How to Stop Overthinking and Make Decisions

George Wright III: [00:00:30] [00:00:35] All right, welcome back to The Daily Mastermind. I'm George Wright III. Today I wanna talk to you about [00:00:40] something that I believe holds a lot of entrepreneurs back. It's something that I certainly have [00:00:45] experienced myself, and that's the idea of overthinking. Now, have you ever spent so much time [00:00:50] thinking about a decision that you ended up doing absolutely nothing? Because maybe you've [00:00:55] considered a new business opportunity, a career change, investing in something, or making a personal decision [00:01:00] about your life, and you look at all the options, you analyze the possibilities, you ask [00:01:05] for advice, you think through every possible outcome, and then you do it all over [00:01:10] again. Because before you know it, days or weeks pass and you're no closer to making a decision. [00:01:15] And, and here's what I've learned from this experience that I've gone through each time I do it. [00:01:20] Sometimes, you know, the biggest obstacle to moving forward is not a lack of information. [00:01:25] It's just our unwillingness to move forward without certainty. And that's what I wanna help you [00:01:30] work through today, because if you wanna unleash your potential in business and life, you've gotta learn how to make [00:01:35] decisions even when you don't have all the answers. So let's start with this idea that you've gotta [00:01:40] recognize the difference between thinking and overthinking, okay? Let's, let's recognize that [00:01:45] thinking is a good thing. Um, you know, I'm a big believer in strategy and preparation and [00:01:50] evaluating all the options. I'm definitely a detail guy. Especially, you know, as entrepreneurs, we need to [00:01:55] make thoughtful decisions. We've got responsibilities and employees and customers, families and things.[00:02:00] But there's a difference between productive thinking and overthinking. See, [00:02:05] productive thinking moves you towards a decision, and overthinking keeps you circling around the [00:02:10] same decision. Think about that for a minute. If you're researching a new opportunity and [00:02:15] gathering facts and understanding the risks and comparing all your alternatives, you know, you, you're always making [00:02:20] some progress. But if you've already gathered the information and you're continuing to revisit the [00:02:25] same questions or reanalyze it over and over because you're afraid of making the wrong choice, you're probably [00:02:30] overthinking. And here's why this matters, because every time you delay a [00:02:35] decision, you're making a decision to stay exactly where you are. That-- There's a decision either way. [00:02:40] Now, sometimes waiting is the right decision, but waiting should be intentional. It shouldn't, [00:02:45] you know, be because we fear moving forward or making a decision. And one of the questions I [00:02:50] like to ask myself is, you know, "Am I learning something new or am I just [00:02:55] looking for reinsurance?" Because, you know, there's a point where more [00:03:00] information stops helping, and at that point, what you really need isn't another [00:03:05] opinion, you need to make a choice. That-- It's as simple as that. Now, the other [00:03:10] thing I want you to think about is this idea that you have to separate what you know from what you're [00:03:15] imagining Okay? Because I want you to consider, you know, how [00:03:20] often we confuse facts with assumptions. I think this happens constantly in business and in [00:03:25] our personal lives because we start thinking about a decision, and immediately our mind begins [00:03:30] creating scenarios of what's gonna happen. You know, what if this doesn't work? What if I lose money? What if someone [00:03:35] disagrees with me? What if I make the wrong move? And pretty soon we're treating things that haven't [00:03:40] happened as though they've already been a reality. But there's really no facts. They're just [00:03:45] possibilities, and possibilities always deserve us to think about them, but they don't [00:03:50] deserve equal attention. And so here's, here's kind of a simple exercise for you. When you're facing a [00:03:55] difficult decision, sometimes, you know, I'll just take a piece of paper out and draw a line down the middle, and on one [00:04:00] side write down what you know about this decision you're making, and the other side write down what you're [00:04:05] assuming. You'd be surprised how much of your anxiety is coming from that second column. [00:04:10] And I, and I do this if, if you feel like you're overwhelmed and you're doing a lot of different things, just do that [00:04:15] simple exercise. I know it sounds simple, but there's a very clear, uh, [00:04:20] attention that you'll find to this anxiety that you have. And here's another important distinction. Not [00:04:25] every decision carries the same level of risk. Some of our decisions [00:04:30] are difficult to reverse and they involve like a major commitment or significant financial [00:04:35] consequences or responsibilities, and those definitely deserve a lot of evaluation. But other [00:04:40] decisions are relatively easy to adjust. You can try something, and if it's not working, gather feedback and [00:04:45] change direction. Yet sometimes we treat every decision as though our entire future depends [00:04:50] on getting it right, and it really doesn't. The key is learning to recognize which [00:04:55] decisions require deeper analysis and which ones simply just require action. I really [00:05:00] want you to think about that when we're thinking of this over-overthinking. Then the third thing I wanted to [00:05:05] mention to you is you've got to learn to make the best decision you can and just move forward, [00:05:10] because it's probably the most important thing for you to do. At some point, you just got to decide. And I think [00:05:15] one of the greatest skills an entrepreneur can develop is this ability to make thoughtful decision [00:05:20] without needing the perfect certainty. As an entrepreneur, you've got to be able to do that, even a business owner, [00:05:25] because here's the reality. You're never gonna have all the information and most times [00:05:30] either decision you make is gonna be okay. Beca- but you got to understand markets change, [00:05:35] circumstances and people change. You know, your goals and priorities might even change over time, and if you wait [00:05:40] until you, you know, have a guaranteed outcome, you're gonna spend your life waiting. And so [00:05:45] here's what I'd recommend. First, just identify the information that you genuinely need in this [00:05:50] decision, and not, not everything you'd like to know, but just everything that you've got to have to be a [00:05:55] responsible decision maker. And then give yourself a deadline And, you know, maybe it's [00:06:00] today, maybe it's Friday, maybe it's a maj- major decision that requires actually a couple of weeks, but give yourself a deadline [00:06:05] to just decide and move on. Because the point is to stop allowing an open-ended [00:06:10] decision to consume your attention, 'cause your attention is one of your most valuable resources.[00:06:15] And once you've kind of given yourself a, a, a deadline, then, you know, you, [00:06:20] you, you've made the decision, you commit, and you go forward. And that doesn't mean [00:06:25] ignoring all the information. You know, you've got to look at what's happening in your decisions. But remember, a [00:06:30] decision that doesn't produce the outcome you wanted isn't really a failure. It's just sometimes a learning experience. [00:06:35] And so making a decision, moving forward, and adjusting is part of the process. [00:06:40] So you don't b-- Here's the thing. Listen to me really carefully when I say this You don't build [00:06:45] confidence by always making great decisions and having good outcomes. You build confidence by [00:06:50] learning that you can make a decision and no matter what, you'll handle the outcomes and adjust when necessary.[00:06:55] That's actually the confidence, and this is why it's so important for you as you're building your [00:07:00] identity to realize your confidence is gonna come through action. So here's your challenge for [00:07:05] today and for this week. Let me, let me just give you something practical to do. You know, I call it like the [00:07:10] decision reset. Think about one decision that you've been putting off. There's probably one you've been sitting [00:07:15] on for a while, you're overthinking. It could be something in your business, your relationships, your finances, whatever, and ask [00:07:20] yourself three questions. Number one, what do I actually know about this [00:07:25] scenario that I'm trying to make a decision on? And number two, what am I assuming or worrying about? I [00:07:30] really want you to identify the things that are keeping you from procrastinating. [00:07:35] And then finally, what decision can I responsibly make with all the information I have? [00:07:40] And if you need more information, just figure out what that is and get it. But if, if you already have [00:07:45] enough, just decide on taking the next step. Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be, [00:07:50] because being a decision maker and stopping the process of overthinking is what I [00:07:55] really want you to focus on this week. So here's what I wanna leave you with today. Your potential is [00:08:00] not, you know, it, it's, it isn't unlocked by having all the answers. It's unlocked by your willingness to [00:08:05] learn, decide, take action, and keep growing. And some decisions are gonna work out and some [00:08:10] just won't. But every thoughtful decision you give, um, uh, is an [00:08:15] opportunity, I guess, to gain experience and develop better judgment, and that's part of [00:08:20] becoming the person that you're capable of. So if you're th- overthinking, you're [00:08:25] overanalyzing, just take a few minutes, identify why that's the case, and move forward. That's [00:08:30] my message for today. I hope it's something that'll give you food for thought. And if you're looking for more clarity, [00:08:35] confidence, direction in your business, I still-- I'm, I'm gonna invite you to go over to Daily Mastermind, or [00:08:40] you can go to authoritymedianetwork.com. This is where, you know, we share tons of tools [00:08:45] and resources and perspective to help founders operate at a different level, both with their identity and [00:08:50] their authority. So once again, this was my message for today. I hope you have an amazing day. Please share this show [00:08:55] and, um, remember that you have the ability to create the life you want, but it's never too late [00:09:00] to start making the decisions you need to live that life. I look forward to talking with you soon. Have a great [00:09:05] day.