• Journal Exercise: Making Hard Decisions

    • Step 1: Exploring my perspective without judgment 
    • Step 2: Clarifying the question(s) I’m struggling with 
    • Possible questions might be:
      "How should I respond to (person or situation)?"
      Or "What choice should I make about (situation)?"

    • Step 3: Getting the information that is missing 
    • Step 4: Prioritizing what’s important* 
    •  *As a reminder, most people think it is very important that…

      • we treat the others involved in our stories with respect
      • our choice is sustainable
      • we privilege long-lasting gain over short-term benefit
      • we pay attention to the needs of the vulnerable in the story
      • we maximize respectful relationships 
      • we are honest
    • Step 5: Considering my options 
    • Brainstorming a bit, how could I creatively respond to the situation that might let me live up to what should matter most?

    • Step 6: Testing my options  
    • Which choices really allow me to live up to what I think should matter most?
      (I’ll go across the row, comparing how well each option gives me what should matter most. I might tick the boxes where I can live up to a value or I might give each option a score out of five.)

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    • Step 7: My solution 
    •  

      From Step 6) choose one or put together a collection of a few options to come up with your answer

    • Step 8: My action plan 
    •  

      The steps I will take to put my solution into action – including how I’ll follow up to make sure it’s the right solution

    • Optional: Print or send the exercise to your mailbox 
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    • Should be Empty: