What's the best answer?
The classic mentor answer is "it depends".
How do we get from "it depends" to action--and results--for the clients?
The most common trap I fall into as a mentor is trying to impress with information. I want to tell people all of the options. I find myself saying "or..." when really I should be saying "this is best for now." I give options instead of solutions.
Our clients come into Two-Brain overwhelmed with options already. They struggle with decision fatigue: they can't make any more choices. The don't want more options: they want the answer.They want us to make the decisions for them.
This is counterintuitive. Our culture teaches us that options = freedom; that when you run out of options, you are trapped. But sometimes the opposite is true: when you remove optionality, you get action.
Jocko says that discipline = freedom. What he means is that when an action becomes part of what you do (aka discipline), you just do it and don't stress over it. He doesn't have to decide to get up at 4am because that's what he does. He doesn't need to decide to work out becuase that's what he does. That discipline - rigid adherence to a plan over time - is what creates his lifestyle. The freedom he describes not freedom to do anything--which can be a prison of procrastination and paralysis by analysis. The freedom he describes is the freedom from decision and internal debate.
Naval wrote "we all think we want peace of mind. Really, we want peace from mind." Making decisions is tough - we all know this. When we're tired, it's tougher. When we're broke, it's even harder, becuase every decision seems to take on another level of importance.
The reason we teach "one right answer" in our material is because our clients need us to remove paralysis and just DO. Is 4/9 best for everyone? If they're struggling in their business, it is. Because it's a path forward. Maybe, when they're successful, they'll revisit it - but for now, they don't need to hear about subleasing and commission structures and pay tables - they need to hear "do it like this."
Luckily, we have so much trust with our clients that they are eager and excited to take our advice. But it's important that we're giving advice instead of optoins. Options aren't actionable.
When a client says "I don't think I want to do this" or "I don't think this is for me, what are my options?" our best course isn't to give them alternatives. Our best course is to say "let's try it, and here's how we'll measure the result. Then we can come back and tweak later." Remember: systemize (follow our plan), Optimize (test and tweak), automate (give to someone else when it's perfect.)
Last thing: many people can't take action because they're scared of taking the wrong action. The truth is that it's easier to fix a mistake than to generate momentum. The longer you stay paralyzed, the harder it is to start growing. You get used to standing still. But when you have momentum, it's easy to fix mistakes...or just learn from them.
Because we don’t need more options.
We need clarity.
The best way to get someone out of paralysis is to say "do it like this". And the best way to get them to do it if they're skeptical is to say "we can revisit later." Imperfect action always always beats inaction.
