A Diagnostic Tool for when You’re Stuck 

Not all hesitation happens because of self-doubt or a lack of knowledge. If you are clear on your options but find yourself stalled or stuck, your system is likely registering a potential cost that hasn’t been named yet. 

This compass is a quick diagnostic tool to help you identify what a specific hesitation is responding to.

Perhaps you have been treating indecision as a flaw. If so, the Compass allows you to reassign the problem back to an intelligent signal, so you can stop “fixing” your personality or forcing decisions with the wrong explanation, and start re-authoring your choice architecture.  

Click here to listen to more information as you read along.

________

How to Use the Compass 

1. Choose one specific decision you have been circling, not a general life pattern. Pick a concrete issue which you can’t make up your mind about. Depending on how many options you contemplate, you can apply the Compass to each one separately. 
   • Optional: write down all your available options for deeper reflection and more clarity, and write along as you move through the Compass. 
2. Move in order. Do not skip ahead or revisit earlier choices. Trust your first sense of “yes, this is it”.
3. Notice the constraint. You will choose between alternatives that each name a specific cost. More than one may sound true, but your task is to notice which constraint, if removed, would allow you to move ahead first. 
4. Each track in the decision tree will lead you to a result page that explains what this particular hesitation is responding to. 
5. Time: Set aside 10–20 minutes. Stay with the questions rather than rushing to a verdict. 

________

STEP 1: The (In)decision 

Identify a decision you have been hesitating about. Notice what keeps pulling your attention back when you imagine taking the next step.

Do not phrase it as a choice between options, as in “I don’t know whether to do ‘A’ or ‘B’”. Instead, phrase it as a yes/no question, as in “I don’t know whether or not to choose option ‘A’.”