Metaphorical cards for a decision
Some decisions lack information; others have all the information collected long ago and still will not resolve. The second kind is not cured by logic: you have already written the lists. The practice below takes fifteen minutes and works not with the arguments but with what stands behind them.
Why a pros and cons list does not help
A list compares options along the parameters you named yourself, and that is its limit: whatever stayed unnamed never enters the table. People get stuck exactly where the main criterion is uncomfortable to admit out loud - fear, an obligation to someone, attachment, exhaustion.
The second problem is the framing. «Leave or stay», «accept or decline» describe the choice as two doors, while the real moves are usually more numerous: postpone, renegotiate, try it for a while. While the frame is binary, a third option is never considered.
Cards help not because a card knows the answer. They let you see each option as a state rather than a bullet point: you look at the image and notice what you feel, not what you think. That is often enough to realise the choice is already made.
Fifteen minutes: A, B and the third card
The Decision fork layout: three cards. The first two are drawn blind; the third is the interesting position.
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1
Name the two options
In short phrases, no explanations: «stay in the current job» and «move to the new company». Write both down and keep them in sight.
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2
Card A, blind
«This is me a year after option A». Place it on the left and describe: what I see, what I feel, what there is more of here.
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3
Card B, blind
«This is me a year after option B». The same three questions. No need to compare yet; a couple of words each is enough.
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4
The third card: what I do not see
It goes between A and B. This is not a ready third option but a hint about what you are missing in how the choice is framed. Questions: which inner condition matters more than the choice itself, what A and B have in common.
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5
A small conclusion, not a decision
One sentence: «in option A I am missing ___, in B ___». If the decision arrived by itself, good. If not, it will ripen over a few days, and that is normal.
The full technique is Fork: A / B / third way (3 cards, 15 minutes). If there are more than two options, or the situation has dragged on, Five steps to a solution fits better: it has positions for the cause and the hidden payoff.
Which deck to take
Crosspoint
78 cards built around one situation: you are at a turning point. Thresholds, forks, trails, resistance. This is the deck of choice. See the Crosspoint deck.
Urban Myth
108 scenes of modern life. Take it when the choice is an everyday one and recognisable scenes help. See the Urban Myth deck.
Between Us
96 scenes about relationships. If the choice is about people - stay, leave, rebuild - take this one. See the Between Us deck.
What the layout does not do
A card does not predict the outcome. The position «me a year after option A» is your idea of that option, not a forecast: the point is what you notice in it, not what «came up».
Legal, medical and financial decisions are not made from a layout. Cards give the inside view but do not replace a professional who has the facts and the responsibility.
If the decision is needed right now and there is no time, it is better to make it and test it in practice: practice returns more information than reflection under deadline.
If the choice concerns your safety - whether to leave a relationship where you are being harmed - it is not a task for a self-guided layout. Talk to someone you trust, or to a professional. More: safety of working with cards.
FAQ
Can cards tell me the right choice?
How is this different from fortune telling about a decision?
What if the layout brought no clarity?
What if there are three or more options?
Open the 15-minute practice
Next: all techniques, layouts by card count, limits of the method.