Decision Making: Why Delaying Hard Calls Costs More

The hard call doesn't get easier if you delay it.

It just gets more expensive.

Every operator I know has a short list of things they're avoiding.

The list sits at the top of the calendar in name only.

Then the day starts.

The easy work fills in around the hard work.
The hard thing gets pushed by an hour, then to tomorrow.

By the end of the week, the hard thing is the only thing that hasn't moved.

And the version of you who has to do it has less energy than the version that started Monday.

I built a SaaS tool for close to a year before I was honest with myself.
The product worked, but the market didn't want to pay for it.

I knew that before I actually admitted it to myself.

But what kept me building was the idea of what it could become.

Every day, there was easier work in front of me than the work of facing that reality.

The pivot to Fluency was based on the same information,
without the excuse to keep delaying.

The hard thing first works because it doesn't give the day a chance to decide for you.

You start with what's hardest before the day gets a vote.

Everything else rearranges around it.

Now, when I feel myself scheduling one more call before deciding,
I check whether I'm missing something or just not ready to move.

Usually it's the latter.

The operators I've watched scale well don't have more discipline.
They have a structure that doesn't let the easy work win in the morning.

Or the year.

You already know what you need to do.
So start it today.

What's a call you kept deferring longer than you should have?
Drop it in the comments.

♻️ Repost for another operator sitting on a decision right now.
And follow me, Jacob Rokeach, for more honest takes on building and leading.