Stuck on What’s Next

When confronted with too many good options, it’s easy to get paralyzed. The complaint is that we don’t know what to do next because we’re pulled in many good directions—and doing one thing with focus means not doing something else.

This is a common way to get stuck.

After all, if you’re at this crossroads, where more consideration means more possibility, while more action merely means walking away from a potentially better choice, it’s easy to settle for the apparently safe path, which is more study.

No one can blame you for careful consideration. More careful consideration seems to insulate you from the criticism that follows taking action.

But getting stuck helps no one.

Here’s an alternative:

Write up a one-pager on each of the five best alternatives you are considering. Use the document to sell each idea as hard as you can, highlighting the benefits for you and those you seek to serve.

Then, hand the proposals to your trusted advisors. They vote (without you in the room) and you commit to doing whatever it is they choose. Not thinking about it, but doing it.

Merely agreeing to this scenario is usually enough incentive to pick on your own and get to work.