Your choices define you. Are you a thinker? A doer? A combination of both?

There is a more profound level involved in making choices: how you make them.

How do you arrive at the right choice, one that’s both good for your desired specific outcome AND reinforces your desired self-definition?

If you are like most, then your personal decisions are based on tacit knowledge. Furthermore, many such choices fly under your radar, and you don’t even notice you are making them.

Tacit knowledge is valuable, but only if based on the right process of thought. Thought processes are very involved and complicated. However, there is one thing you can and should do: be aware!

You want to:

1. Be aware that you are making a choice.
2. Be explicit about the knowledge you are activating to make your choice.

And don’t forget to also explicitly know and keep in mind your desired self-definition - who do you want to be.

Complaints will give you great insights. The problem is, it's hard to imagine, ahead of time, the real complaints you'll get.

You can, however, use imagination to see into the future and predict outcomes that will help you shape your idea.

It can give you insight that will either change your idea and product. Or it may reinforce your original thinking and increase your commitment to making it real.

Finish the following two sentences to ignite your imagination:

1. What if...

2. But...

For example:

• What if the phone cases were transparent?

• But people may want to have all their music with them.

• What if the faucet could sense the water is about to run over the sink or bathtub?

• But people will think it's silly to wear huge headphones out in the street.

• And so on.

Repeat for best results.