The Decision That Holds You Back

I suffer from bouts of indecision.

At heart, I’m a creator.

I choose the topics, the titles—and the content for this newsletter and every article on the resolve.blog website. My decisions ultimately determine who might read and who won’t. So, I tell myself I have to choose carefully.

The sunk cost fallacy scares me.

The thought of spending hours on something that might not work brings pain which grows like a weed in my garden. It just takes hold and won’t let go.

It is here, indecision first appears.

Hesitancy brings no positive feedback.

Only negative.

It creates a cycle where the only compounding factor I have is more uncertainty. Progress becomes a forgotten signpost on the journey I'd begun. The fear of being wrong puts me in a spin.

Should I—or—shouldn’t I? Oh, how the pressure grows. I don’t know what to do…

STOP.

It’s time to face some harsh, but necessary truths.

What drives indecision is a fear of the unknown. But it doesn’t matter who I am, we all face the same reality. No one knows what the future holds.

The paradox of indecision comes from embracing what I fear. It means taking the uncertainty stopping me and using it to make progress.

I know what I want to achieve. I can measure what I do and see if it works. If it does, great. If it doesn’t, well I can begin to make tweaks to my original writing and retest it.

Regardless of indecision, there will always be uncertainty about the outcome. I know it is far better to embrace the unknown, so I can use it to learn and make progress. On reflection, it is 3 steps.

1. I have clarity on my goals.
2. I have metrics to give me feedback.
3. I have the ability to see what’s not working and change it.

When I look at other creators, I see some go where the feedback loops are at their shortest. Rapid feedback coupled with an iterative mindset creates plenty of progress. This three-step wheel can quickly turn into a spinning flywheel, generating rapid growth.

The point I want to focus on is this; indecision is a paradox where the solution lies within.

By accepting uncertainty, you get to judge it against your goal. Feedback, both good and bad lets you open the door to progress.

So, start doing what I’m doing.

Embrace uncertainty for better decisions.

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