So often we are all prone to a little bit of frozen fear. Or simply the comfort of delaying a decision. It is in these moments that we may be best served with a little bit of a nudge.
No professional should be pushy, regardless of good intentions, it can come across as self serving. There are times though when a client needs a bit of a push. I recall many years ago a client was simply frozen by the prospect of committing to a purchase. Fear overwhelmed her. She focused exclusively on all that which could go wrong. It left her feeling paralyzed. And worse, it made her feel rotten. Evaluating the downside has value, except we all suffer when we don't evaluate all things, calmly and methodically, in balance. Yes, in all decisions there is potential upside and downside, we have to identify both. I've found that by sitting down and working through this exercise with clients that making decisions is much easier and more effective. Nothing is perfect, ever.
Nudging someone with pushy words alone is not nearly as effective as backing this up with tangible, substantive facts and data, a checklist of good and bad. This balanced, methodical approach seems to resonate with most people as it is honest. Often that little extra nudge to commit to something can be the most valuable task of all.
