How to come out of decision paralysis?

My friend had plans to travel with me to India. She reached out to me confused with the recent rise in covid cases back home. Many were advising her not to go. I could sense the fog she was in, not a best place to make decisions. In her mind’s eye, she was imagining the worst. She was totally paralyzed in the thinking zone and was unable to make a decision. This is what happens when our emotional brain takes over our executive brain.

Decisions are best made with mindful presence and awareness of the situation with calm so we can rethink and consider facts over assumptions, analyze different scenarios and further mitigate or accept the risk.

We had a conversation around risk taking. We ran through different scenarios with the amount of legit data we had and she could make a decision considering the fact that she was vaccinated, she was not immune compromised, had the possibility of WFH or extending her leave in case of travel restrictions etc. And of course, with so much new data coming in and changing scenarios, risks have to be reevaluated more frequently.

During uncertain times, things often do not go as planned but the real risk is not making the decision and staying paralyzed in the stuck zone (in between) and this is where the suffering is.

This happens to us on a daily basis. We all struggle with decision paralysis when we have to make business or personal decisions every single day. Often times when we look forward into risk we anticipate all of the bad things that could possibly happen and we get pulled into that thinking. Research has shown that we make better decisions early on in the day, when our mind is clear.

Here are 5 steps to help you get unstuck, come out of decision paralysis and move forward:

1. Calm yourself – Talk to a friend, Go for a walk in nature, Deep breathe – whatever you could do to get centered.
2. Step into the risk – Consider the different scenarios. Ask – WHAT IF.. What if I took these steps? Where will that lead me?
3. Then evaluate the risk – Is this really risky? What is the probability of this happening? What is the impact? Am I making assumptions based on facts or Is it an influence of group thinking or Is it because I had bad experiences in the past? In other words, Is the fear real?
4. Next mitigate or accept the risk – What can I do to mitigate the risk? What can I do to set up conditions whereby I can back out quickly or Can I accept the risk if it happens?
5. And most importantly, Make a decision – Do or not to do.

Because of the rapid pace of change, give yourself just a few minutes to revisit the risks (Only enough time to go through the scenarios with new data. If you spend too much time, you run the risk of staying in the thinking zone)

DO IT OR DONT DO IT, EITHER DECISION IS OK. Like I said earlier,

THE REAL RISK IS NOT MAKING A DECISION & STAYING IN THE RISK THINKING, STUCK ZONE.

In summary, the best way to overcome decision paralysis is by managing yourself, managing your emotions, evaluating the level of risk around the conditions that you are worried about happening and making a decision based on facts by rethinking and questioning all the assumptions including your own.

My risk quotient is high. I am a risk taker. I have taken many bold decisions in my life and the worst scenarios were only in my head, they never came true.

Like Adam Grant in his brilliant book ‘Think Again’ says, ‘Once we hear the story and accept it as true, we rarely bother to question it.’

Rethinking is not only a skillset but a mindset we must all develop. If you think this would be helpful to anyone who is struggling with decision making, please feel free to share this article. We are helping them make a decision.

What assumptions around your decisions can you rethink?