Welcome to the Brilliance Brief. Every week, we break down leadership, mindset, and personal growth into something real and doable. Expect research-backed insights, a little storytelling, and practical ideas that actually fit into your life (even the messy parts).

Last spring, I sat at my desk staring at 17 open tabs.

A vendor invoice.

A team hire.

A pricing question.

A launch date.

A speaking offer.

My brain just… stopped.

I'd been making decisions all morning. And I had nothing left for any of them.

The average adult makes around 35,000 decisions a day. Most are small. But for leaders, the cognitive bill adds up fast.

Research from McKinsey shows only 20% of executives say their organizations excel at decision-making.

They also found senior leaders spend nearly 40% of their time deciding things, and believe most of that time is poorly used.

I felt that statistic in my bones that morning.

What got me unstuck was a filter I've built over the last decade. 4 questions I now run any decision through when my brain is fried.

Here they are.

1. Will this matter in 10 minutes, 10 months, or 10 years?

Suzy Welch coined this in her book 10-10-10.

It's a time-zoom tool. Most decisions that feel urgent are 10-minute decisions wearing a 10-year mask.

The vendor invoice? 10-minute decision. Just pay it.

The team hire? 10-year decision. Slow down.

Run any choice through this filter. You'll know how much energy it actually deserves.

2. What will the version of me a year from now hope I did?

This question pulls you out of the emotional fog.

Jeff Bezos used a similar tool to leave a stable corporate job and start Amazon. He called it "regret minimization."

You don't need to project 50 years out. Just ask: a year from now, looking back, which choice am I proud I made?

The answer is usually clearer than you think.

3. Is this a one-way door or a two-way door?

Another Bezos tool, and one of my favorites.

Two-way doors are reversible. One-way doors aren't.

Most decisions are two-way. You can change vendors. Rework the deck. Reschedule the launch.

If a decision is reversible, make it fast. The cost of waiting is usually higher than the cost of being wrong.

Save your deep deliberation for the one-way doors. Those are the ones where slow is smart.

4. Am I deciding, or am I avoiding?

This one is the hardest.

When I'm spinning on a decision for days, it usually means I already know the answer. I'm just avoiding the discomfort of saying it out loud.

Firing the wrong hire.

Ending the wrong partnership.

Saying no to the wrong opportunity.

Research on decision avoidance backs this up. When we feel overwhelmed, we often mistake emotional resistance for analytical complexity.

In other words, we give ourselves permission to overthink.

Ask yourself honestly. Am I gathering more info because I need it? Or because I don't want to do the thing?

Pick the one decision sitting on your desk right now. The one you've been pushing off for days.

Run it through all 4 questions.

Then make the call.

Your team's pace is set by your decision speed. Every choice you sit on becomes a bottleneck for someone else.

See you Friday,

Justin

P.S. What question would you add to this list? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.