The 91-9 Rule
You’d think that after 12(!) years of decision coaching, I would have had all the ideas I’m gonna have about making decisions. No more revelations, no more discoveries. But I’ve been thinking about a new theory lately and I wanted to share it, because I think it could help a lot of you out there who are feeling bogged down making a tough choice!
Here we go: The last 10% of any decision is where most of your time is lost.
We (mostly) make up our minds fairly quickly, but we get stuck FINALIZING the decision and really committing to it.
I thought about calling this the 90-10 rule, but it turns out there are a bunch of 90-10 rules already out there! So I’m calling it the 91-9 rule, for the sake of originality 🤣.
When I coach people through a difficult decision, sometimes they really are stuck 50-50 between two big choices.
Should I take this job or should I stay at my company?
Should I try to fix up the place I live or buy somewhere new?
Should I start a podcast or are there way too many podcasts out there already?
But most of the time, once we really dig in, I find that the person I’m talking to is actually more like 91% of the way to a decision. And that last 9% is what’s taking so long and keeping them stuck.
They mostly know what they should do. But they just can’t get from 91 to 100.
That last 9% of deciding takes up more time than the previous 91%. I’m talking about coaching someone who is pretty sure they should break up with someone. Someone who is fairly certain they should leave their job. Someone who is almost convinced they want to move to a new town.
Here’s the thing: if someone is 91% sure, I almost never end up telling them they’re making the wrong decision. That’s because being 91% sure is actually pretty good!!!
People want certainty. Everyone wants to get to 100%. But if that last 9% is sucking up way more than its fair share of mental energy and time, let’s just skip that part. The time you’ll lose trying to get to 100% is too big a price to pay for certainty.
TL;DR: If you’re 91% of the way to a decision, make it and move on. If you’re mostly sure, just go for it!