Who didn’t dream of becoming an overnight success at a wave of a magic wand, at least once? A common barrier to decisiveness is the ambition to gain the maximum output with minimal effort. Trapped in a rut of overthinking potential consequences we struggle to choose a ‘winner’ for the quickest success. And shackled by our dreams, we stay stagnant fearing that any choice may lead us astray and cause us to miss out on opportunities.
Overthinking and Prioritising Immediate Gains
Prioritising immediate gains and constantly seeking the quickest path to success, we may overlook the value of gradual progress and the lessons from our past, including those that involved setbacks.
To embrace the journey of growth it’s important to recognise that making decisions, even imperfect ones, is a crucial step towards achieving any goals. This can help alleviate a fear of uncertainty and act as an empowering tool to take meaningful actions moving forward.
Acknowledging the Value of Time and Genuine Passion
To avoid falling into the shiny penny’s trap, it’s useful to remember that the main array of overnight success stories was preceded by decades of hard work and dedication. Take, for instance, an Olympic athlete, who clinches a gold medal by the narrowest of margins. Behind that split-second victory lie years of relentless training. It’s normal for progress to take time, as long as you’re moving in the right direction.
The duration of a task or project isn’t the crux of the matter. Success begins the moment you engage in something you genuinely enjoy.
On the contrary, if you pursue something solely for its perceived rewards but lack genuine interest, achieving above-average results becomes challenging, potentially leading to a miserable existence. This approach binds you to an outcome, often tethered to goals that aren’t yours.
When you discover your true passion, you become unstoppable, waking up with joy every morning to pursue what resonates with your heart. Time suddenly stops existing, while every moment converges into the present.
Getting Out of a Rut of Indecisiveness
When faced with multiple options, take a moment to write them all down.
Remember, you can pursue several options over time, but it’s essential to prioritise them in a sequential order. For example, if you’re contemplating a few potential startup ideas, start researching one at a time and focus on nailing this process down before you explore another one.
Our brain can process only one task at any given moment. By prioritising one option at a time, you can fully immerse yourself in the process and develop a deep understanding of how it functions. This practical experience goes beyond theoretical knowledge and equips you with valuable insights for future endeavours.
Equally, it helps you to discover how much this activity or choice resonates with you. And while pursuing a certain option you might find new perspectives and desires, leading you to crave something else, you need to start and stay focused. To reach that point of realisation, you must begin with the best option amongst the currently present, the one that aligns with your resources, circumstances, and passions.
Narrowing Down the List: What Matters to You Most
Set time aside and carefully assess each idea. Write the drivers behind each one of them and consider potential outcomes. During this stage, you’ll likely notice that some ideas may naturally fall off if you ask yourself the right questions.
Once you’re done with the rational filtering, like ‘Do I have sufficient knowledge and resources?’ or ‘Can I obtain those in a reasonable time?’ etc. Notice how you feel about each idea. Close your eyes and picture the day-to-day activities associated with each potential business venture. Then take notes of which ideas you felt most content with. At this stage, you’ll probably be left with a handful of options worth closer examination.
If you’re still stuck with a few remaining ideas, lay them in front of you. Write an abbreviation for each on separate paper. Without overthinking, prioritise based on how you feel, not think. Note scores on another paper, 1 being the highest. Ideally, keep it up to five ideas. Now, take papers with ideas N1 and N5. Imagine choosing N1 means letting go of N5. How do you feel? If okay, drop N5 and so on, until only two options are remaining.
Jot down, on a separate sheet, the pros and cons for each of these two ideas. Consider what each idea will enable you to achieve, and what you’ll have to contribute or abandon. Look at these spreadsheets side by side, and this should be a good starting point to gain initial clarity. If you wish to explore this further and learn more detailed techniques — request your copy of the Ultimate Guide for Overly-Creative People to Make a Decision Fast and Get Unstuck.
Returning to your motives — some might be compelling, such as the allure of financial gain. However, relying solely on external motivations like money often leads to short-lived and unimpressive results. Instead, focus on internal motivations — those that come from within. Read more about this in this article on decision-making.
Taking Swift and Confident Action
Once you’ve gained clarity, take action swiftly. If a chosen path doesn’t yield the desired results, don’t hesitate to make adjustments. However, be patient — momentum, like a car’s engine, requires warming up.
And this is far more rewarding and time-efficient than remaining paralysed at the starting line, worrying about taking the first step in any direction. Fear of failure is natural and inevitable. Regardless of what you do; along the way, you’ll encounter not only success but also multiple setbacks. Embrace failure as part of the learning curve, don’t allow it to hold you back. Neither let a fear of missing out prevent you from moving forward. Trust your guts, stick to your decisions, and be adaptable when necessary, yet not flaky.
Success Rewards the Brave
It’s only through practice that you discover whether a choice was wrong. Although, it may prove to be the right one. Once you’ve decided on a direction, move forward without hesitation, temporarily disregarding all other options. Allow yourself time to assess whether it’s working, but commit fully to ensure accurate metrics.
The only difference that sets successful people apart is that they persist to their max. While unsuccessful ones retreat out of fear, constantly switching paths just before an upward turn, as a result, never reaching any of the desired destinations.
