Uncertain? Consider This
Uncertainty
Uncertainty stalls decisions.
How will I ever decide? What should I do? What is the right decision?
I should do this; no, I should do that. Doubt and uncertainty set in.
I don’t like to make quick decisions, preferring to take time to analyze the situation. I think that is smart and works best for me. But sometimes, what should be the easiest decision seems to be the hardest to make. The choice becomes difficult to make. Why is it sometimes so hard to decide?
I have learned, that for me, the answer is that I sometimes fall into a mental trap called “complicating choice.” Researchers at Columbia Business School discovered that this tendency leads people faced with an easy answer to strengthen inferior options in order to make the decision’s difficulty match its perceived importance.
Even if the best choice seems obvious, I will complicate the decision if the situation seems important to me. Ultimately, the inferior options will be discarded, but not until I am convinced I have not made a hasty decision.
I may be over-analyzing the situation, but if I am ultimately satisfied with my decision, it seems worth it to me. Still, I try to consider the mental trap when faced with deadlines or decision stress.
Have you ever found yourself in the trap?
*Posted for writing101, prompt of uncertainty
Posted on September 9, 2015, in Musings, Writing 101 and tagged complicating choice, uncertainty, Writing 101, writing101. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
the beespeak 
This dilemma seems to have been faced by almost everyone in everyday life. More prevalent in current global scenario.
I find Dr. Spencer Johnson’s advice in his book ‘who moved my cheese’ to be quite helpful, when I face an uncertainty.
He encourages to imagine finding a fresh tasty cheese (a favorable outcome) at new cheese station (a change); and going beyond imagination, he also asks us to feel the enjoyment of savoring the new cheese even before the change occurs!
This helps to draw a positive result, as far as my experience goes.
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Yes. I am familiar with that book too!
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This is me! Like 110%! I over-analyze everything. It’s ridiculous. I’ve made pro/cons sheets before when making decisions. I can’t help it.
I think a part of it is that I’ve always been able to view more than one thing as a viable option. Helps in a lot of cases but most of the time I make a bigger deal out of it than necessary.
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I know exactly what you mean!
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I’ve heard once during a workshop.. about the man, who spent 20 years in prison of addiction.. to the number of substances, but ended up being free from the root cause of the trap.. some people are not in physical prison, but they still suffers from the prison inside of them.. it can be anything from addiction to an iphone, food, alcohol or emotional states… Great post by the way ! Cheers from Ireland
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Thank you for sharing your comment!
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I popped over from the class of writing 101 to say: Hello
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Hello to you!
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I think planners are really over-thinkers! I am the same and I can completely relate!
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Yep, I know what you are talking about… The more you start questioning your decision, the more you start questioning the options… and there we go, round and round in circles…
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So true!
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