Your North Star said where you're going. This step asks something narrower about the thing in front of you: does it belong?
Big decisions get thought about. Small ones get made in seconds, which is exactly why they run our lives. A litmus test is a pre-committed question that turns the small ones into small expressions of the big one.
The best litmus tests are built from your North Star. They sound personal because they are. They shouldn't make every decision easy. They should make the wrong ones uncomfortable enough to notice.
THE INSIGHT
A good litmus test is short, honest, and slightly annoying. That's how you know it works.
A litmus test is a pre-committed question that turns small decisions into small expressions of the big one.
THE FRAMEWORK
The Litmus Test
The full framework: Locate, Orient, Test, with worked examples and a printable worksheet.
Read the frameworkFURTHER READING
- You'll Only Stop Feeling Guilty When You Can See What Your Decision Made PossibleGuilt-free decisions aren't about having no regrets. They're about looking at the right receipts.
- More Money Was the Wrong GoalMy side hustle was thriving way better than I'd dreamed it would in the first year. So, obviously, the next thing to do was to scale, right? Nope. Absolutely wrong.