Facts-Over-Feelings Decision Method
Replace emotional assumptions with facts, risks, and measurable returns
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
The method treats analytical thinking as a deliberate separation of facts from emotional reactions. Begin by naming what is objectively true, then identify the feelings or assumptions being mistaken for evidence. Quantify the likely return, costs, risks, and opportunity cost of each option. For a purchase, ask whether it will generate more value than it costs or whether it is genuinely necessary. For a staffing decision, examine the company’s trajectory and financial impact rather than allowing guilt or the desire to be liked to determine the outcome. Feelings still deserve acknowledgment, but they do not replace evidence. The output is a timely decision that can be defended with facts and revisited if the underlying information changes.
Origin
Jasmine Star developed this approach through law-school training that required students to support a position with facts rather than emotions, then applied it to purchases, staffing, and financial decisions in business.
Core principles
- 01Emotions provide signals, not proof.
- 02Every major decision should rest on verifiable information.
- 03An investment should produce a measurable return or meet a genuine necessity.
- 04A CEO must prioritize the business over the desire to be liked.
How to run it
- 1
Name the decision
Write the decision in neutral language so the underlying choice is clear. Remove loaded descriptions that already imply the answer.
Pro tip Frame it as a question with two or more concrete options.
Watch out Do not disguise a preferred outcome as an objective question.
- 2
Separate facts from feelings
List verifiable facts in one column and emotions, assumptions, or hunches in another. Treat both as useful information, but do not confuse their roles.
Pro tip Ask what evidence would persuade a skeptical third party.
Watch out A strong feeling does not become a fact through repetition.
- 3
Quantify the impact
Estimate the return, cost, risk, and opportunity cost attached to each option. Use relevant benchmarks when available.
Pro tip Include the cost of doing nothing as one of the scenarios.
Watch out Avoid inventing precise numbers when the available evidence is weak.
- 4
Test necessity and alternatives
Determine whether the expense or action is essential and whether a cheaper or less disruptive option can achieve the same result.
Pro tip Ask where the resources would be allocated if this option were rejected.
Watch out Convenience and novelty can masquerade as necessity.
- 5
Choose and review
Select the option best supported by the evidence, document the reasoning, and define when the decision should be reviewed.
Pro tip Set a measurable result that will reveal whether the decision worked.
Watch out Do not delay a difficult decision merely because the evidence is emotionally uncomfortable.
In the wild
An entrepreneur wants a faster laptop and initially treats the purchase as essential. She calculates whether the new device would create enough additional billable capacity to exceed its cost, compares an upgrade or repair, and checks whether the current machine can still complete required work.
→ She postpones the purchase until either the expected return exceeds the investment or the laptop becomes a genuine operational constraint.
A CEO intentionally reduces revenue ambitions but wants to retain the entire team because long-serving employees would be affected. Applying the method reveals that unchanged payroll would sharply reduce profitability and conflict with the new operating plan.
→ The CEO can make a timely staffing decision based on the business model while handling affected people with honesty and care.
Common mistakes
Treating feelings as evidence
Fear, guilt, or excitement may reveal concerns, but none proves that an option is financially or strategically sound.
Ignoring opportunity cost
A decision can appear affordable until it is compared with a better use of the same money, time, or personnel.
Using analysis to avoid action
The purpose is a defensible, timely decision, not endless calculation that postpones an uncomfortable choice.
Is it for you?
Best for
Entrepreneurs evaluating purchases, staffing changes, investments, or other consequential business choices.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when humane judgment, ethics, or personal values cannot responsibly be reduced to financial metrics alone.
From the transcript
“But your emotions are never facts.”
“I have learned to taking business decisions around facts and applying a number to a investment. If that number is not higher than the investment,…”
“Your job is to make the best decision for your business. Period.”
From the episode
Lessons I Learned in Law School That Made Me A Better Entrepreneur