I Can’t Decide

Do you ever find yourself getting stuck on making a decision? Decisions, big or small, have a way of making the most capable, thoughtful, conscientious people feel trapped in an endless analysis of pros and cons. If you are a perfectionist, it can be especially difficult to act. That’s because you imagine that there is a “perfect” decision, and if you can just think through every possible angle, you’ll get it right. Unfortunately, you can only have perfect knowledge when you look at a decision after you’ve made it. And yet, choices have real outcomes, so you are right to consider the process. How do you break through the confusion and act? You can start by recognizing that a choice to delay making a decision is still a choice, and it still has a specific outcome. In order to make better decisions, it helps to practice new ways of thinking through the decision-making process. The best resource I’ve encountered for improving my decision-making is the book How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, by Annie Duke. A recurring theme in the book is to take time to figure out your own likes and dislikes as a way to make better decisions. It sounds simple, but many of us make choices based on what we think we should do, or how others will perceive us. Decision-making can be pretty difficult, but developing better tools for the process helps you understand what goes into the decision, and even helps you feel better if you don’t get your preferred outcome every time.