We’re all faced with endless life altering decisions. At the time, we might not realize how life altering it could be but if you can recall from physics the concept of Schrodinger’s cat, there are alternative universes of the lives we could have lived based on varying outcomes. A more noble description:
“In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment that illustrates a paradox of quantum superposition. In the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat may be considered simultaneously both alive and dead as a result of its fate being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur.”
This concept has always fascinated me and frankly can lead to paralysis by analysis. (Should the cat try to get the cheese?) The less we dwell on a decision, and the more we decide to act and focus on the next thing to do once we make the decision, the better off we are for conquering our brain boss. We can battle decision anxiety and move on to things that we can control again once we finally decide to pick a direction. Decision making is really about fact finding, acknowledging our blind spots and then swift action. We have to all get to a point where we know the facts, recognize the unknowables, and then choose, rather than letting the decision wash over us like an involuntary tsunami wave for a prolonged period of time. That period of limbo can be incredibly taxing, all-consuming and can manifest itself in various ways: procrastination, confusion or outright disintegration. Tim Urban’s Wait depicts this in the procrastination matrix.
Recently I was faced with a big decision that I felt hopelessly stuck on. The opportunity had found me and then presented itself over the course of a few months only to come to a head on a final decision point. My gut was screaming at me to do one thing but my very trusted friends, family and others were contradicting my beliefs. It called into question so many of my first principles that I’d established and shared with other people over the course of my life. I belabored over the decision, creating endless psychological loops and it pushed me deeper into lines of life questioning. My strong and positive habits for that decision making period went down the tube and I was left as a lesser disciplined version of myself. I ultimately made the decision, went back to basics on mental fitness practices on reframing my mind toward positivity and got back to business. Here we are, on the other side of that decision and more clearheaded than ever. If it taught me one thing, it’s that we must actively strive to be the boss of our own brain or it will own and destroy us. The battle is within.