Ultimately, tested by time and decisions made, these values become your filters - an algebra of decisions, if you will.

You have to trust these values more than you care about the outcome of any one decision, or you’ll override them whenever the going gets tough. The hardest part is developing your framework, as it requires identifying a set of values and/or ideologies you believe in. A framework doesn’t guarantee that every decision will be right, but it will help you speed decisions, build trust with others as they know what to expect, make your actions count, and ease the pain of bad decisions as they are authentic. Every action - and every inaction - is the product of a decision. It’s easy for a person to be near-meaningless and, if you’re unlucky or choose to stay on the sidelines, to not touch anybody else’s life or happiness. My fifth-grade teacher used to say, all the damn time, “You Matter!” No, not necessarily. I just read the last sentence and feel like maybe I’m trying too hard. It’s the key to navigating by starlight and developing greater situational awareness. I’ve learned I need a framework - a set of values that help define how I want to live my life and serve as a lens through which to filter my thinking. Your instincts are a decent guide to survival and propagation, but a complex world offers exponentially more challenges and rewards. Ideally, it’s better to make the right decision in the first place.

A step back from the wrong path is a step in the right direction. Be open to evolving, changing your mind when presented with new data or compelling views and insights. Your decisions are a guide and an action plan, not a suicide pact. People often mistake this for being principled … it’s not. But there’s being decisive, and then there’s being allergic to course correction. Granted, there’s a benefit to making decisions quickly, as speed can compensate, somewhat, for misdirection. I was more focused on proving my decisions were right … because I’m awesome … than on making the best ones. When I was younger, I embraced (subconsciously, as I was sleepwalking through life) the notion that you can make any decision the right one through leadership and persuasion. It’s been draining, and made me think about decision-making. I walked away, for now, from a long-time business partner and watched another be fired. This has been a week of difficult decisions.

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