Scale of 1 to 10 – The Gut Litmus Test. . .
Image sourced by James Lee @picsbyjameslee
When my children Alice, Rita and Mike V. were younger, they played Little League Soccer.
I coached their teams for 12 years and had the time of my life. Probably much to their dismay. But I loved it. Those were some of the best days of my life.
One of my “house rules” was that once my children signed up for the season, absent serious extenuating circumstances, they had to complete the season.
My perspective which I learned from my Dad, is that your teammates count on you and ‘team’ is a group of people; not any one person. Success requires teamwork. By registering, you are making a commitment to be part of the team.
Registration for the season took place in April and the season ended in June. This meant that the youngsters had to sign up for the next season (year) Before the current season ended.
All three of my children actually ended up playing Little League Soccer from Kindergarten through their Senior Year of High School. And Mike played Varsity in High School and ‘Club Soccer’ throughout college.
Alice, my eldest, played every season through her senior year of High School. She enjoyed the game and her close friends played too which no doubt helped tip the scale.
A week or so before registration for the next season, I would ask her if she wanted me to register her for the next season.
Alice would look at me, raise her hand and extend her thumb.
She would swivel her hand up and down so her thumb rotated between ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’.
After a few swivels, she would smile and give me the ‘thumbs up’ and I would register her for the next season.
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Taking this simple exercise from Little League Soccer to our lives, we can make the best decisions by using your gut reaction to rank opportunities, situations, investments, use of time and prioritizing projects on a scale of 1 to 10. Because often, our gut reaction gives us a clue:
One being the Lowest; and,
Ten being the Highest, and;
Zero is Irrelevant to the task at hand.
This high-level gauge, or litmus test, is designed to add emotion – gut reaction – to logic and help you make better decisions if not good decisions.
“What does your gut tell you?”
Often, our gut gives us a signal that we should listen to. Mine does.
When I was in Business School pursuing my MBA, I took a Venture Capital class. One of the guest speakers was a leading venture capitalist (investor).
He said, “When you’re evaluating an investment, what does your gut tell you? Go? No Go? If your gut says ‘Yes’, check the numbers.”
If your gut says “No,” there’s little point in analyzing the numbers and other details surrounding the investment opportunity.
In other words, it’s very important to balance and combine logic and emotion to guide your decision-making process and arrive at the optimal solution.
Suppose you’re deciding between going on vacation to the Caribbean or say Tuscany and saving more money for retirement.
Needless to say, you feel that the vacation would be fantastic and provide a great break from work and a nice change of scenery.
On the other hand, saving more money for retirement would help fund your living expenses during your retirement years.
Hmmm. . .
If I were making this decision, I would rank going on vacation a 9 or 10.
And if I were evaluating whether to save more money for retirement, I would rank that a 9 or 10 too.
How about you?
Hmmm. . .
Which decision is more important to you?
And so on.
A scale of 1 to 10 gives you a rough gauge, a litmus test.
A tool to add some science around emotion and a broader perspective around making a decision.
Hey, I gotta pack for Tuscany [just kidding].
Instead of Tuscany, I opted to save more for retirement .
See you on the other side.
Have a great week,
Arthur VanDam
To 10X your success. Click here.
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Disclaimer: OH and Please Remember, we are Not financial advisors, financial planners, attorneys or accountants and are Not providing any specific financial, tax, accounting or legal advice here. Be sure to conduct your own due diligence and consult your own professional advisors to get sound professional advice that’s specific to your financial and personal circumstances, risk tolerance, time horizon and investment goals and objectives among other key factors!
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