# The Most Important Thing An effective technique to achieve your goals is to *avoid* problems and *steer clear* of what we don't want. For instance, almost everyone *doesn't want*: * To be sick * To have no money * To have limited options, freedom, autonomy or choice However, simply knowing what we *don't want* does not get us to what we do *do want*. It may get us started, it may place us on the right path, but it won't get us the entire way. An example will help clarify this. If I know that I don't want to end up experiencing any of the above bullets, I can make decisions that decrease their likelihood. I can ensure my nutrition promotes long term health, prioritize sleep, learn a set of skills that is valued in the 21st century, always be continually learning, and so on. This will significantly help in avoiding the above bullets. Yet, imagine that I have a specific goal that is the most important thing to me: "Become a consultant so that I will set my own hours, have more autonomy, have more freedom to work and live wherever I please, a higher ceiling, and more freedom and flexibility to be with Dom". Now that is a goal that is not achievable via simply *avoiding*. This requires *action* in a *clear direction* for an *extended period of time*. We can view this as: > Knowing what we don't want may keep us out of trouble, but, like treading water, just because you are staying afloat doesn't mean you're getting any closer to shore. It just means you're **avoiding drowning**. Likewise: > If you don't know where you want to go, all roads will take you there. So any decision can initially seem like the right one. We want to avoid being in the above scenario too often. Sure it okay when we keep our options open, but eventually we need to narrow in on what is most important to us if we are to live the life we want. #### Identifying the most important thing The goal should be able to identify the *most important thing*; this means achieving perfect clarity on what it is that you want. When we can clearly identify what it is that we want, what it is that is most important to us, we can make decisions that meet *our* objectives. This clarity makes it easier to assess our options. #### Action to take In order to help in identifying the most important thing we can use the following system: 1. Write down all of the objectives. List all of the things that are important to you. 2. Have them battle. 3. Introduce quantities as you identify them while they battle. 4. Rank them in order. A few key things worth pointing out here: * Using quantities is a very effective way to be less vague and more concrete. * The most important thing can help us understand what outcomes on projects are successes #### Apply professionally * When kicking off a project make sure you identify the most important thing. This is the one thing that you must get right for the project to be a success. * I can borrow an example from my future and consider the decision between being a [consultant or employee](Consultant-vs-Employee-at-Startup.md) #### Apply Personally * Perform the following [thought experiment by imagining you are 90 looking back on your life](Imagine-you-are-90.md). #### Biggest Challenge The biggest challenge that arises when trying to identify the most important thing is that people don't want to be wrong. Identifying the most important thing means we must *hone in on* and *clearly articulate* what we want. This takes away wiggle room. This means *we may be wrong*. Most people don't want to be wrong, so they use wording that is vague, generic, unspecific. This ensures they have wiggle room if they are wrong. Hence, they are *always right*. This entirely defeats the purpose of finding the most important thing! If we are vague and generic, we haven't provided ourselves with any sort of *direction*. It is as though you are needing directions to get from city A to city B and somewhere told you: "Oh yeah that is easy! Just head southwest." That may not technically be *wrong* if you are heading from Boston to Dallas, but it isn't particularly *useful*. --- tags: #decision-making #problem-solving #critical-thinking links: [Decision by Design MOC](Decision%20by%20Design%20MOC.md) created: 2020-11-30 modified: 2020-11-30