The Problem with Prescriptions

When people hear the name 5 Great Decisions, almost everyone asks the same thing: "So what are the five decisions?"

They're expecting a prescription. A list. Five specific things to do that will change their life. And when I explain that there are no five specific decisions — that the practice is about deciding what you want to create, change, or offer your future self through intentional choices made daily — I can see the disappointment register on their faces.

I thought you were going to tell me what to do.

It's a completely understandable reaction. We live in a world of frameworks, formulas, and step-by-step programs. There's comfort in being handed a plan. If someone with a PhD and twenty years of experience tells you to do these five things, maybe you don't have to figure it out yourself.

But even if I could hand you a prescription — five specific decisions that worked for everyone — it still wouldn't be what you need. A prescription can't make room for your life, your circumstances, or what matters most to you right now. A five-step plan relies on willpower and discipline to sustain it, which means the moment life gets complicated, the plan falls apart.

Instead of a prescriptive plan, 5GD is built on four core elements:

Awareness: Seeing decision moments as opportunities to step into your ideal self

Accountability: Staying connected to what matters through recording your decisions

Accumulation: Building momentum as small decisions compound into big results

Agency: Exercising power over what you can influence

When you get clear about what you truly want, something shifts. You begin to see decision moments throughout your day. This moment of recognition is where the real magic lives. Not in a prescription or a plan, but in the realization that you have the capacity to shape your life through choice.

This is where 5GD begins — not with a plan handed to you, but with a question you answer for yourself: what do you want to create? Once you know that, the four elements take over. Awareness shows you the moments. Accountability keeps you grounded. Accumulation builds the life. And agency is yours—the power to shape your future, one decision at a time.

Before you close this page, write down these three questions:

• What do you want your life to look like one year from now?
• What is the gap between that vision and where you are today?
• What is one great decision you could make today to start closing

If these questions opened something up for you, and you're ready to go deeper, the full practice — and everything you need to begin — is in 5 Great Decisions, available on Amazon.