How to stop being indecisive

Empowering ideas to help make clear and confident choices

I’m great at making decisions.

Well, it depends on the topic.

Because there are occasions when I’m just awful at it.

It’s like grabbing a snack from the fridge; sometimes it takes 10 seconds, sometimes 10 minutes.

And I’m not alone in my indecisive, wishy-washy tendencies. According to Psychology Today:

20% of the adult population is indecisive

Indecisiveness starts with the inability to make a clear choice when faced with options. When left unchecked, and over time, this uncertainty can lead to unhealthy outcomes like anxiety.

However, typical symptoms of indecisiveness are often less severe and include overthinking, fear of making the wrong decision, and procrastination.

And although everyone experiences indecisiveness in different ways, the solution is often as simple as breaking down choices into smaller steps, gathering more information, and trusting our instincts to make decisions more confidently.

So, in this article, I want to explore some pragmatic ways to identify and work through our indecisive tendencies.

Let’s dive in.

The inability to make clear choices

We have decisions to make all day, every day, so it shouldn’t surprise us when there are times we struggle with indecision.

But understanding the problem is half the battle, so let’s start by getting our heads around what indecision means.

Understanding indecision

At its core, indecision is our inability to make clear decisions when faced with multiple options.

It’s often characterized by a sense of uncertainty, hesitation, or even reluctance to commit to a particular course of action.

And this struggle to make decisions can arise because of any number of factors, including fear of making the wrong choice, lack of confidence in one’s judgment, and feeling overwhelmed by the abundance of possibilities.

Most of the time, indecision is a fleeting moment we get through without much bother; other times, it can become a chronic pattern that can negatively impact all areas of our lives.

Indecision eats up time, enables second-guessing, hinders productivity, and can cause us emotional stress we can do without.

So, you know, it can suck.

It really depends on the situation.

Common scenarios

Whether it’s deciding between two job offers, choosing a restaurant for dinner, or picking a vacation destination, indecision can creep into every aspect of our lives.

Some are more challenging to work through.

It often stems from a combination of factors, including fear of making the wrong choice, lack of confidence in our decision-making abilities, and the overwhelming pressure to optimize every decision for the best possible outcome.

Examples of situations where indecision arises:

Choosing a career path

Deciding between different career options or whether to pursue further education can often leave individuals feeling uncertain about the best direction for their professional future.

I’m going through this right now. As a content creator, do I continue to focus on creating content for my channels or look for freelance jobs or even employment with a company? I decided to use a hybrid approach for now and reevaluate at the end of the year.

Selecting a place to live

Whether it’s deciding between staying in one city or relocating to another, the choice of where to live can provoke indecision due to factors like job opportunities, cost of living, and personal preferences.

This is something I just went through. I am living overseas as a digital nomad and decided to spend 2024 in one location (other than border runs for visa obligations). Ultimately, I worked through what I needed to and decided to live in Da Nang, Vietnam. (BTW, good noodles!).

Making major purchases

Big-ticket purchases, such as buying a car or a house, can lead to indecision as individuals weigh various factors such as budget, features, and long-term implications.

I sold everything I owned that didn’t fit into a backpack a few years ago, so I no longer make major purchases, which in and of itself was quite a big decision. But in my past I’ve bought a house, car, and boat and those decisions always weighed heavily on my mind.

Health or lifestyle changes

Whether it’s starting a new exercise regimen, adopting a healthy nutrition plan, or making significant lifestyle changes, we may struggle with indecision due to the uncertainties that pop up about commitment, sustainability, and second-guessing potential results.

I know when I started to make major changes in my life to address health issues, there were many decisions that needed to be made with less-than-perfect information. Everything was new to me, so decisions were sometimes challenging and required a certain leap of faith.

To work through indecision expeditiously, you need to address it early.

So, let’s talk about how to recognize indecision.

The face of indecisiveness

We are all unique and, therefore, experience indecision differently.

That said, indecision often reveals itself through a range of commonly recognizable symptoms.

So, let’s explore some of them.

Overthinking

Have you ever found yourself in a state of constant analysis of all the possible choices and potential outcomes? I have. That’s overthinking, and it can seem like a never-ending loop.

I recently changed content platforms, and saying that I overthought that process would be putting it mildly. I kept comparing features, pricing, and reviews with no end in sight. Every time I looked at it, it sparked another idea and path of consciousness.

Classic.

Overthinking is when we analyze our choices and potential outcomes to such an extent that it becomes challenging to reach a conclusion.

When we’re caught in this trap of overthinking, it’s easy to find ourselves in a cycle of excessive thoughts, where we can’t stop ourselves from mentally playing out every aspect of a decision and scrutinizing everything to the point of paralysis.

No decision. No bueno.

This constant mental churn can leave us feeling overwhelmed and unable to make clear choices, ultimately hindering progress and causing unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Fear of making the wrong decision

The fear of making the wrong decision is always a concern I have that often plagues my decision-making ability by instilling deep-seated anxiety about potential adverse outcomes.

I blame my parents (kinda).

Because I think this fear stems from my desire to avoid failure or disappointment, and that drives me to agonize over the potential repercussions of my choices.

I think this was imprinted on me at an early age and nurtured by our culture throughout my life. Maybe not, but that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

One thing’s for certain, the fear of making a wrong choice can eventually manifest as a chronic reluctance to commit to anything, and then we struggle with what often feels like the always unsettling prospect of making a mistake.

For me, this fear can be stifling, causing me to second-guess myself and hesitate to take decisive action, even when presented with promising opportunities.

Procrastination

Avoiding a decision can be a great lifestyle strategy and one I use all the time to not waste my time doing something that doesn’t matter.

But, procrastination of making decisions can also emerge as a coping mechanism we use to sidestep the discomfort of uncertainty we feel that is associated with making a decision.

We need to be mindful to separate the two.

It’s natural for us to succumb to the temptation of delaying decision-making because we’re hoping to alleviate the inevitable pressure we feel of making a definitive choice.

However, this avoidance strategy almost always leads to heightened stress and last-minute, rushed decisions that we can do without.

Procrastination increases stress in two ways.

1. It exacerbates the stress of uncertainty about our decision’s outcome.
2. It compounds the stress by adding the burden of time constraints.

Plus, procrastination usually results in not-so-great (or not-as-great) outcomes and scores of missed opportunities.

So, let’s talk about how to work through indecision.

Overcoming indecisiveness

Now that we’ve uncovered our indecisive tendencies let’s dive into actionable solutions to tackle the problem head-on. With repetition, we can even learn to apply these ideas to solve indecision in real time moving forward.

Breaking down choices

First, let’s do a better job identifying the priorities and goals that truly matter because that allows us to streamline the decision-making process by reducing any unnecessary considerations and deliberations.

Next, divide our decision-making process into smaller, more manageable steps. When we break complex decisions down into smaller nuggets, we can tackle them incrementally, and this helps alleviate any feelings of being overwhelmed and makes progress towards a resolution one step at a time.

For example, when I was planning my move to Da Nang, there were many moving parts that I needed to figure out (and decide on). But when I broke them down into categories like what the visa requirements are, how do I find a local bank, etc., then I wasn’t looking at one huge decision, but a series of smaller ones — almost like a jury system.

Gathering information

Try to only gather relevant data and information pertinent to the decision at hand in order to reduce cluttering the decision criteria with irrelevant material. Solid and accurate information leads to more informed choices; ambiguous and off-topic information nurtures indecision (and arguably poorer results).

Also, although referencing our own experiences and innate understanding is important, be sure to leverage available resources such as books, articles, online databases, and advice from others.

💡 Tip: Gathering information is an important step, but please note that, done in excess, this can have diminishing returns when it comes to combating our indecisive tendencies.

For example, when researching my move to Da Nang, I stuck to government websites (because they had the meat I wanted) and stayed away from travel blogs (because they had too much sizzle I didn’t need).

Trusting our instincts

Developing confidence in our own judgment and intuition is essential for overcoming indecision.

It’s not always easy to do because when we are indecisive, we are going through a time when our defenses may be down (temporarily, at least). But we’ve all had successful decisions before, and we need to focus on those to pick our self-confidence up.

Because when we can build self-trust through this self-awareness and reflection, that’s when we can start to make decisions aligned with our values and instincts, even if we’re facing some sort of uncertainty in the decision-making process.

And on that note, we need to be able to recognize that uncertainty is a natural part of the decision-making process. It helps us become more comfortable with the ambiguity and uncertainty that come with decisions.

So, instead of viewing uncertainty as a barrier to action, start embracing it as an opportunity to grow because when we approach decisions with a mindset of curiosity and openness, we can learn from mistakes and adapt as needed moving forward.

Key takeaways on indecision

A few parting words of wisdom.

The inability to make clear choices

We make decisions all day, every day, so it shouldn’t surprise us when there are times we struggle with indecision. But understanding the problem is half the battle, so let’s start by getting our heads around what indecision means.

The face of indecisiveness

Indecisiveness often manifests through recognizable symptoms, including overthinking, fear of making the wrong decision, and procrastination. These behaviors not only hinder progress but also highlight the underlying struggle with making clear and confident choices.

Overcoming indecisiveness

Effective strategies to work through indecisiveness involve breaking down choices into manageable steps, gathering relevant information, and ultimately trusting our instincts to guide decision-making.

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