This article comes from Entrepreneur.

The 3 Questions Entrepreneurs Should Ask Before Making Tough Decisions

When faced with a big decision, it’s normal to feel paralyzed, question your own gut and stress about the wisdom of your choice. But give yourself some slack. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have experienced moments of panic, shouting to the skies above, “What do I do?!”

Second, there are three questions you can ask yourself before making a difficult decision to discern what’s driving you in a specific direction, and to see if you’ll end up where you really want to go.

1. Where am I running to?

We can set a lot of goals, we can think a lot of thoughts, we can behave in all sorts of ways, but ultimately, to what end? Where will this decision lead you? Too often, entrepreneurs set goals or outcomes and never ask themselves why. Unpacking your decision and taking a hard look at how it will fuel or complete you is important to your long-term peace. Discerning how this choice might make you feel along the way will influence whether your journey is more pleasurable or painful. So ask yourself: Where am I going? Why am I going? Who or what is driving me in this direction? How do I want to travel down this path?

Running from is different than running to. The first is backward-focused, negative and avoidant. The latter is forward-focused, positive and upward-facing. Knowing what you are building and creating helps you step forward with confidence, even when you are feeling your most vulnerable. Knowing where you truly wish to be (your to) can also help you create more of it in the present moment. If you’re running toward hitting the seven-figure product launch because you think it will prove your success and show your family members you aren’t crazy, then ask yourself: How can I feel more worthy right here, right now? How can I respect and honor my prior decisions before I make this next big decision?

2. Am I making this decision from a place of fear or faith?

Most entrepreneurs spend some time scared out of their wits. It comes with the title and the inevitable roller coaster ride of going out on your own. But when you make decisions from a place of fear, it can constrict opportunities, limit possibility and truncate your results. When you operate from fear, you’ll try to over control and force outcomes. Ironically, forcing solutions creates more tension and resistance, whereas going with the flow creates space for even more possibilities. In order to put your fears aside, ask yourself: If I replaced my fear with faith and my worry with calm and certainty, what might I say and do now? What might shift before I make a commitment to a path? If I replaced my fear with faith and my worry with calm and certainty, what decision would I lean toward?

Faith requires surrendering, letting go and loosening your grasp on your belief that you must control everything. Paradoxically, faith in yourself means that if you do make a decision that leads to unintended consequences, you can give yourself the grace to know that you made the best decision at the time you made it and you still believe in yourself to course-correct.

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