Too Much Time Decision-Making?

Do you spend too much time engaged in decision-making agony? Do you meet even simple choices with exhaustive research, hesitation, and the agony of potential regret?

Consider the following three questions. If you hang on to the very end, you’ll discover the pathway to freedom

1. What might I gain if I could be more decisive?

Energy!

• I would have more energy by diminishing the decision fatigue that accompanies indecisiveness. Yes, decision fatigue is a real thing. At first glance it seems we love choices, but research demonstrates that more choices creates fewer decisions. Check out the Jam Study to learn more.

Time!

• Wow, I wouldn’t have to research everything before making a purchase.
• I would save all that time I spend agonizing and hesitating.

2. What would I need to accept to be decisive and gain more energy and time?

• That perfect outcomes aren’t knowable or possible. Too much is beyond your control. And the outcome of any decision changes with time. Read the Zen master, the boy, and the horse for a poetic illustration of that concept. 
• Few things in life are truly irreparable.
• Most everything is a work in progress. Make a decision. Get new intel. Make a new decision.
• You can delegate some decisions to others—friends, family, and colleagues with the needed expertise or experience.
• Every decision doesn’t have to be optimal. You can choose satisficing. Yes, satisficing is intentionally saving time and energy and choosing satisfaction rather than the optimal choice.  For example, you could decide that if a problem could be solved more succinctly then that’s the way to go rather than spending all your time and energy searching for the best solution.
• Imperfection! That’s reality anyway. Why not accept it. Perfection is a concept you know. What’s perfect for one would never be perfect for another.

3. What would I need to make timely decisions and not treat every decision the same? How can I make every decision the right one?

You would need to believe the following. Consider also that freedom resides in embracing these beliefs. You may initially reject them. But allow yourself to consider them with an open mind and an open heart.  The freedom you long for lives within these beliefs.

• Every decision I make is the right one because I make it with the best resources I have at the time (knowledge, resources, time available, and perception of costs and benefits).
• The results of any decision are never fully in my control, and I learn so much from every outcome.
• In the future with additional knowledge, insights, and new circumstances, I will make new choices that are right for me given who I am and who I’m becoming.
• I trust myself to choose.
• After all, how can a choice be wrong? Remember the outcome of any decision looks different in time when new perspectives and new circumstances, which are beyond my control, unfold.
• Yes, choices have consequences that are more and less desirable, but each result has the power to instruct.
• I’m not all-knowing so any choice can yield unexpected undesirables.
• When I accept that I can’t make a wrong decision, but rather I make decisions that give me new choices and new insights, I’m free!
• When I use my decision-making approach, I’m freed from regret.
• Indecision no longer plagues me.
• I’m free to choose.

When the outcome has long-term implications, of course, take more time, be more methodical. Just remember, for many decisions, many choices will work beautifully! 

Wrap-Up!

To gain more time and energy consider changing your thoughts around decisions! Once you believe every decision you make is the right one, freedom from regret, worry, and hesitation will be yours! You have the power to be decisive!

Photo by Jens Lelie on Unsplash