State of hunger, et cetera. You

13:58

want to give it a little bit of time? So,

14:00

okay. My next thing

14:03

is make a pros and cons list.

14:05

And this is number six because it's actually

14:07

one of my less, it's one of my

14:09

least favorite. Tools for

14:12

making decisions. But we can't

14:14

do a decision making podcast episode and not talk about

14:16

pros and cons lists. I'll explain to you why I

14:18

don't like it, but sometimes

14:20

it's an effective way to just kind of get your thoughts

14:22

out. So

14:25

I can't help, but think about the friends

14:27

episode where. Ross

14:29

makes the, the Rachel versus Julie

14:32

pros and cons list. You

14:34

know what I'm talking about, right. Where he's like trying

14:36

to decide. Who is going

14:38

to marry or who is going to date or whatever.

14:40

And he. So

14:44

trying to talk himself. Into

14:46

Julie. Basically. And

14:48

I feel like this is kind of what we do when we write pros

14:50

and cons lists. We kind of know what, which

14:53

answer like in deep inside, we

14:55

know which answer we think is the

14:57

right answer. So we

14:59

might be a little skewed

15:01

when we start writing these pros and cons lists. Like, are

15:04

we really being honest with ourself? That's

15:06

what I'm asking. So when Ross

15:08

writes this. I guess it's not really a pros

15:10

and cons list. It's more of a, like, here's

15:13

all the things about Rachel that are bad.

15:15

And the things about Julie that are bad. I don't know. So.

15:20

Everybody was so heartbroken when Rachel

15:22

finds the piece of paper and

15:25

she reads all the hurtful things that he wrote about

15:27

her. Like all the reasons not to date,

15:29

Rachel, not to choose her. And

15:32

I'll just never forget when she sees it. And

15:34

it said. Just a waitress.

15:37

Oh, X. I can feel the feeling

15:39

I felt the first time I watched the episode when she found

15:41

that in your like, Oh my gosh.

15:43

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. He didn't,

15:46

he didn't say it like that, you know, or whatever, but

15:48

it's out of context. She didn't know. And, and

15:50

then I don't know what the other things were on

15:52

there. Link something about how she

15:54

has fat ankles or something like that.

15:57

And I can just, oh yeah, I can hear her voice being like,

15:59

I do not have to be ankles. Okay,

16:01

sorry. I'm squirreling again. But

16:03

then he's like, no, no, no. You

16:05

didn't see the, you didn't

16:07

see the back or you didn't see the other thing.

16:10

You didn't see what I wrote about Julie. And

16:12

so she looks at it and it's,

16:15

it says there's only, there's this huge list of stuff

16:17

that's wrong with Rachel. And when she goes to

16:19

look at the stuff that's wrong with Julie, It

16:22

only has one line. And it just says.

16:25

She's not Rachel. Right.

16:28

No, no, no, no. Hold on. It said.

16:30

What does it say? Like it said, she's not

16:33

re she's not Rachel. She,

16:35

I just, she spelled it wrong or something. She's

16:37

like, I'm not, she's not Rachel. And

16:39

he's like, Rachel, it's Rachel. Anyway.

16:42

Okay. Friend's episode aside. My

16:45

point is we make these pros and cons lists.

16:48

And you might have a thousand

16:50

cons, but if you have one

16:52

really powerful pro. It

16:55

can negate all the cons and,

16:58

and so it's not apples to apples and

17:00

that's why pros and cons list for me don't

17:03

they don't work super well for me, because

17:05

I want to give one item on the

17:07

list, a lot of weight and a lot of value

17:09

and give other things on the list, less value.

17:12

So what's the point, right? Like, I

17:14

guess it's good to put all that stuff out and

17:16

write it down and look at it on paper

17:19

and see. You know, what

17:21

are all the things going against me on this? And

17:23

then is the one thing that is

17:26

going for me is that big enough

17:28

to outwait all those other things,

17:31

right. I guess it's

17:33

an effective method for that. I had to

17:35

go through a pros and cons list idea

17:37

in this podcast episode, but I'm kind of thinking

17:39

and feeling it out with you because it's definitely

17:42

not the end all be all. It really

17:44

can't be. Cause you can't be like, oh, well there's three

17:46

cons and four pros. So I guess let's go for

17:48

it. They might be like really stupid

17:50

things on the cons list and really important

17:53

things on the pros list. So, get

17:55

it out, write it out. If that's helpful for you.

17:58

Um, but at the end of the day, Like

18:01

for me, I'm a risk taker. And

18:04

looking at pros and cons. Doesn't

18:06

really. It doesn't

18:08

really help me make the decision actually. And

18:11

if anything, it just motivates me to know

18:13

what things I need to overcome. If I do

18:16

make the choice to move forward with something. But

18:18

I'm motivated by that. I am motivated by,

18:21

um, challenges and by

18:24

obstacles and things that might actually make

18:26

it more difficult to. Come

18:28

to me. I'll never forget when we had

18:30

to make the decision. Two.

18:33

Open our store, our retail store in the village.

18:36

It was a huge decision. It was a huge crossroads

18:38

for us. I don't know where we would be if we would've

18:41

gone the other direction at the end of that fork in the road.

18:43

But. I, yeah. I'll never

18:45

know that. And I don't have any

18:47

regrets about it, even though we ended up closing

18:49

the business five years later. I

18:52

learned so much from that. And it was an amazing life experience.

18:55

And I, I have no idea, like the people

18:57

I've met or the circumstances I've

18:59

been in. I have

19:01

absolutely no idea what my life would be like if I didn't go

19:03

there. And so. I

19:05

remember though when it was time to face that decision

19:08

and to finally like sign on the dotted line

19:10

and get the business loan and sign the lease.

19:13

W Nicole and I were sitting there and she's like,

19:17

What if. This is a huge mistake.

19:20

I don't think she said that, but that was kind of like our

19:22

conversation together. And

19:24

we both just sat there and thought about it for a little

19:27

while. And at the end of the day, The

19:29

reason we move forward was because we decided,

19:32

but what if this is the thing that.

19:35

Is going to change our lives and change

19:37

our business for the better. What if this is the

19:41

bazillion dollar golden ticket? What if

19:43

this is the thing that we think it could be?

19:45

What if it does have the potential to be as big

19:47

as we want it to be? And. I'm

19:50

so glad that we went forward with it. It really

19:52

was. The

19:54

the worst case scenario idea that we came up

19:56

with. We never even came close

19:58

to the worst case scenario, which is

20:01

my next thing. Play worst case

20:03

scenario, best case scenario. And I think this is different

20:05

than pros and cons. Worst case scenario

20:08

and best case scenario is actually.

20:12

I think a way more valuable way to

20:14

look at it. So you're like, okay,

20:16

let's say you have to make a big decision. Like

20:19

right now, we are in the process

20:21

of hiring people. We have to hire

20:23

several people for our team and we're

20:25

interviewing lots of really great candidates.

20:28

And we're trying to decide which seats do we

20:30

hire first? How much can we afford

20:32

to offer them for salaries and

20:35

this and that? And can we actually

20:37

sustain this much business and do we have the

20:39

demand and all of these big questions and

20:41

big decisions are coming up. And so we

20:43

are in the thick of it right now with decision-making

20:45

and really trying to choose people.

20:48

And it's super hard because we

20:50

have fall in love with people all the time at interviews.

20:53

So it's like, okay. We're

20:55

assessing this person. Well, okay. This person's

20:57

super qualified. We really like her.

21:00

We really like her in the interview. She has

21:02

all checks all the boxes. And

21:05

you're like, but then I have this other person who

21:07

was kind of same thing, but maybe they have this other

21:10

skill and maybe we would have to put them in a different seat.

21:12

XYZ, all these scenarios going on. So

21:15

I would sit down and think to myself,

21:18

like, okay, The big question.

21:20

Can we afford to hire

21:22

both of them? Cool. Right

21:24

because we love them both. Or can we afford

21:27

to hire for two or three different departments?

21:29

And these are really big questions.

21:31

Like. What if we make the wrong

21:34

choice. So,

21:36

okay. Worst case scenario. Worst

21:38

case scenario. It doesn't work out. And after

21:41

a few months we have to let somebody

21:43

go. And that's really shitty.

21:45

We hate having to deal with that kind

21:47

of stuff. But like, if

21:49

it's not the right fit, if they're not the right person,

21:52

they're not the right seat. They're not going to make the

21:54

company more money. And

21:56

ultimately it's not going to work out and

21:58

worst case scenario. We are out

22:00

a lot of time, a lot of money. But

22:04

at the end of the day, Everything's

22:06

going to be okay. Like the business isn't going to fail

22:08

because we paid somebody's salary for a few months.

22:11

And the business isn't going to fail because

22:14

we went through the process of learning and

22:17

it's and experiencing somebody

22:19

that maybe was the wrong seat or

22:21

the wrong fit for the company. All it's going

22:23

to do is give us new tools and more

22:26

knowledge and wisdom going forward. So

22:28

at the end of the day, the worst case scenario

22:31

of hiring the wrong person. Is.

22:34

I mean, I guess you could play worst case scenario, like

22:36

how they play it on. This is us. I've

22:39

watched a little bit too much TV, maybe. Okay. But

22:41

where they're like, oh, and then, and then they

22:43

steal from you in the worst case scenario. And

22:45

then they like. Vandalize your whole

22:47

business and. I don't know.

22:50

Kill your dog or something like, like, obviously

22:52

we're not talking about stuff like that. We're talking about. Worst

22:55

case scenario, they don't work out. We wasted time. We wasted

22:57

money. That really sucks. But

22:59

over here, best case scenario, let's

23:01

think about that. Best case scenario.

23:04

They are as awesome as we think they are. They

23:07

are a really hard worker. They're a good

23:09

self-starter. They have motivation

23:11

and drive and they have a growth mindset

23:13

and they fit all of our values and

23:16

they help us get to this next level in our business.

23:18

And they give our clients the experiences

23:21

that we know that. We're

23:23

trying to give and there. Uh,

23:25

part of growing our business to what

23:28

we want it to be. And they're a helper to

23:30

get us to the vision that we have costed. So

23:34

when you're thinking about it like that, You're looking

23:36

at best case and worst case. The worst

23:38

case scenario, most of the time is

23:41

highly unlikely. And

23:43

that is something I come back to a lot, call me

23:46

a chronic optimist, but the worst

23:48

case scenario. Is highly,

23:50

highly unlikely. The

23:52

best case scenario. Has a higher

23:55

probability than the worst case scenario.

23:57

I promise. And

23:59

as long as you have. These

24:01

checks and balances in place, and you

24:03

have ways of. Holding

24:05

yourself accountable to the decisions that you're making.

24:07

And you're actually putting action steps into place

24:10

and systems that are going to make sure that you don't

24:12

just make a decision and then walk away from

24:14

it. And not follow through. Then

24:16

you're way more likely to reach your best

24:19

case scenario. Then you are to make

24:21

your worst case scenario come true. So

24:24

play the game of best case, worst case. Talk

24:27

it out, write it down, visualize

24:29

that. And then make your decision.

24:32

Make your decision knowing that even if the worst

24:34

case scenario happens, You're probably going

24:36

to be okay. And if that feels good.

24:39

Fricking go for it, man. That's what I say, so.

24:42

Okay. The next one,

24:44

number five is going to be. Talk

24:46

to other people. And again,

24:48

we're not, this one is not high up on

24:50

my list. It's still kind of in the bottom

24:52

half. Because it can

24:54

actually really distract your decision making

24:57

process and it can cause a lot

24:59

more decision fatigue. So

25:01

here's my advice. When you are thinking about

25:04

bringing others into your decision making process.

25:06

So, first of all, I would only

25:09

ask advice from someone.

25:12

Who the decision will probably

25:14

also affect. So,

25:17

let me say that again, only ask advice

25:19

from somebody. Who the decision

25:22

will also affect. Of

25:24

course, we want to go to our friends. Of

25:27

course, we want to go to our sisters. Or

25:29

our moms or whatever. Or

25:32

our friends in our Facebook group

25:34

mastermind. All of those

25:36

things. It's so great to have people to go to,

25:39

to ask advice on how to handle a situation

25:42

or how to, um, you

25:44

know, troubleshoot something. But when it

25:46

comes to making a big decision like

25:49

this or that. Or

25:51

should I move forward with this thing? Usually

25:55

those outside sources. If they're a little bit

25:57

removed from the actual scenario

25:59

itself. They just don't

26:01

have the same. Context

26:03

as somebody who is going to be affected

26:05

by it, or even yourself. And

26:08

they can actually kind of muddy it up and they're just

26:10

gonna. It's going to waste

26:12

like their bandwidth and their brain space.

26:15

And the whole time they're trying to give you advice

26:17

and trying to help you talk through it. You're going to

26:19

be thinking in your mind, like, yeah,

26:21

actually, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked, like, you don't

26:23

know enough about my business or my life to.

26:26

Actually help advise me in a right in the right

26:28

way. So, for

26:31

example, we are in

26:33

the middle of picking out some furnishings.

26:35

Some like we have to pick out flooring and pink

26:37

colors and all of this stuff

26:39

for our new studio. And

26:41

it's really exciting, but like I have been

26:43

in major decision fatigue overwhelm

26:46

for a little while. And

26:48

when I ask. My family

26:50

or friends about it and try to get their input.

26:53

They're telling me all like, oh,

26:55

well I did this, approxi in my garage.

26:57

And I like, they're telling me advice

26:59

based on their experiences, which is what

27:01

they're going to do. Right? Like they want to be helpful and

27:03

they only have their own experiences to pull from.

27:06

But they've never actually worked

27:08

in our studio. They've never shot in our scenes.

27:10

They've never like, had to work in

27:12

the space like we do. So

27:15

when I brought it to the team and asked for their

27:17

opinion on it, because they're the ones that are going to be working

27:19

in this space. They all had

27:21

the same answer. They were all on the same

27:23

page and made the decision making process

27:26

so much easier. Everybody was

27:28

like, yeah. Do hardwood in this room, concrete in

27:30

that room, paint this that we can

27:32

skip that it's not worth the money. And

27:34

I think we should spend the money here instead of there.

27:36

And it was so much faster and more productive

27:39

than me going to try to get advice

27:41

from somebody that is outside of our organization.

27:44

Of course, unless it's like a professional that does that for

27:46

a living. But if I were to talk

27:49

about that with my husband,

27:51

which I have been talking with him about it a lot

27:53

lately. And he. He

27:57

has a lot of opinions about it because. He's

27:59

like in construction and he knows a lot about

28:02

he's very handy. He knows a lot about this stuff. But

28:05

he's looking at, what's going to be the

28:07

easiest to install. What's going to be the most cost-effective.

28:11

And he's not, but at the end of the day,

28:13

he's like, well, it's your decision. You need to pick out what you want.

28:16

And we're having a really hard time. You

28:18

know, coming to a decision together, but when

28:20

I brought the team into it, it became very clear

28:23

and way easier. So if

28:25

you're going to seek help from others, seek advice

28:27

from others on your decision. Think about

28:29

if there's anybody else that decision's going to affect, they

28:32

might just deserve. To

28:34

give their input either way, you know, and you

28:36

can say, Hey, I know that it's

28:39

ultimately my decision to make this, but I really

28:41

value your opinion and your, your input.

28:44

Next up on my list number

28:46

four. Write out your action.

28:49

Step-by-step. Right out, whatever the

28:51

next action would be. Either

28:53

write out the steps or write

28:55

the email. Accepting the job

28:58

offer or. Right. The,

29:01

um, like the message

29:03

to your friend saying, yes, I'm in

29:05

for the vacation. Or whatever

29:07

the decision is, like, write it down,

29:10

write it in an email draft, write

29:12

it on paper, write it like in

29:14

your notes, on your phone, whatever that is. And

29:16

don't send it yet. Just. Pretend

29:20

like you're going through the motions of making

29:22

the decision. But hold onto that for

29:24

a minute. Just get it out through your fingertips.

29:26

This is so freaking powerful.

29:30

And then. Sit with

29:32

that for a second. And just reflect

29:35

and feel it in your body. You

29:37

are going to be able to feel that somewhere in your body.

29:40

After you write that out. You're

29:42

going to feel a few different things. You're either

29:44

going to feel. Relief and

29:47

like a huge weight has been taken off your shoulders.

29:50

Like, let's say you do have to let somebody go in your business.

29:53

And you're really, really struggling with the decision. I

29:56

write the letter. You

29:58

know, right. The termination letter. Don't

30:00

send it yet. Just write it and

30:03

then breathe and feel it in

30:05

your body. You're going

30:07

to know. What it's

30:09

going to feel like when you do send that email,

30:11

if you actually go through this motion and

30:14

you let yourself sit and feel that for

30:16

a second. And if you want to try

30:18

writing the contrary thing to.

30:21

Like writing the email that says.

30:24

Hey. You know, we're going

30:26

to move forward. I would love to keep you on

30:29

board, but here's what I'm going to need to see from you.

30:31

X, Y, Z. You're going to write out all that

30:33

too. And then sit with that one. Uh, one

30:36

of them's going to feel better to you. One

30:38

of them is just going to feel right. Or

30:40

it's going to feel lighter. It's

30:43

going to feel. Um,

30:45

more aligned for you. And

30:47

the other one is going to feel heavier and

30:50

messier. And clunk

30:52

clunky. So I

30:54

love this tool. I use it all

30:57

the time. And it's

30:59

really powerful to kind of just visualize

31:02

the outcome. Of what's going to happen

31:05

next, which is my number three idea.

31:07

And these two things go hand in hand. So

31:09

once you write the thing and actually physically

31:11

get it out through your fingertips, I

31:13

like to type it. Cause I'm just a fast, I can't

31:15

write as fast as my brain goes, but I can type

31:17

as fast as my brain goes. So I like to type it. In

31:20

an email draft or a Google doc. And

31:23

just save it somewhere. That is just for myself.

31:26

And then just really stew

31:28

on that. And then I

31:30

like to visualize and journal and write.

31:33

The outcome as if I'm writing a

31:35

journal entry. After

31:38

the thing happened. So I

31:40

use this a lot. If I'm. Going

31:42

into some sort of. Difficult

31:45

conversation with somebody. Um,

31:48

like let's say there

31:50

was some sort of conflict or there

31:52

was some sort of misunderstanding or

31:54

something with an employee or anything like

31:57

that, that when you're in a leadership role,

31:59

you're going to have to deal with these uncomfortable conversations sometimes.

32:02

So my favorite thing to do. Is

32:04

visualize. My ideal outcome

32:07

and journal about it as if it's already over.

32:10

So I'll sit in my car before I go

32:12

in or I'll do you know, do it the night

32:14

before or whatever. And I'll literally just

32:16

write. Ah, I

32:18

just got done with my meeting

32:20

about X, Y, Z. I feel

32:22

so much better. I

32:24

said this, they said this. We

32:27

got it all out. We, I, there were

32:29

some things I didn't realize. There were a lot

32:31

of things that they didn't understand, and we both

32:33

got a chance to say what we wanted. And

32:36

I feel a million times

32:38

better. Here's the outcome that we're moving

32:40

forward with. And I just am

32:42

so happy that we took

32:44

the opportunity and gave each other the space

32:47

to speak up. And

32:49

when I write it that way, I'm like

32:51

really programming my brain to know that that's

32:53

the outcome I'm looking for. So that everything

32:56

I say during that meeting is going to be

32:58

going toward that outcome. It's so

33:00

fricking powerful. It just visualize how you want

33:02

to feel and how you want to come out of

33:05

that. Decision. Right.

33:07

So that was a slightly different, like

33:09

example of like I'm dealing with dealing

33:12

with something. You know, maybe something

33:14

negative or whatever. This is in

33:16

relation to making decisions. So

33:18

it doesn't have to be negative. It could be something really exciting,

33:20

like, like I'm trying to decide,

33:22

do I want to buy this house? Is

33:25

this the house for me. So sit down

33:27

and journal. I can't

33:29

believe it. We are offered, just got accepted.

33:32

We got the house. I

33:35

blah, blah, blah. And just like, let it flow

33:37

and feel like I'm, I'm so excited.

33:39

I know this is going to be the perfect home for us. I

33:41

can't wait to remodel the kitchen, but

33:44

whatever, just like, let it go. And

33:46

visualize. What

33:48

your life is going to feel like as soon as that

33:50

decision is made, And

33:52

on the contrary, if you choose not to make the decision.

33:55

Write it as if you have made

33:57

that decision and choice and moved forward with it.

34:00

Cool. Okay. So number four,

34:03

write out whatever your next action step would be.

34:05

If you make the decision. Save

34:07

it somewhere. Sit with it, feel how

34:09

it feels in the body. And then number three is

34:11

to journal on what the actual outcome

34:13

would be after you made the decision. So

34:16

number four is kind of like the actual act of doing it.

34:18

And then number three is how do I feel

34:20

after it's already like executed?

34:23

I feel like I'm getting a little confusing, but I,

34:25

you guys are smart. You got it. So

34:27

number two. Um, We

34:31

did. I, I think my numbers are wrong. I

34:33

think I've got, I think I've got

34:35

these all. I

34:37

don't know what number I'm on. I only have one left.

34:40

I'm on number one. So I think what

34:42

I did was I think I bolt together pros

34:44

and cons and best case, worst case scenario.

34:47

So whatever you're following with me, who

34:49

cares, what number they are. They're all. It's all good stuff.

34:52

Okay. Number one, you, this is,

34:55

this is it right here. This is everything.

34:58

You have to be clear about

35:00

your mission and your values. If

35:04

you don't, if you can't tell me right now,

35:07

In your life. And in

35:09

your business. What is your mission

35:12

and what are your values? I

35:15

mean for yourself for your life. Like, you

35:17

don't need to be able to like rattle off like your five

35:19

core values or whatever. But you need

35:21

to know them. Like deep in your

35:23

bones. What are my

35:26

non-negotiables. What

35:28

are my things that I

35:30

know are going to either keep me

35:32

up at night. If I go against those values and

35:34

are going to make me feel so disaligned

35:37

that I'm just going to be out of my skin.

35:39

We all know what those things are for ourselves. And

35:42

then what is my mission? What

35:44

am I trying to do? What am I.

35:47

What is my everyday that I wake up, like, what

35:49

am I moving closer to? And

35:51

when it comes to business, this is something that we've

35:53

always had, but we have it super defined

35:56

right now because we've been doing EOS. And

35:58

so we, as a team have our

36:00

VTO, which is our vision traction organizer,

36:03

and it clearly defines our

36:05

vision and mission as a business. We

36:07

all know exactly what we're trying

36:09

to build. And we know exactly.

36:12

We have this north star mission statement.

36:15

And that is our mission statement is that

36:17

we believe. We exist

36:19

because we believe that even the smallest

36:22

of businesses. Deserve big brand

36:24

strategy. And what that means

36:26

to us is that whether you have an Etsy

36:28

shop, Or a

36:31

local HVAC company.

36:34

Or. A huge real

36:36

estate conglomerate. I don't

36:38

really care. You deserve

36:40

to understand and have tools

36:42

in your business that can market you the

36:45

same way that Nike does it

36:47

in Amazon. And. You know,

36:49

Starbucks. These huge brands

36:51

are successful because they have

36:54

brand standards and all of these things and they're

36:56

recognizable and they're trustworthy. It

36:59

doesn't matter how good their coffee is or their shoes are. If

37:01

nobody hears about them. And I feel

37:03

like with the small business world, Everything's

37:06

the opposite. The product is

37:08

actually amazing. It's better than those

37:10

big brands. But they don't have the brand

37:12

strategy that those big brands have, so they can't compete

37:14

and they can't get. Recognized and

37:17

build trust and build memorability

37:19

with people online. Because

37:22

they just don't have those tools embedded in them.

37:24

The tools they have are their craft. And

37:27

that's why we exist as a company. That's like what

37:29

our passion is. Is sharing that

37:31

type of strategy with the small businesses.

37:34

And even the smallest of businesses,

37:37

even the solo preneur is

37:39

selling cards on Etsy. You know,

37:41

So we know that that's

37:43

our mission. When it's

37:45

time to make a decision. On

37:48

anything with our business. That's the very

37:50

first thing that we think. Is

37:52

this decision aligned with our mission? Does

37:54

it get us closer to serving businesses?

37:57

In this way, does it help us

37:59

give businesses big brand strategy tools?

38:02

If not, it's a no. If,

38:05

yes, it's a hell. Yeah. You

38:07

know, like how easy does

38:09

that make it for us? The

38:11

other part of our VTO

38:14

says that. Our

38:16

services are designed to help

38:18

small business owners align their voice

38:21

and their visuals. That's actually how

38:23

we go about giving the tools. We make sure that

38:25

everybody understands and has the tools to

38:27

have a brand voice. And a visual

38:29

identity that play together.

38:32

In a way that actually attracted our ideal customers.

38:35

So. We

38:37

have ideas all the time. All

38:39

the time. So coming

38:41

up for all these ways that we can serve. Um,

38:45

in other ways or like different niches or different

38:47

markets. And we're like,

38:49

oh, we could do that. We know how to do this thing.

38:52

We are looking left and right. And

38:54

whip lashing all the time. If we don't have,

38:57

if we don't stay in our lane. So now

38:59

we have this lens that we can look through and this rubric

39:01

basically, we're like, okay, does it help

39:03

small businesses align their voice and visuals,

39:06

if not, it's just a distraction.

39:09

I have a post-it note on my monitor that I

39:11

look out every single day. It says

39:13

every decision impacts growth. I

39:18

literally want to get this tattooed somewhere on me that

39:20

I can see it all the time. Every

39:23

decision impacts growth. And that might stress you

39:25

out, make you feel like, oh, I don't know. Every

39:28

decision is like life or death, and it's going

39:30

to take me, it's like the butterfly effect. If I make this decision

39:32

and. Then my life is going to end up

39:34

in a whole different place than if I take, make that decision.

39:37

Well, yeah, it is. Literally

39:39

every single decision is going to impact our life

39:41

in some way. But

39:44

that thought process just

39:46

takes us down a path of paranoia

39:48

and total discomfort. But

39:50

when we think about how every decision impacts our growth.

39:53

Then we know that no matter which decision we make.

39:56

We're going to be growing and that's okay.

39:59

But also every decision

40:01

I make is impacting my growth in it's

40:04

either. In what I'm talking about business.

40:07

If I know where I'm trying to get to, if I

40:09

know the top of that mountain and I can see it.

40:11

And if I see a decision

40:14

in front of me, that's like, Hey. This

40:16

is either going to get me closer to that or further

40:18

away. It's either going to distract

40:20

me and keep me from moving forward.

40:23

Or make me take a little detour.

40:26

Or it's going to move me closer

40:28

to my goals. And when

40:30

I know what that north star is, and I have

40:32

it clearly defined and it's on repeat

40:35

in my mind. Then I'm

40:37

going to be really clear when it comes to decision-making

40:40

that I'm making a decision based

40:42

on that mission statement and that it is going to

40:44

move me closer to it. And

40:46

we've already killed a bunch of ideas because

40:48

we're like, okay, that's a fun idea.

40:51

It's a big project. Could make us a lot of

40:53

money. But it doesn't align

40:55

with this mission. And the,

40:58

and unless we're changing the mission. Then

41:00

that idea is killed for now. You

41:02

know, it can go on to someday list if we're bored

41:04

or something, or if we want to start another business

41:06

or go a different direction someday. It was

41:08

a good idea. It's like, let's Marie Kondo and

41:10

we're like, thank you. Thank you for your

41:12

service idea. We love you. And now you

41:14

can go away. Because you're distracting

41:17

me. Everything is

41:19

like a debit or a credit from the account.

41:21

And if we know. If we've got our eyes on

41:23

the prize. Then we can ask

41:25

ourselves, does this move me closer

41:27

to, or does it move me further away from

41:30

what I'm trying to build here? And.

41:33

Mm, I'm so glad I went backwards because that

41:35

is such a powerful note

41:37

to leave you with. If you haven't thought

41:40

about what your mission for your businesses.

41:44

I really recommend starting there. And this is

41:46

brand building 1 0 1. We've got

41:48

to start there because so

41:50

many small business owners I see.

41:53

Are a lot like me. They're a little

41:56

multi-passionate I'm gonna use the word multi-passionate

41:58

instead of. Um, like,

42:01

you know, shiny object chasers are

42:03

like ADHD all over the place.

42:05

Like, you know, All

42:07

of those things are true, but a lot

42:09

of entrepreneurs have, it's like the entrepreneurial

42:12

curse, right? Like we want to start a new thing

42:14

all the time. And

42:16

bring in new ideas and all that stuff, but

42:19

we'd have to have systems in place in our lives.

42:22

Two. Make sure

42:24

that we're not just like zigzagging and whip

42:26

lashing are our organizations. So

42:29

having a mission statement, having that north star will

42:31

do that for you. And it will make decision-making.

42:34

So so much easier, like

42:36

it helps us make decisions on the people we hire

42:39

on the clients that we work with. Like,

42:41

can I actually help this person? Is

42:44

this client, someone who I, who is going

42:46

to let us help them implement big brand

42:48

strategy into their small business. Is

42:50

that what they're coming to us for? Because

42:52

sometimes people find us. Um,

42:55

online and they call us and they say, Oh,

42:57

um, You know, I see that you guys

43:00

are photographers. Can you. Come

43:02

and shoot this event or do

43:05

my kid's senior pictures. I

43:07

know you don't do that, but I'll pay you all this money.

43:09

And it used to be really hard to

43:11

say no to that stuff. We'd be like, I

43:13

mean, I'm not doing anything tomorrow.

43:16

Like they want to do it tomorrow. Sure. Like,

43:18

yeah, I'll go do it. I'll make an extra. You

43:21

know, 800 bucks or whatever. And

43:23

we'd go do it. Well, what it's, what that's

43:25

doing is it's actually distracting

43:28

us from the real work that's going to get us closer

43:30

to that goal. And we wonder

43:32

why we're constantly on this treadmill,

43:34

trying to get to where we're going. Because

43:36

we're in a scarcity mindset saying yes to everything,

43:38

because we think that, you know, the

43:41

debit, um, or the credit

43:43

into the bank account is going to be more important

43:45

than the credit into. Uh, spending the time

43:47

on the things that are going to get us there. So

43:50

how the mission statement really

43:52

define your values, it will help make your

43:54

decisions. So so much easier.

43:57

And visualize those outcomes.

43:59

Write down your next action. Step. Don't send it yet,

44:01

but just write it down and take inventory of

44:03

how it makes you feel. You're

44:06

gonna play best case scenario, worst

44:08

case scenario, write a pros and cons list. If you really

44:10

feel like that's helpful for you. But

44:12

don't forget the Ross and Rachel thing,

44:14

you know, You might just have

44:16

one pro the outnumbers, all

44:19

the cons. And if

44:21

that's the only thing we're using to make our decisions,

44:23

I have a feeling it's going to, you're going to have some confirmation

44:25

bias playing a part in there, and it's going to make

44:28

you, um, have a skewed

44:30

pros and cons list. So I don't really give that one

44:32

too much weight. Um, ask a friend

44:34

who it will also impact. And.

44:37

Don't make decisions when you're emotional, don't

44:39

make them in the moment. Give yourself a little bit of time.

44:42

Have a snack. And we will

44:44

see you next week. Thank you so much for being here.