How to Make Big Decisions

The Next Big Idea Daily newsletter?(SUBSCRIBE) ?is written by me,?Michael Kovnat , and gathers insights from today’s leading non-fiction authors. It’s a companion to our?Next Big Idea Daily ?podcast.

For me, it's real estate. To buy or not to buy — that's the kind of question that can bring me to my knees, paralyzed with the fear that I'm making the worst decision of my life.

For others, deciding whether to marry — or divorce — is equally daunting. For some, it's what career to pursue, or where to live. And for most of us, these are not free choices — we have to make them against a backdrop of finite resources, limited time, and conflicting obligations.

So, how do you make big life decisions? You need a system.

Hear Myra Strober and Abby Davisson explain their 5-part decision-making formula.

In their book Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap For Life's Biggest Decisions, Myra Strober and Abby Davisson present one such system, a formula for solving some of the thorniest emotional and financial problems you're likely to come across while here on Earth. It's a method developed over decades of research.

Myra is a pioneering economist who started a class at UC Berkeley in the 1970s called Women and Work, inspired by her own struggles to raise a family while launching an ambitious career.

After becoming one of the first female faculty members at the Stanford Business School , she re-tooled the course, renamed it Work and Family, and developed it into one of the most popular classes at that school.

Abby , who took the class while pursuing her MBA at Stanford, used the methods she learned from Myra to make decisions about her own marriage and career, choosing to raise a family while becoming President of the Gap Foundation and a senior leader on Gap Inc's Environmental, Social, & Governance team. She kept in touch with her former professor, and they eventually decided to write a book together.

I sat down this week for a great set of conversations with Myra and Abby on the Next Big Idea Daily Podcast , where they explained the "5 C's of decision-making":

1. Clarify what's most important to you.
2. Communicate with those most affected by your decision.
3. Generate a broad range of choices.
4. Check-in with friends, family, and trusted resources.
5. Explore your decision’s possible consequences—long-term and short-term.

I know it's not taking out a mortgage or deciding to propose, but I think listening to this week's episodes is a decision you won't regret.

Next week on?The Next Big Idea Daily

I'll be talking to author, podcaster, tech journalist, and LinkedIn honcho?Jessi Hempel ?about her remarkable memoir about her remarkable family.

P.S.

• Want to listen to this week's episodes ad-free? Download?The Next Big Idea app !
• Check out our curator Malcolm Gladwell talking about decision-making with author Steven Johnson.
• Get a copy of Money and Love?here . For you, or for someone you love.