““My God, you’re brutal!” “Somebody has to be,” said Mrs. Dane Calthrop. “Always envisage the worst. You’ve no idea how that steadies the nerves. You begin at once to be sure that it can’t be as bad as what you imagine.””
— The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie
It is important to remember that there is no such thing as a final decision.
In your quest to become a great decision-maker there is a very important (even urgent!) question that you must not overlook to ask:
What comes next?
Like a rock tossed into a pond, every decision creates ripples that will wash up on the shore of our life and other people’s lives—often long after we’ve left the scene.
Eternity being what it is, there is no such thing as a final decision.
Take suicide for example.
There is a phenomenon known as suicide contagion that occurs following a high‑profile suicide. Without fail the suicide rate goes up.
As a pastor, I have witnessed the tragic collateral damage that rips through a family that experiences this sad tragedy—collateral damage that haunts and impacts family members for a lifetimes.
Suicide is a worse-case scenario.
Every decision comes with a follow-up decision that you or someone will have to make.
That is the very essence of decision-making. Decisions affect things.
So before you walk into your boss’s office and announce, “Take this job and shove it where the sun don’t shine!”, ask yourself, “What will be the next decision I will need to make?”
Before you agree to meet that person who is not your spouse for lunch…
Before you whip out your credit card to buy that must have 115-inch QM7K Series QD-Mini LED QLED 4K UHD Smart TV (only $13,999.00)…
Before you tell your congregation that if they don’t like it there’s the door…
Before you make that promise to your child…
Before you make any decision…
Ask yourself, “If I make this decision, what will be the next decision that will need to be made?”
The ONE THING for today: Before making a decision, identity clearly what the next decision will be.
Here’s the checklist for great decision making…so far:
- Does this decision even need to be made? See: Before Making That Decision
- Does this decision need to be made now? See: Wait a Minute!
- Am I the one who must make this decision? See: Pass the Buck Every Chance You Get
- If I make this decision, what will be the next decision that must be made?
The ONE THING 