5 Great Decisions: A Way to Do Hard Things

I'm more than halfway through my sabbatical year of exploring and expanding 5 Great Decisions (5GD). It's been an exciting journey — especially working with a cohort of twelve people who practiced 5GD together for four months. That experience, along with developing resources and writing the book, confirmed there's something more here.

Now comes the part I've always avoided: marketing. With my other two books, I resisted it. This time is different. If 5GD was important enough to write, it needs to be important enough to spread. Part of that work is getting crystal clear on what I'm actually offering.

As I've been preparing vision and mission statements and designing goals for the next five years, one statement surfaced that captures what 5GD actually does:

5 Great Decisions is a way to do hard things.

Let me explain what I mean.

When Hard Means Meaningful

5GD reframes "hard" as an indication that this is an opportunity to make a decision my future self will thank me for. When hard equals meaningful, you approach it differently.

Without 5GD: hard things feel overwhelming, vague, all-consuming.

With 5GD: hard things become decisions — specific, bounded, manageable.

The Question That Brings Clarity

One way I've seen this work in my own life is when I'm facing a challenging situation or decision that requires courage, I ask myself: "Will I write this down as a great decision?"

The answer provides both the clarity and courage I need to do the hard thing. The answer comes from alignment, not analysis. It bypasses the endless deliberation and connects me directly to what matters.

What This Practice Actually Does

When you have clarity about what you want and the future you're building, the hard thing stops being a question mark and becomes a known path.

5GD doesn't make hard things easy.

It gives you a way to approach them.

And sometimes, that's all you need.