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Sticking with a decision

Sticking with a decision

Don’t let second-guessing and overthinking dominate you

Federica Montrone
September 18, 2024

Many years ago, when I was still studying, I had the chance to spend one semester at an incredible university. I had chased for that for so long and was very excited but a lot of fears started to kick in:

“What if I don’t live up to the standards? How do I integrate with local people?”

In the end, I accepted the offer and it turned out to be a great choice, but I still remember the days spent carefully evaluating it, risking to let the opportunity go away only because of having too many concerns in my head.

All of us have experienced a challenging decision-making cycle when changing careers or seizing new opportunities. Despite recognising the need for change or simply wanting to jump on a new opportunity, we often find ourselves facing inner turmoil when presented with a concrete chance to take that leap.

As mentioned in a previous issue, there are 6 typical steps in decision-making.

These steps go from pre-contemplation to action, until the cycle is concluded. The transformation process is not always smooth. Having second thoughts and overthinking are normal behaviours but sometimes they can challenge our will to go forward.

Nonetheless, there are always good reasons to keep things as they are, rather than changing them, as fighting inertia always requires a decent amount of energy to deploy.

I got trapped in the decision-making cycle more than once. Even when the reasons for the change have been manifesting for a while and given a concrete opportunity that would make the change real, I agonized over deciding for a long time, often giving in to inertia and inaction.

Decision-making remains a challenge, but after monitoring some common mistakes I was holding on to, I have identified a few things that help me transition from contemplation to action while making sure the decision is in line with my innermost will.

#1 - Balance your values against the opportunity
(and stick to them)

There is no right or wrong path because each can have aspects that align with you. Recognising which values are reflected in each option will help sort things out.

For example, one opportunity might pay you well, while the other might provide an invaluable chance to expand your knowledge. It is up to you to determine which of the two reflects you better. If the thirst for knowledge represents your core values better than money, give it the importance it deserves when compared to the rest.

Be open and honest with yourself, and conflicting thoughts will never become predominant.

#2 - Acknowledge the type of thought

Is the thought you are facing real or is it something you are producing just to keep you safe in your comfort zone?

Recognising if self-doubt represents us or is a way for our brain to sabotage us is a key step that should be done soon enough to allocate every thought where it belongs.

By learning how to recognise sabotaging thoughts from reasonable ones, noisy concerns gradually become less important.

“I cannot jump on that opportunity because it’s too far from where I live”

Although it might be sometimes a reasonable motivation, if more important aspects are concurring to make it a great change, this thought shall not be given too much space with respect to others in the evaluation.

The potential risk is, as stated above, to be trapped in your own head, with noise making it difficult to think clearly.

Among the multitude of thoughts, not all of them are there to protect us, and while it is important to recognise and embrace diverse feelings, understanding to which basket they belong keeps your head safe and sound.

#3 - Backtrack your current situation

If you are currently struggling to make a decision, it may be helpful to reflect on the thought process that led you to this point.

Do you believe that the thoughts that brought you here still reflect your current desires and goals? If you are unsure, evaluate whether staying in your current situation aligns better with who you are now.

Confronting your thoughts in the present might be energy-draining and full of noise. Trusting to the wiser and clearheaded version of you in the past might sort things out.

#4 - Accept that you can make a bad choice

One common mistake I was making, was thinking that a bad choice would be like a permanent mark on my skin.

The truth is, you are the person who cares the most about your (bad) choices while others would never give them the same importance. Yes, time is limited, but that doesn't mean we should let one mistake overshadow a decade with regret.

Acknowledging that it's okay to make mistakes and that we have the chance to make better choices afterwards is key to balancing the risk of getting stuck in overthinking due to the fear of making mistakes.

These few reflections guided me to a more thoughtful process, limiting overthinking and avoiding analysis paralysis to finally get the ball rolling. Hope they can help you too.

If you enjoyed this issue, share it with someone making a difficult career decision!

This week's top scientific reads

A Foundation Model for Continuous Glucose Monitor Data Analysis (ArXiv)
Chai-1: a free model for molecular structure prediction (Chai Discovery)
AI agent conducts entire scientific literature reviews on its own (Future House)
Wearable imaging device shows how babies’ brains work (Imaging Neuroscience)
Engineering new amino acids to expand the protein alphabet (Nature)

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PhoreMost raised €10.8M to develop drugs for “undruggable” diseases 🇬🇧
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Neo Medical raised €61M for its spine surgery technology 🇨🇭
Cellevate raised €3.2M for its next-generation cell culture system 🇸🇪
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