sageful Free tool · For you

Decide, don't rehearse: a one-page decision sheet.

For the decision you keep replaying instead of making: take the job, make the move, have the talk, start the thing.

About 30 minutes for the sheet, then one small step within 48 hours

Your answers save in this browser only.

Why it matters

In the middle of a change, decisions pile up. Many of them are not hard because the answer is unclear. They are hard because each option has a cost, and running the same argument in your head again feels safer than paying either one.

Rehearsing feels like work but changes nothing. The same three thoughts go around, the deadline gets closer, and eventually the choice gets made for you by default, usually the worst way to make it.

This sheet moves a decision out of your head and onto paper, names what you are actually afraid of, and ends with a small step you will take in the next 48 hours and a person who will know about it. Most decisions are less final than they feel. Writing down what you could undo makes that plain.

How to use it

Write the decision in one sentence at the top. If you cannot, the first decision is to figure out what you are really deciding.
Work through 'Get it on paper' in order. Write fast. Do not edit.
List at least three options in the table, and make one of them 'do nothing for now.' Fill in each row honestly.
Circle the option you would pick if you were not afraid. Then read your answer about what scares you, and decide whether that fear is a fact or a guess.
Fill in 'Move': the smallest step within 48 hours, who you will tell, and a check-back date. Put the step and the date on your calendar.
Tell your person using the script. On the check-back date, read this sheet again and decide what is next.

The worksheet

The decision, in one sentenceToday's dateI need to decide byCheck-back date

Get it on paper

What exactly am I deciding, and what am I not deciding?'Whether to apply for the Denver role' is different from 'whether to move to Denver.' Shrink it to the real choice in front of you.
What happens if I do nothing for three months?Doing nothing is a choice too. Write down what it costs.
What would I do if I weren't afraid?Write the first answer that shows up, even if it surprises you.
What am I actually afraid of?Name it plainly: money, looking foolish, letting someone down, being wrong. Then mark it F for a fact or G for a guess.
What would I tell a good friend in my exact spot?We are often clearer and kinder with other people's choices than with our own.
What would I need to know to feel ready, and can I find it out this week?If the answer is a fact, go get it. If the answer is 'certainty,' you will not get it, and waiting will not help.

Weigh it

Option	Best realistic outcome	Worst realistic outcome	Can I undo it? How?
1.
2.
3. Do nothing for now

Move

My smallest step within 48 hoursSmall enough that you cannot talk yourself out of it: send one email, make one call, ask one question.
The person I will tellSomeone who will ask you about it later, not someone who will talk you out of it or into it.
Step and check-back date are on my calendarWith a time, not just a day.
What would change my mindWrite it down now, so new information is a reason to adjust, not a reason to start over.

Say it out loud

"I've decided to ___. The first step is ___, and I'm doing it by ___."

"I'm not asking you to weigh in on whether it's right. I'm asking you to check in with me on ___ and ask if I did it."

If you are not ready to decide: "I'm deciding by ___. Between now and then, I'm finding out ___."

Notes

Example: a job offer in another city

Made-up example. Priya has an offer for a team lead role three hours away. She has been 'thinking about it' for two weeks. Her one sentence: 'Do I accept the offer, yes or no, by the 15th?' She noticed she was not deciding whether to move forever, only whether to take this job.

Her fear answer: 'That I'll hate it and have uprooted everyone for nothing.' She marked it G. In the table, the worst case for accepting was 'I leave after a year,' and under 'Can I undo it?' she wrote 'Yes, rent first, keep the house for a year.' That changed how heavy it felt.

Her 48-hour step: call the hiring manager and ask two questions about the team. Her person: her brother, who agreed to call her on the 14th. She accepted on the 13th.

Common mistakes

Writing the decision as a fog ('figure out my career'); the fix is a yes or no sentence with a date.
Listing only two options; the fix is to always add 'do nothing' and one middle path.
Telling someone who has a stake in the answer and will argue; the fix is to pick a person who will just hold you to the step.
Making the first step too big ('give notice'); the fix is to shrink it until it fits in an hour.
Treating every fear as a fact; the fix is to mark each one F or G and go check the facts.
Filing the sheet and forgetting it; the fix is the check-back date on your calendar before you put the pen down.

Make it yours

After a layoffUse it for the big forks: same field or new one, take a bridge job or hold out, retrain or not. Put your money runway in the 'what would I need to know' answer.
New in a leadership roleUse it for people decisions, like whether to move someone to a different role. Add a row: 'How will I explain this to the team?'
Considering a moveSeparate the job decision from the housing decision. Each gets its own sheet.
Running a small businessUse it for hiring, raising prices or dropping a customer. Put the dollar cost of 'do nothing for three months' in the table.

Use it with

The 10-minute weekly reset.Open →What you've been tolerating.Open →3 questions that show you your blind spots.Open →

Free to use, copy and share with your team. No sign-up.

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