LibraryPatternsStop Overthinking DecisionsI consult trusted people about decisions and keep goi…
Problem
Toward Wisdom

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.

Part of the pattern: Stop Overthinking Decisions
Hypatiaguide
Hypatia
Online
The coach is replying…
The path forward
  1. 1Notice the pattern of over-consulting
  2. 2Stop at the first few opinions
  3. 3Decide from your own synthesis
One thing to try this week
Make the next decision this week consulting one person maximum. Then decide based on your own view plus that one input. Stop at one.
Related problems
I ask for too many opinions before making decisions and end up more confused than when I started.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.

Working through this?

Talk it through with Hypatia, and start where it actually helps.