“When life closes a door, it opens a window or leads through a Better Door

I’m sure we’ve all heard that quote “when life closes a door, it opens a window”. It’s such an old and often quoted (and misquoted) phrase that I cannot even find the original author of this bit of wisdom.

It’s not entirely true of course, there are innumerable instances where closing a door doesn’t open a window of any sort, it just leads you through a better door. The premise however is more that when one thing ends, that ending also serves as a new beginning. We can simplify this even further, and take every decision or occurrence down to a simple binary equation, there are actually only ever two answers, a zero or a one, a true or a false, a yes or a no.

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Humans don’t really like absolutes, we like the grey areas, the wriggle room, the opportunity to change our minds and try something else. But that is all an illusion. It still resolves back to a two-choice system.

I’m sure many of us have seen Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. In it our heroes ship is stuck in a swamp and the wizened old Jedi Master Yoda, tells our young hero that the force will allow him to free the ship. Our hero doesn’t believe but says he will try.

Yoda replies “Try not, do or do not there is no try…” and our hero tries and fails to free his ship.

Defeated, the hero tells his master that he asks for the impossible. The master simple goes and performs the feat our hero just failed at and tells the hero that he failed because he didn’t believe he could succeed. What they never allude to in the film is the fact that the hero gave up and failed because to succeed all he had to do was re-evaluate and try again. Belief is not often needed in practical tasks, just do it again differently.

The master’s words of “do or do not, there is no try” were actually a test, a lesson that we all sometimes need to learn.

We too can try and complicate life by adding windows and doors and speeches and beliefs, and give the illusion of more choices.

But it still comes down to a two-choice system, to act or not to act.

If you choose to act, you again have two-choices, within that action, and so on.

In our businesses, overcomplicating scenarios for ourselves, is to overcomplicate our minds and make it feel a big mountain than it is. Instead, look at it from a decision tree point of view, yes or no, leads to the next yes or no, and the next and the next.

When it comes to our business, we like to complicate things and make it seem like the options are endless. But there is most always one clear answer. Inevitably we end up feeling troubled and not making a decision because we simply can’t figure out which one is best for ourselves and ultimately our business.

It’s like juggling: yes, no, yes no- you’re going in circles and ultimately getting nowhere. And you’re running time down and creating anxiety for yourself by not decisioning already. There can be times where over complicating is OK, but the beginning of your business isn’t one of those times. Instead, keep it simple- just figure out if you want to do this thing or not, yeah or neva.

“Do what you can with what you have right now.”- Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

The saying is true:

Act now and forever hold your peace.

Act not and the same goes to you.

Another popular saying that points out inaction can result in regrets:

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”

Make a decision! Stop wasting time and resources, and don’t keep your business waiting. Take the decision tree that’s right for your business and just go with it.

So you’re stuck between two decisions, and you’re not sure which one to take — it could be anything from whether to hire a new employee or whether to enter a new market.

Here’s the thing: most people would never make a decision until they acquire 100% of the information about all their possible options.

The problem with this strategy is that when we wait until we have all the information, we often overlook how our actions affect other parts of our business, especially when things change at warp speed.

So what’s the best way to decide?

Stop delaying and pick: take advantage of everything you’ve learned and move forward in whichever direction that feels most comfortable to you.

“To act or not to act” can be a question that consumes energy, thoughts and time. The best thing about business is the clarity. The second best thing about business is the discipline. Once you have done your research, ask yourself these questions:

-Do I believe this will work?

-Do I believe this will not work?

-How much time am I willing to invest into this idea?

-What are my chances of success?

Do you want to act on it? If so, go for it!

For instance, let’s say you want to start a business.

Should you quit your job and start working for yourself?

No. That’s a lot of risk, a lot of stress, and not something that you can do in the beginning of your business.

So, let’s say you’re thinking about it, you don’t know how to start your business, or you’re thinking about starting your business and you want to know what’s the best way to start?

You should definitely do your research and find out. But before you dive in head first and quit your job, let’s look at some other things that you should consider before you quit your job.