Crossroads Success Audit
Measure success by conscious choices at difficult moments
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 90%
The Crossroads Success Audit defines success as the quality of decisions made repeatedly, especially when an old habit would be easier. At each meaningful crossroads, identify the familiar impulse, the alternative available now, and which action reflects the person you want to be. Later, review the difficult moments rather than asking whether you have crossed into a permanent state called success. Williams says these conscious decisions would be what made a future decade feel good and worth being proud of. The mechanism shifts attention from an uncontrollable final destination to behaviour available in the present. It should complement, not erase, any concrete outcome measures required by the situation.
Origin
When asked how she would judge the next decade, Williams focused on conscious decisions made at challenging moments. Extracted from The Diary of a CEO.
Core principles
- 01Success is practised rather than reached
- 02The present choice is more controllable than a distant outcome
- 03Difficult moments reveal which pattern is governing behaviour
- 04Pride can come from how a challenge was handled
How to run it
- 1
Mark the crossroads
Identify a moment where two materially different responses are available. Focus on choices that express a recurring value or habit.
Watch out Not every minor preference needs to become a moral test.
- 2
Name both paths
State the old impulse and the deliberate alternative in behavioural terms. Avoid vague labels such as good or bad.
Pro tip Describe what you would actually do next on each path.
- 3
Choose consciously
Select the response that best reflects your current values and perspective. Accept that the more deliberate path may still feel difficult.
- 4
Log the evidence
Record the choice, why it was challenging, and what happened. This creates a concrete record rather than a global judgement of your character.
Pro tip Keep each entry to three lines so the practice remains usable.
- 5
Audit the pattern
Review several crossroads together and ask whether your decisions increasingly match your stated values. Retain external metrics wherever they matter.
Watch out Do not use good intentions to excuse repeated harmful outcomes.
In the wild
Instead of judging the month only by missed targets, a founder reviews three crossroads: whether to hide a mistake, whether to blame a colleague, and whether to abandon a useful routine after one bad day. She records the conscious action taken at each point alongside the business results. This is an illustrative use of Williams's decision-based view of success.
→ The review captures behavioural growth without ignoring external performance.
Common mistakes
Ignoring outcomes entirely
Conscious choices matter, but some contexts still require objective standards and results.
Auditing only easy moments
The model is most informative at crossroads where an old response has real pull.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people who want to evaluate growth without relying only on status or distant outcomes.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when concrete external results, safety standards, or professional obligations must also be measured.
From the transcript
“it's like a happening every second”
“every time you're at a Crossroads or a decision and like how what did you choose to do”
“seeing the the conscious decisions that were made rather than just like acting on impulse”
From the episode
Maisie Williams: The Painful Past Of A Game Of Thrones Star