Decisions are temporary

This post is part of a series based on the book Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson (Crown Business 2010).

"Decisions you make today don't need to last forever. It's easy to shoot down ideas, interesting policies or worthwhile experiments by assuming that whatever you decide now needs to work for years on end. It's just not so...Decisions are temporary." 


Sure, it was a bitter pill when the Peace Center's co-director, Mike Gerdes, resigned. For a moment all our shared visions, decisions, and dream for a flourishing spiritual center flashed before me. After all, we DECIDED to do this together.

"But what if???" "What happens when?" I was not enjoying the futurizing. I was making up problems before they were a real problem. I was practicing the worst kind of meditation...worry. Most of the things we worry about never happen. It's the negative anticipation that takes the biggest toll on well being, even if the thing we worried about actually happens.

Part of me actually thought the vision we made in 2006 needed to work for 10 years or more. I'm sure many leaders do the same thing of going through lots of hours of visioning, Board meetings, creating buy in for the vision among the members, planning to arrive at a lasting decision about the direction of the organization. Do we have to go through all that again? Sure. Why not? Isn't that what it's all about? Growth. Change. Moving on.

This experience was just another example that decisions are temporary. I'll be the first to admit that we get attached to our decisions, as we attch to the world views that produced them. We become stagnant, undbending, unable to make quick decisions and to act quickly = innovate. I've noticed when I approach a problem or challenge with the attitude that I can change my mind at any time, progress begins to happen more quickly and is a lot less boring.

Pay attention to today and worry about tomorrow tomorrow. Jesus said  that in the Sermon on the Mount. So did the great philosopher king Marcus Aurelius when he said, "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present." All the great sages and mystics through the ages have echoed the same idea. This is a  different idea than preparing for the future. I'm not saying don't prepare for the future. Preparing for the future is one of those decisions you make about a certain project you are working on today.

Be present for today. Otherwise you'll waste energy, time and money fixating on problems that don't materialize and miss the jewels of the present moment that await your discovery. Mike's departure creates a new now, rich with it's own treasures to discover. That is what I am focusing on today. What wants to happen now? When it reveals itself, I will decide from a place of peaceful contemplation which amazing path of adventure to take.