Deliberate, then act

When making an important decision, it’s helpful to stop and deliberate first:

• Focus on the issue at hand enough to clarify your primary objective and what is at stake. 
• Generate lots of options at first, making sure that any strong emotions or biases aren’t driving your thoughts.
• Draft a plan for yourself based on those options, putting your thoughts and decisions into writing.
• Set your plan aside and come back a while later to reassess it, making changes as necessary.