One brilliantly easy way to make a hard decision

What you see before you is called Descartes’ Square — a simple but super-effective method to make tough decisions. The idea behind it is that it helps you analyze any problem or situation from different angles just by answering four questions. Take a look:

Give honest answers to the following questions:

1.What will happen if this happens? (what will I get from it?)

2.What will happen if this doesn’t happen? (will everything stay the same? What are the advantages of not doing it?)

3.What won’t happen if this happens? (the disadvantages of doing it).

4.What won’t happen if this doesn’t happen? (the disadvantages of not doing it). Be careful answering this one —
your brain will try to ignore the double negative, and your answer may end up being similar to the first one. Don’t let this happen!

Why is this method so effective?

The point is that when you’re in a situation that requires you to make a tough decision, you often get stuck on the first point — what will happen if this happens? Well, Descartes’ Square lets us look at one and the same problem from four different angles, thereby allowing us to make a well-balanced and conscious choice.