The Second Look Playbook
Before you take their advice, ask these three questions.
Someone is pushing a decision on you — a promotion that needs “one more year”, a major your parents picked, a move your partner wants. This one-pager does not judge whether they mean well. It looks at what the advice actually asks you to carry.
Who carries the risk if this goes wrong?
If the upside belongs to them and the downside belongs to you, that is the structure talking. Write down who pays — in money, in time, or in options quietly closed.
What closes if you say yes — and what actually happens if you say no?
List the doors that shut: the job not taken, the city not moved to, the money not saved. Then ask what really happens when you decline — a conversation, or a cost?
What would need to be true for this advice to be good for you?
Write the conditions down: funded, documented, reversible, fairly shared. Test the advice against those conditions — not against anyone’s intentions.
The who-carries-the-risk worksheet
One advice, one sheet. Print it, fill it in, bring it to your first Second Look case.
| The advice I’m considering | |
|---|---|
| Who suggested it | |
| Who benefits most if I follow it | |
| Who carries the downside if it fails | |
| What I give up by saying yes | |
| What happens if I say no | |
| What is still unknown |
Bring this worksheet to your first case.
Second Look is an independent second opinion on the advice you’re getting — it maps the structure, not anyone’s motives. Founding users get first access.
See how Second Look works