LibraryPatternsStop Overthinking DecisionsI ask for too many opinions before making decisions a…
Problem
Toward Wisdom

I ask for too many opinions before making decisions and end up more confused than when I started.

Part of the pattern: Stop Overthinking Decisions
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The path forward
  1. 1Limit who you ask
  2. 2Trust your own read
  3. 3Decide with limited input
One thing to try this week
Make one decision this week without asking anyone else's opinion first.
Related problems
I consult trusted people about decisions and keep going until I find someone who disagrees. When opinions diverge I am more paralysed than when I started. The consultation is generating noise, not signal.I frame choices so that others end up making them — you pick, whatever you think, it does not matter to me. The decisions get made and I avoid the responsibility of having chosen.I have received so much conflicting advice from so many people that I am more confused than when I started.I make pros and cons lists for decisions. They rarely produce clarity. The lists have equal weight, or the decisive factor is not on the list, or completing the list simply moves the paralysis to the next stage.I need to know how it will end before I can choose. Since outcomes are never certain, the decision process spirals indefinitely. I am waiting for a guarantee that cannot exist.I start things but never commit fully. I always keep one foot out in case something better comes along.

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