The decision isn't the problem. The second-guessing is.

How many times have you made a decision — then continued thinking about it anyway?

You make the call.

You’ve considered the options.

You’ve talked it through.

You know what you want to do.

So you decide.

And then your brain starts again.

Was that the right call?

What if I’ve missed something?

What will they think?

Maybe I should have handled it differently.

Should I have waited?

Before long, a decision that took five minutes to make is taking up space in your head for five days.

Successful people can be particularly good at this

When you're used to being responsible for outcomes, it makes sense that you want to make good decisions.

Your decisions affect the business.

They affect your people.

They affect your family.

Sometimes they affect a lot of money.

So you learn to think things through.

That's a strength.

Until thinking things through becomes thinking everything to death.

The problem isn't that you think carefully.

It's that you never quite give yourself permission to be finished thinking.

There is no perfect decision

At some point, you have to accept something uncomfortable:

You can make a good decision without knowing exactly how it's going to turn out.

You won't always have all the information.

You won't always know how someone will react.

You won't always know whether something will work.

And you can't think your way into certainty.

Sometimes the best you can do is make the decision that feels right with the information you have — and then get on with it.

Try this

Next time you notice yourself going around the same decision again, ask:

Have I actually learned anything new?

If the answer is no, you're probably not making a decision anymore.

You're looking for certainty.

And certainty isn't always available.

Make the call.

Let it be imperfect.

Deal with what happens next.

That's not being reckless.

It's backing yourself.

The goal isn't to stop thinking

It's to know when thinking has done its job.

Think carefully.

Make the decision.

Then give yourself permission to move on.

Because there is a lot of life to be lived on the other side of a decision you've already made.

— Bella