STEP 02 · LITMUS TEST · DOES THIS BELONG?

02 / 06

One question you can run every decision through.

A good litmus test is short, honest, and slightly annoying. That's how you know it works.

  1. Litmus Test
A single sheet of paper with a hand-drawn test held up to the light

You already know 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 framework

Build by design, not by default.

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