⚖️ Whenever you are faced with a massive decision, nothing brings about more clarity than a pro/con chart. If you complete this process thoughtfully, you ought to literally see the scales tipped in favor of one decision or the other.

🔮 When filling out a pro/con chart, you should include all of the options – remain in your home country/go abroad/choosing between various international schools. Should you be fortunate enough to have more than one job offer to contemplate, be sure that you take the time to complete the pro/con chart with as much detail as possible. This may seem like the most basic advice imaginable, but oftentimes the simplest strategy is the best strategy.

💊 Much like a character in The Matrix, I have often reflected upon some of my choices (wondering if greater happiness could have been achieved by choosing the blue pill instead of the red pill or working at one school instead of the other school). Yet, I can always refer back to the pro/con chart I made for those decisions. This helps validate my reasoning eliminating any self-doubt that creeps in.

🥱 I do have to mention that not all factors on a pro/con chart may hold equal weight in terms of priority in our lives. Many of my closest family and friends love to remind me about how in 2016 I left my dream house in Pacific Grove, California – with its ocean view, country garden, wild deer and sea otters for neighbors, and my “sofa issue handled (Fight Club)” – to move to Ethiopia. The only con about living in paradise was that I was bored, and that con weighed heavier for me than all the other pros in the chart.

🔥 Through this experience, I discovered that sometimes the need for adventure is stronger than any other need. When you are an adrenaline junky, like me, the thrill you feel living in developing worlds – never stopping for the fire barricades in the streets of Venezuela or the stop signs in South Africa at midnight – the normalcy of a regular, or even good life, just isn’t enough. Thus, a pro/con chart can help you compare and contrast each option in order for you to see which option resonates strongest with you.