A decision journal is one of the simplest tools for deciding better. Before an important decision, you write down what you know, what you expect and how you feel. Later, you come back and compare. Over time you learn not only whether your decisions worked out, but how you make them.
Why it works
Memory rewrites decisions. Once you know how something turned out, it becomes almost impossible to remember what you actually knew and felt beforehand. Good outcomes make bad reasoning look wise, and bad luck makes sound reasoning look foolish. A decision journal keeps the record honest, so you can learn from the process rather than only from the result.
The template
Copy these headings for each decision that matters. It takes about fifteen minutes.
- Date and decision. What exactly am I deciding, and by when?
- Options. What are the real options, including doing nothing and waiting?
- What I know. The facts I am relying on.
- What I do not know. The gaps, and whether I could close any of them.
- What I expect. What I think will happen, and how confident I am, as a percentage.
- How I feel. Tired, anxious, excited, pressured? Where in my body do I notice it?
- What is really driving this. Fear, ambition, loyalty, comfort, someone else’s expectations?
- What would change my mind. The evidence that would make me choose differently.
- Review date. When I will come back and read this.
How to review it
On the review date, read the entry before you think about the outcome. Then ask:
- Was the decision sound given what I knew at the time?
- Which expectations were right, and which were wrong?
- Did the feeling I noted turn out to steer the choice?
- What will I do the same way next time, and what differently?
Keep the quality of the decision separate from the quality of the outcome. A good decision can turn out badly, and a poor one can get lucky. The journal is there to improve the first; the second is never fully in your hands.
The hardest heading
Most people find heading seven the hardest: what is really driving the decision. It is difficult to see while you are inside it. This is where talking it through helps most.
With Ruta, you can walk a decision through one question at a time. Ruta follows what you write, not a script, and what Ruta found at the end of each journey records what emerged, the pattern beneath it and one next step: a natural entry for your decision journal. Over several decisions, your picture in Ruta starts to show how you decide, which is the thing a decision journal is ultimately for.
Start with one decision
Choose one decision you are facing this month and fill in the template today. Put the review date in your calendar. The value of a decision journal compounds: by the fifth entry, you will start to recognise yourself in it.