"If there’s one sure thing about me, other than being high-maintenance (a badge of honor I wear proudly), it’s that I’m indecisive. Since my earliest recollection of picking who to send over in a game of Red Rover, I’ve been paralyzed by having to make decisions—especially when put on the spot, overcome by fear of making the wrong decision. From changing my outfit three times before heading out the door to mulling over an email response before hitting send, I’m not wired to act quickly (and no, I’m not a Libra or Gemini).
And when it comes to figuring out big decisions like whether to leave a cushy marketing job for a new career in a different city (hi, 30-year-old me), it calls for a Rory Gilmore-style pro/con list and polling my trusted inner circle before even coming close to a final answer (it is my future self on the line, after all). Along with my indecision, add in fear, insecurity, and the temptation of staying in my comfort zone—I never made changes that got me closer to the life I wanted. Until I learned about the 10-10-10 rule, created by three-time New York Times best-selling author Suzy Welch. The decision-making strategy (which has Oprah’s seal of approval) has millions of people making serious changes and achieving their dream lives. I interviewed Welch to break down the method and how to use it to tap into your future self.
Suzy Welch
Suzy Welch is a three-time New York Times best-selling author (including the bestseller 10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea) and an award-winning NYU Stern School of Business professor of the acclaimed class “Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need.”
What Is the 10-10-10 Rule?
The premise of the 10-10-10 rule comes down to one simple question: What will the consequences of each of my decision options be in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years? “10-10-10 is a proven decision-making method that quickly and powerfully helps us make thoughtful decisions by assessing immediate, mid-term, and long-term impacts,” Welch conveyed. Before making a decision, ask yourself three questions:
- What are the repercussions of my decision 10 minutes from now?
- What are the repercussions of my decision 10 months from now?
- What are the repercussions of my decision 10 years from now?
“The answers usually tell me what I need to know not only to make the most reasoned move but to explain my choice to the family members, friends, or coworkers who will feel its impact,” Welch explained in her story on Oprah.com. By exploring the impact of your decisions in multiple time frames, your unconscious agendas, fears, needs, and desires naturally surface, thus encouraging you to check in with your values and the future self you visualize and align your life with them. “In doing so, 10-10-10 pushes us beyond emotions, fear, and avoidance, and [it] galvanizes us to evaluate decisions based on what really matters to us, in both the present and future,” she said.
How Does the 10-10-10 Rule Help You Manifest Your Dream Life?
In today’s culture of competing priorities, evolving options, and increasing information overload, we’re often steered by impulse, stress, or expedience. And in many cases, the things that are immediately rewarding are not the things that satisfy our long-term goals. But research shows that by widening your perspective and making the connection between present-day you and future you 10 months and 10 years down the road, the 10-10-10 rule will instantly help you make decisions that will get you closer to the life you want to have.
The important part is making decisions for your future self instead of your current self. A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied suggests that people who feel more continuity between their present and future selves tend to exercise more, while a study in Judgment and Decision Making found that they’re more likely to save money for the future. What’s more, based on the findings of a study in Social Psychological and Personality Science, greater perceived similarity to your future self is associated with greater life satisfaction and well-being 10 years later. TL;DR: The more connected you are to your future self, the more you’ll make decisions and take action to get the future you want.
“10-10-10 works because it invites a holistic view of a decision, expanding beyond immediate emotions to consider lasting effects,” Welch said. “It helps prevent impulsive choices and instead supports decisions that align more deeply with our deeper goals and values. By clarifying priorities across different time horizons, it cultivates thoughtful, values-driven action.”
How to Try It for Your Goals
Whether it’s using the 10-10-10 rule on a smaller scale, like whether or not to work out, or in bigger decisions, such as determining whether to end a relationship (platonic or romantic), you can apply it to make the most informed and empowered decision by reflecting on the three questions.
Question 1: What are the repercussions of my decision 10 minutes from now?
Imagine you’re 10 minutes into your decision to forgo Pilates after work or to step away from your friendship. Welch recommended starting the 10-10-10 method by slowing down your thought process and systematically picking it apart. What exactly are the immediate consequences of skipping your workout or ending your friendship? If you didn’t hit the gym, you could binge-watch Netflix or scroll TikTok instead, which would give you a temporary dopamine hit. At the same time, it could mean allowing your body extra recovery time that your body needs. If you cut ties with your friend, maybe you’d get a sense of relief from letting the draining relationship go. It’s easy to do things that feel good momentarily (AKA short-term satisfaction), such as binge-watching a show instead of working out or avoiding conflict or uncomfortable situations with your friend, but the 10-10-10 rule encourages you to consider whether it’s worth choosing over your happiness in the long run (AKA long-term joy).
Question 2: What are the repercussions of my decision 10 months from now?
After considering the initial possible outcomes of your decision, contemplate how you will feel about them 10 months later. On the one hand, your choice not to work out that day could lead to more skipped workouts and losing mental motivation to resume your exercise routine, while the temporary reprieve you felt after abruptly putting an end to your friendship could lead to feelings of grief. On the other hand, although the Pilates class you canceled might mean you didn’t meet your movement goal for that day or week, it’s now a moot point because you’ve been crushing your workouts consistently ever since. As for the friend breakup, perhaps the 10 months apart made you see that the companionship was no longer serving you. What you decide today will start the ripple effect of what your future self will look like, and a lot can happen in 10 months.
Question 3: What are the repercussions of my decision 10 years from now?
Finally, think about how the decisions you make today will affect you long term. Fast forward to 10 years: The fact that you didn’t follow through on your Pilates workout will probably be irrelevant. You’ve likely passed on countless sweat sessions over the last decade in favor of listening to your body, and your workout regimens have taken on different forms depending on the phase of your life. On the friendship front, your grieving might be replaced with regret that you didn’t have the uncomfortable conversation to set healthy boundaries, and you parted ways for good. Or maybe the uncomfortable and difficult decision you made 10 years prior removed toxicity and opened you up to more fulfilling and worthwhile relationships. Every action has a reaction, and this rule is about determining the reaction first, so you are more mindful of the action. The 10-10-10 framework is about seeing the bigger picture and learning to base your decisions on long-term gratification versus short-term rewards so that they will work for (instead of against) the future you envision.