The Moment: what happened
Friday night, Mexican spot after work. Mike leaned across the table.
"Good news and bad news. Good news: we want you as a partner. Real equity."
I was twenty-six. Mike and Josh had bought the firm I was working at a couple years earlier. All the same age, within months of each other. They'd become like brothers.
"Bad news," Josh said. "The company's in trouble. If we don't fix it soon, we're done."
The deal: a cut of the profits, if there were any. Half would convert to shares. I was already living beneath my means, so cash flow wasn't a problem.
I could've asked for a few days. But what was left to learn? I'd been thinking about my future there constantly. And if it failed, I could always find another job.
"I'm in."
The Moral: why it matters
Taking time isn't the problem. Taking time that doesn't serve the decision is.
The promotion you ask to "sleep on" when you already know the answer. The opportunity you want more data on, when no amount of data will touch the fear. The conversation you keep postponing because you're "waiting for the right time."
You're not being thoughtful. You're torturing yourself and everyone waiting on you.
The Move: what to do about it
My default is still to buy time. But now I run two questions before I do. Is this reversible? Will waiting teach me anything I don't already know? If it's reversible and waiting teaches me nothing, I decide and get to work.
Gut Check: Where are you torturing yourself over something you already know?
—John Grover