“Do you want this, or that?”

Yes.

Sometimes, the best option isn’t to choose one or the other. It’s to choose both. (The formal business school term for this is integrative thinking.)

For example, if you’re an author, and you’re asking yourself, “Do you want to self-publish your next book, or work with a publisher?” 

Yes. You want to self-publish your book, and you want to work with a publisher. You’re looking for a plan that depends on nobody else, and you want to work with someone else when the right opportunity comes up.

If you’re selling your services to a clear target client, and a client that isn’t ideal comes up with a huge business opportunity—do you give up pursuing your target clients and take this one? Or do you reject the client that’s not in your target market? 

Yes. You continue pursuing your target clients, and doing work to make that more compelling, while you allocate enough resources to pursue an opportunity with this client.

Should you focus on thinking long-term, or focus on thinking of the best next step? 

Yes. You want to maintain a sense of where you’re going, and stay true to that. You also want to keep focused on the next project.

The next time you’re thinking about this, or that, ask yourself, “Why not both?” How can you introduce that possibility into your life?

P.S., The cost of admission to integrative thinking: optionality cost, stretching your mind, diffused definition and branding, occasionally doing too much, less slack (during the start), and a divided sense of focus (while competing against focused competitors). There is always a tradeoff, and no happily ever after.