COLUMN: Make Every Decision in 60 Seconds

By Tobin Barnes
When trying to make a decision, you should ask yourself, “Is this really me?”

Anyway, that’s what blogger Steve Pavlina says in his article, “How to Make Smart Decisions in Less Than 60 Seconds.” (I assume as opposed to making dumb decisions after agonizing over them over a couple weeks.) The article appeared on his blog, “Personal Development for Smart People.” (Google it if you’re smart, morons go elsewhere.)

How I got to this material, I have no idea. You know how one thing leads to another on the internet? You’re mindlessly surfing along, going from link to link, and sometimes you run into intriguingly useful things and then sometimes you find yourself chewing mental bubble gum.

Well, Pavlina’s question, “Is this really me?” was one of those intriguing things I ran into, but I’m still not sure whether it’s useful.

No doubt the guy’s sincere: “Sometimes we face tough decisions that involve one or more unknowns. We can’t know in advance what the consequences of each alternative will be. This is especially true of big decisions like quitting a job, entering or exiting a relationship, or moving to a new city.”

Yeah, decisions like, should I keep reading.

“When faced with such a decision, what do you do?” Pavlina continues. “If you can’t figure out the consequences, can you do any better than guessing?”

How about flipping a coin? That’s right, put your life on a randomizer, bounce around like you’re in a pinball machine. Or buy one of those eight balls.

Or just freeze as Pavlina says a lot of people do, and “by default stay put.”

Instead, he says, “Let me give you a very simple method of making these kinds of decisions. In most cases it takes no more than 60 seconds to evaluate any particular path. For each alternative you’re considering, ask yourself, “Is this really me?” What you’re asking is whether each path is a fair expression of who you truly are. To what degree does each option reflect the real you?”

Of course, that leaves you with the deeper question of, “Who is the real me?”

And whoa! To borrow an apt phrase from Winston Churchill, that may be “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” But let’s put such acrobatic mind-bending aside, and assume that you’ve already got “Who is the real me?” figured out--yeah, right--and continue with Pavlina’s decision-making tip because this just might work for you. Change your life, if not mine.

Pavlina says: “When we look at choices as being more than just paths — as being creative statements of self-expression — certain decisions become much easier to make. You may say to yourself, “This path isn’t going to be easy, but I know this is the right way to go because it’s who I am.” Or you may conclude, “No matter how I try to represent this to myself, I know that deep down this isn’t who I am. This just isn’t me.”

And, you know, I’m kinda buying this. Like most tips I’ve run across, don’t know if I’ll ever use it, but I’m buying it.

He says you can use the technique on a whole range of questions, large and small, from “Is this job really me?” to “Is this shirt/dress/tie really me?” to “Is this friend really me?” (The last one leading to a troubling investigation into schizophrenia with perhaps the aid of a psychiatrist.)

So let’s put this theory to a real-world test, using a recognizably familiar subject: the ultimate decider, President George Bush, someone we’ve all come to know and, at the very least, wonder about.

How do all of the decisions he’s made in the last six and a half years measure up using Steve Pavlina’s decision-making question?

In other words, could President Bush ask “Is this really me?” about all those tough decisions he’s made and still get a positive answer?

Well, without a doubt!

Across the spectrum, from liberal to conservative, for better or for worse, we could all agree with President Bush if he concluded, “Yes...that’s right, those decisions are really me.”

Steve Pavlina? Buddy, you’re on to something there.