LibraryPatternsStop Overthinking DecisionsI need to know how it will end before I can choose. S…
Problem
Toward Wisdom

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.

Part of the pattern: Stop Overthinking Decisions
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The coach is replying…
The path forward
  1. 1Notice the demand for certainty
  2. 2Decide with reasonable information
  3. 3Accept the outcome is unknowable
One thing to try this week
Make one decision this week with the explicit acknowledgement: I cannot know the outcome. I am choosing anyway. Say it out loud before you decide.
Related problems
I ask for too many opinions before making decisions and end up more confused than when I started.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 start things but never commit fully. I always keep one foot out in case something better comes along.

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