Entrepreneurs can harness the power of silence to improve decision-making, enhance communication, and build stronger relationships. Silence can also be a strategic tool in negotiations, creating space for thoughtful responses and increasing the chances of a favorable outcome.
In his latest book, High-Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard, he talks about how transitional states can change and improve our lives. If you are wondering what a transitional state actually is, it is the state that creates a split between two dimensions. No, not like Star Wars teleportation; but rather like the transition for ordinary humans.
For instance, when you move from one room to another, the door is your transition object. The trick is to pause between the transitions and in that pause, motivate yourself to do the next thing. For instance, if the purpose of entering the next room is to catch a bite, it is prudent to visualize yourself having the best meal of your life. This might not seem like a big thing, but when done right, it can help you get your mind off the negativity in your life and start over fresh.
In his book “Four Seconds”, Peter Bregman talks about pausing for a second and introspecting before making a decision. For instance, each response we give ensuing an incident comes with its own set of repercussions and outcomes. Given a different response, a new story would have unfolded. Now, Peter talks about repositioning the process. When an incident happens, think about the outcome you want to yield from the incident and respond accordingly. This will help you calm your mind and think for a second before making an impetuous decision.
Mel Robbins, in her book “The 5 Second Rule”, also talks about how Entrepreneurs have been using the power of 5 seconds to make big decisions in their lives. She writes about how before taking any big decision, Richard Branson closes his eyes and listens to his gut, and the same goes for Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. This 5-second break is to let your inner voice take precedence and do what feels right instinctively.
5-minute Technique That Can Help You Make Big Decisions
Most Entrepreneurs make decisions based on their gut feeling. When Google aimed to expand, Jeff Bezos took a split-second decision to invest, based-upon his gut instinct.
Peter Thiel, in his best-seller book “Zero to One”, talks about starting a venture right from his home based upon what he felt right at the moment. This is the power of silence, which has always helped Entrepreneurs in the past and is still helping them.
In the TV series “TVF Pitchers”, the main lead Naveen Bansal made his decisions through something called the ‘The Jury Room’. When all the members of the team got exasperated about not being in the know, they asked him about the jury room. He told of a simple process that he often adhered to, to take the most important decisions pertaining to his startup.
When he was faced with a huge decision or a challenge, for instance, whether to give away a major chunk of his venture to an investor who didn’t know anything about the startup, he went into a room this is what he did.
He took a coin and tossed it. Heads for investing, and Tails for not giving away his venture. Even though he seemed partial to the outcome, in the mere fraction of the seconds that the coin was flipping through the air, his heart ached for tails. And that is what he got. Yes, his gut made the right decision. And by the end of the TV series, we saw why this decision was so accurate.
I am an Entrepreneur myself and I have used this technique dozens of times. The thing is, it is not just whether your luck hands out more heads or tails, it is about what your heart desires when the coin is in the air. This is the power of silence. When you silence your mind for even a few minutes, your subconscious mind gets a moment to wander off and scrutinize the problem.
Most of you might not agree with me here, but trust me, this is a technique which has guided me to make the right decisions even in the most distressed situations.
To Wrap it All Up
“Go with your gut,” is occasionally a bit of good advice. And in that moment of silence, you get that gut feeling that makes all the difference. However, better advice is to “invest in making your gut smarter.”
The world is a lot more complex than our gut is likely to comprehend, at least without training. Train your gut to receive better instincts. Practice going with your instincts in private. Every day, make a judgment call. Make ten. Make predictions about what’s going to happen next, who’s got a hit, what designs are going to resonate, which videos will go viral, which hires are going to work out. Write them down or they don’t count. It makes no sense to refuse to practice your instinct and to only use it when the stakes are high.
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August 17, 2019 
