The headline of this article has been the subject of a lot of my recent success. It’s a phrase made famous of late by Gary Vaynerchuk although I’m pretty sure he didn’t invent it.

The creator of that phrase is unknown to me but feel free to tell me in the comments below.

I started hearing this phrase a lot and its simplicity is profound. Whenever you don’t know what action to take, you can use this phrase to rescue your arse.

Here’s a list of decisions I’ve had to make recently:

–    Do I tell people I’m quitting my job?

–    Do I throw abuse at someone who wrote something nasty about me?

–    Do I leave my used coffee cup in the supermarket trolley?

–    Do I reply to a cold reach out message with some tips in a rude tone?

In each of these scenarios, I had a choice and I used the idea of doing the right thing, as always being the right thing, as my answer to each question.

Doing the right thing made my decision-making process so much easier.

I write a lot about decision making because I believe it sucks away all of the energy that we need to be creative if we let it.

What if making decisions could be a lot easier?

Well, it can be. The answer is always this: “Doing the right thing is always the right thing.”

Deep down you know what the right thing is and you know good from bad. The knowledge you need to make better decisions comes from doing the right thing and seeing the result.

The results that come from doing the right thing are crystal clear and they’ll give you the evidence you need to keep on doing the right thing.

This is not about being a do-gooder; it’s about being human and getting what you want while serving others at the same time.

Doing the right thing is how you become the person you want to be in the future.

We don’t become who we want to be because we do the right thing and the wrong thing. Whatever success looks like for you, doing the right thing will get you there faster.

“The delusion is that cutting a few corners and not always doing the right thing is a must for success”

This is a big fucking lie.

Doing the right thing will bring the right people into your life so you can succeed quicker. The person you want to be doesn’t compromise on who they are and how they can help people. Selfishness is holding you back, not doing the right thing.

I remember having a sleepless night last week because someone published an article about me that I interpreted (and others did too) to be an attack on me.

It was a horrible day.

I felt the good person I thought I was fading into darkness.

I had so much rage that was ready to explode. Then I had an epiphany:

Doing the right thing is always the right thing.

The right thing was to contact the person who said these harmful things and treat them like a human being. This meant listening to them and telling them who I was afterwards. I had to be prepared for the outcome being both positive and negative.

I resisted the temptation to get angry and listened to my opposition. Doing this helped me to learn a hell of a lot about myself.

I did the right thing and told them I would support them either way, even if I didn’t get what I want.

Hearing those words come out of my mouth felt weird and strangely liberating.

Because I did the right thing, my so-called opponent did what I wanted. They realized I was a good person and we ended up joining the same side.

“Doing the right thing brings people closer to you – even your haters, opponents and critics”

Where to from here?

Commit to embracing the idea that doing the right thing is always the right thing. Play with this idea for a week. Do nothing but the right thing even if it means you lose, don’t get what you want or have to be uncomfortable because of the decision.

I’m confident that once you’ve experienced what it’s like to do the right thing, you’ll live that way from now on.

Caveat: sometimes you’ll mess up and do the wrong thing. That’s okay. You weren’t an immaculate conception and neither was I. We’re human after all and we will stuff up.

It gets easier as you go along. Doing the right thing is always the right thing. It feels good, it’s the right thing to do, it brings you closer to others and it will transform your life.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net