Right now, I’m working with two clients who are on the verge of launching their own businesses. Both of them have carefully crafted business plans. Each is highly trained in her field and has spent years building a solid base of experience. Both have taken wise steps to lay the groundwork to enable them to hit the ground running. They’ve done their research, consulted trusted advisors, and organized their finances. They are eager and committed. They are ready.

Yet both have recently said to me, “I’m afraid I’m making the wrong decision.” As we’ve talked through their fears and concerns, both women admit that yes, they have the skills, the experience, and the plan. Yes, they concede, they’ve done their homework. Yes, they really want to do this. But still that inner critic keeps whispering, “You’re making the wrong decision. This will be a disaster.”

Last minute doubts are pretty normal. We all have them when we are on the verge of taking a big leap that carries some risk and will change our lives. There’s usually no way to know for sure that taking that risk is the right decision.

A few weeks ago I heard a podcast interview that reframed my thinking about decision-making in ways that might be helpful for my clients and anyone else facing a big decision. In that conversation, a man who had been diagnosed with colon cancer related how he had decided not to have a follow-up cancer surgery. He explained, “It wasn’t about right or wrong. It was about making the best decision.” He’d know if he’d made the right decision if the cancer didn’t come back. And if the cancer came back, he’d know it was the wrong decision. Of course, the catch was that in this case, there was no way to know if the decision was right or wrong until months or years down the road. He concluded that all he could do was make the “best decision.” He listened to a surgeon’s advice, did some research on his own, and listened to his own heart and mind, and then he made the best decision for him in that situation.

The best decision. It’s such a small shift in thinking. Not the right decision or the wrong decision, but the best decision. As I processed what he said, that little shift seemed powerful.

You can ‘t usually know whether a decision is right or wrong in advance. Like my entrepreneurial clients, you just have to do your homework and make the best decision for you in your current situation.

What about you? Do you have any insights on how to make the best decisions? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.