Today I came across an e-book, and a set of videos that accompany it, by a guy named Andy Stanley. It’s called Your Move: 4 Questions to Ask When You Don’t Know What To Do.
Who hasn’t been there?
I can’t say it better than Stanley, so I’ll let him tell you about the study:
And via an excerpt from the book, I’ll also let Stanley share one of the questions he asks — one I think all of us should ask ourselves more often:
“Here’s the first of the four questions:
Am I being completely honest with myself?
We’re all experts at selling ourselves on whatever we really want to do, whether we should do it or not. We’re all very good at deceiving ourselves, because we feel so compelled to justify our unwise decisions. It’s as if our hearts are wrapped around a certain choice, then they send our brains a message that says, “Quick, find me some reasons for it!” Our brains manufacture the reasons, and then we start believing them.
Why aren’t we more honest with ourselves? Because for the most part, we’re on a quest not for truth, but for happiness. Our hearts cling to whatever choices we think will make us happiest, no matter how unwise they might be.
So, we need to ask ourselves, Why am I doing this . . . really? What’s the real reason for the choice I’m making? We don’t often ask ourselves this because it’s convicting and uncomfortable. There are times we don’t really want to know why we’re making a certain choice.”
If you’re interested in the study, it and the videos are available for free download here through April 30, 2011.