5 Questions for Considering the Alternative
Summers passed slow when I was riding my bike with friends. Those days feel like yesterday. One season blurs into the next. Time gains momentum.
I choose to enjoy time passing considering the alternative. The only alternative to time passing is undesirable. The more pressing issue is the way I live while time picks up speed.
Choices matter in a world where time slips away.
We get to choose how we use each day. E.B. White said it’s a hard choice, “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
Considering the alternative:
Inevitabilities don’t erase alternatives.
You will feel neglected, misjudged, and underappreciated at times. No one appreciates you like you do. Considering the alternative to forgiveness, letting go of offenses makes sense. But ego encourages us to hang on to offenses.
Humility is a good choice considering the alternative.
I wake up in the morning torn between a desire to serve the world and a desire to serve myself. (To paraphrase White.) But there’s a third option. As time picks up steam scenery blurs. Serving the world is also serving myself. The more time passes the stronger the connection becomes.
Today, I want to serve myself. Tomorrow I’ll be glad I served the world.
Pressing issues seduce you into short-sighted decisions. Considering the alternative, it’s better to keep tomorrow in mind, even while today slips away.
5 questions for considering the alternative:
- Will this matter tomorrow?
- What’s the bravest thing you can do?
- Who should give input?
- How does this decision reflect priorities? (Assuming you have priorities.)
- What are different perspectives on this situation? (Upper management, frontline, customer, family, long-term, short-term)
What suggestions do you have for considering the alternative?
Still curious:
The Best Decision-Making Quote You Never Heard
7 Questions that Change the Way People Think
Choose Best Alternative in Decision Making
1. What if I do nothing?
2. Reframe the issue. What if we gave our product away free, how else could we make money?
Thanks Paul. What if we …. how else could we? Love it.
The current society feels so shallow, so shortsighted. In being the exact opposite of these things, I am simultaneously serving both myself and the world. Part of my curse is trying to have balance in all things. In the way I attack each day, I do feel I find that balance in satisfying my place in this world.
Love your work, Dan. Always thought provoking. : )
Thank you DJ. I suppose the short-term is attractive because we see quick results. Going to school for 4 years might be one illustration of long-term thinking. Cheers