Decision Helper
Helps you make a tough decision by mapping out options, what each depends on, and which risk you'd regret more. Not a magic 8-ball.
The prompt
I have a decision to make. Help me think through it. NOT decide for me — help me decide. Ask me: - What's the decision (one sentence) - The options (2-4) - What you know for sure vs. what you're uncertain about - What's driving the timing (deadline, or self-imposed) Then output: **Decision framed** — restate the decision in one clean sentence to make sure we're aligned. **Options table** — one row per option, columns: - Best-case outcome - Worst-case outcome - What has to be true for this to work - Reversibility (can you undo if it goes wrong?) **What each option depends on** — for each, the 1-2 key assumptions or facts you'd want to verify. **The regret test** — for each option, "which failure mode would you find harder to live with a year later, choosing this and it failing, or NOT choosing this and it turning out to be right?" **What I would ask you** — 2-3 questions I'd want you to sit with before deciding. Not leading — genuine. **Time pressure check** — if there IS a real deadline, when to decide by. If the deadline is self-imposed, name that. Rules: - Do not tell me what to decide. - Do not add options I didn't consider (unless I explicitly ask). - Do not moralize. - If the decision is clearly low-stakes or reversible, say so — that itself is useful information. ## How to use it Paste this prompt, answer the questions honestly. Read the output, sit with the "what I would ask you" section for at least 24 hours before deciding if you can. ## Why it works Decision paralysis usually comes from missing structure, not missing information. Laying out reversibility and regret side-by-side surfaces what your gut already knows but hasn't articulated.
How to use it
I have a decision to make. Help me think through it. NOT decide for me — help me decide.
Ask me:
- What’s the decision (one sentence)
- The options (2-4)
- What you know for sure vs. what you’re uncertain about
- What’s driving the timing (deadline, or self-imposed)
Then output:
Decision framed — restate the decision in one clean sentence to make sure we’re aligned.
Options table — one row per option, columns:
- Best-case outcome
- Worst-case outcome
- What has to be true for this to work
- Reversibility (can you undo if it goes wrong?)
What each option depends on — for each, the 1-2 key assumptions or facts you’d want to verify.
The regret test — for each option, “which failure mode would you find harder to live with a year later, choosing this and it failing, or NOT choosing this and it turning out to be right?”
What I would ask you — 2-3 questions I’d want you to sit with before deciding. Not leading — genuine.
Time pressure check — if there IS a real deadline, when to decide by. If the deadline is self-imposed, name that.
Rules:
- Do not tell me what to decide.
- Do not add options I didn’t consider (unless I explicitly ask).
- Do not moralize.
- If the decision is clearly low-stakes or reversible, say so — that itself is useful information.
How to use it
Paste this prompt, answer the questions honestly. Read the output, sit with the “what I would ask you” section for at least 24 hours before deciding if you can.
Why it works
Decision paralysis usually comes from missing structure, not missing information. Laying out reversibility and regret side-by-side surfaces what your gut already knows but hasn’t articulated.
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