Some decisions become harder because we keep squeezing them.
Too much analysis can become paralysis.
STOP.
LOOK.
CHOOSE.
Then move with a purpose.
You are an intelligent, seasoned and skilled individual going about your personal and professional life when suddenly something presents itself that demands a decision.
You want to do the right thing.
Fine.
But then you try TOO HARD to do the right thing.
And that can produce a strange result:
Nothing gets done.
Or worse…
the wrong thing gets done.
One thing that has helped me over the years is very simple:
STOP.
LOOK.
CHOOSE.
Then proceed.
That little sequence can save a person from turning one decision into twelve unnecessary problems.
ANALYSIS PARALYSIS
You overanalyzed.
Then you became paralyzed in the process.
You tried too hard.
Or perhaps you did not really try at all because fear stepped in and complicated the whole thing.
Sometimes indecision comes from:
too much information,
too many opinions,
too many possibilities,
too many fears,
or simply too much already going on in your head.
Now the decision is no longer standing alone.
It has invited the whole neighborhood.
PAUSE FOR CAUSE.
A decision becomes much easier when you remove everything that does not belong to it.
What are the facts?
What actually matters?
What is yours to decide?
What is merely noise?
When those questions are answered, clarity usually begins returning.
LIVING LIFE WITH THE BRAKES ON
Failure to correct chronic indecision can produce a strange kind of life.
You are moving…
but not really moving.
Thinking…
but not choosing.
Waiting…
but not advancing.
It becomes living life with the brakes on.
I have seen this in action…
or perhaps I should say INACTION.
It can kill business deals.
Damage confidence.
Confuse families.
Spoil children when parents refuse to set boundaries.
And over time, it can create adults who are afraid to choose because somebody else always chose for them.
Indecision does not merely delay action.
Repeated long enough…
it becomes a habit.
DO THE MATH AND THEN MOVE WITH A PURPOSE
If you are considering a business deal…
DO THE MATH.
Get the facts.
Know the upside.
Know the downside.
Understand the risk.
Check your resources.
Then make a decision.
If additional clarity is genuinely needed, take an allotted time-out and revisit the matter again.
Notice the word:
ALLOTTED.
Not forever.
Give yourself a reasonable period for additional information and then return to the decision.
Set it up to be dealt with…
or eventually it will deal with YOU.
This connects directly to MOVING WITH A PURPOSE.
Once the information is sufficient, movement becomes the next responsibility.
Anything can be analyzed forever.
At some point…
the airplane has to leave the runway.
ANYTHING INVOLVING CHILDREN…SLOW BUT SURE MOVEMENT
Now there is an important exception to rushing.
Children.
When decisions involve children, slow down.
Most of us can overreact when a child is involved.
Fear rises quickly.
Emotion gets louder.
Protective instincts kick in.
That is understandable.
But those are precisely the moments when calm thinking matters most.
Consider carefully what the situation really is.
Gather the facts.
Listen.
Ask questions.
Then calmly but firmly make the decision that best protects and guides the child.
When consequences may be serious or long-lasting, careful judgment matters.
You may not always get a perfect answer.
But you can improve the quality of the decision by refusing to let panic make it for you.
SHOULD I OR SHOULDN’T I?
Personally, I would rather make a considered decision than live indefinitely in indecision.
Not everybody is naturally comfortable deciding.
That is fine.
Then seek counsel.
Talk with:
your spouse,
a trusted friend,
a mentor,
a professional,
or somebody whose judgment has earned your respect.
But remember something important:
Advice is not a substitute for responsibility.
Eventually…
YOU still have to choose.
The matter was presented to you.
Rise to the occasion.
INDECISION
If you want to be free of this robber of life and joy…
handle it.
Do not let it handle you.
Identify the issue.
Isolate it from unrelated emotions and non-material considerations.
Gather enough information.
Then CHOOSE.
And here is the fascinating part:
Decision-making improves through use.
You make one.
You observe the outcome.
You learn.
You adjust.
Then the next decision arrives and you are not quite the same person who faced the last one.
There is a built-in learning curve.
Your judgment begins getting educated by experience.
That does not mean every future decision will be right.
It means you become better at the PROCESS.
RICHIE SPEAKS
Here is one Richie rule:
Do not demand certainty where only judgment is available.
Another:
More thinking is not always better thinking.
And one more:
A decision does not have to be perfect to move your life forward.
Sometimes the worst decision is allowing indecision to make the decision for you.
PEARLS FROM THE BOOKS
From the spirit of Pearls for the Soul:
“Clarity often arrives after we separate what matters from what merely makes noise.”
From the spirit of God I AM:
“What has been placed within you includes the capacity to choose, learn, adjust and choose again.”
From the spirit of It Is Finished:
“When enough has been considered, release the endless replay and move.”
PEARLS INSIGHT
Good decision-making is not the absence of uncertainty.
It is the ability to act responsibly despite some uncertainty.
Analysis is useful when it improves understanding.
It becomes harmful when it turns into endless delay.
A practical decision process often includes:
identify the real issue,
gather relevant information,
remove distractions,
consider consequences,
seek counsel when useful,
set a reasonable time frame,
choose,
then review what the result teaches you.
The goal is not perfection.
The goal is increasingly sound judgment.
PEARLS CONNECTION
This connects directly with ACTION PLANS REQUIRE MOVING WITH A PURPOSE.
A decision without movement is still sitting at the starting line.
It also connects with THE LEARNING CURVE.
Every decision teaches you something if you are willing to study the result.
And PROBLEM SOLVING…SLAY THE DRAGON NOT THE PEOPLE reminds us to isolate the real issue before reacting emotionally to everyone standing nearby.
FINAL SAY
Should I?
Shouldn’t I?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
What if?
What about?
Enough.
STOP.
LOOK.
CHOOSE.
Do the math.
Get the facts.
Listen to good counsel.
Take extra time when the stakes justify it.
Then move.
You will not always make the perfect decision.
Nobody does.
But a life cannot be lived entirely from the waiting room.
At some point…
the door opens.
Get up.
Walk through it.
And may the decision be in your favor…
and may you find favor with what you learn from it.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
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