I waited “patiently” for what seemed like an eternity.
I was starving. I watched from the passenger seat as she browsed the menu board.
I fiddled with a couple of apps on my iPad – attempting to get my mind off of my intense hunger.
Finally, I gave in – “Do you know what are you going to order?”
She paused, then confessed – “I can’t decide what I want.”
Scrolling through a news article, I offered, “If you push that red button it will help you decide.”
It’s true – some people could sit in the drive-thru line for 10 minutes stuck and trying to decide what they’re in the mood for, but the moment a voice calls from the speaker they feel intense pressure to make a decision.
It’s Not Good
To be honest, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed today. We’re in the process of selecting a contractor to begin construction on a building this month. We’re also designing another large building that will begin construction late this year. I’m working with our team to fill several open positions in our organization. Then there are numerous leaders that I am working to connect with and serve and several stalled projects that we need to move forward.
To be honest – when I feel overloaded, it’s frustrating. Discouraging.
And when you’re stuck – agonizing over a decision – it’s hard to decide what to do first – where to start?
Fear or Growth?
Let’s face it – most of the time it’s fear that keeps us stuck from moving forward. Many people live stagnant lives because they fear failure – the most common of all fears.
[Tweet “To experience growth, we must be more afraid of missed opportunities than we are of failure.”]
Your fears lose power when you confront them. So go ahead – face the fear. Ask…
- What do I fear that has me stalled today?
- Why am I having trouble getting back on track?
- What one step can I take today?
Then take that one step. Don’t put it off. Don’t plan to do it later. Do it today.
Keep moving
Movement motivates. It energizes. So get moving.
Sure, you may make a wrong decision every now and then – even in the drive-thru. Feeling pressured, you hastily place your order. And as you pull away from the speaker you wonder, Why did I order that? That’s not what I wanted!
I’ve made a lot of decisions that didn’t turn out the way I had planned – and I have been successful!
Yes, I have made a ton of bad decisions – and I have been very successful. Why? Because I made more decisions that worked than those that didn’t work.
[Tweet “Life’s greatest memories are often discovered in the biggest challenges we face. “]And instead of fearing these opportunities to grow, embrace them with energy and passion.
So go ahead – push the button today. It will help you decide.
Interesting how a 2 year old message can continue to have life changing impact. No idea how you decided to share this one today, or how I managed to have had a sleepless (literally) night and stumble on this now – but I had to take a moment to simply share gratitude.
I have recently finished writing a book. And process that spanned two years. And, now I just sit – not quite sure how to proceed. (How to fix this problem, and get the ball rolling again?) I’ll have to figure out how to find an editor, and get this incredible story into the hands of someone who can help me spread hope, even when hope sometimes hurts.
(easier said than done, but I find myself currently excited with the prospect.)
I’ve stalled out in the process of creating a video that I have had in my mind for ages.
Perfect! What’s one step today you can take to get it moving again? And how can I help?
I knew you were going to ask that! I’m not sure there’s anything you can do to help unless you want to stand behind a camera for me. I need to just finish writing the script and then get a date set in the calendar for filming.
Do it! 😉
I’ve stalled in creating a new product. Why? Because I’m fearful people won’t want what I’ll create. To move forward, I can commit to creating a list of 3 products/services I can create and have a firm deadline to move forward with creating one of those.
Good ideas, Joe. Use the data/analytics that you’re collecting on your blog and site traffic to show you what people are interested in. These key indicators help us determine where to devote time and energy for service and product development.
I have a couple of writing projects that have loose, self-imposed deadlines, but I don’t have a hard set write X-amount per day, or per week. Even after reading 4DX and implementing it into other areas, I have failed to put it into work for what I consider my current WIG.
Thank you for the timely post. I need to take similar steps that Doug Hibbard is taking, today, not tomorrow.
Love it, Chris. Are you familiar with Jeff Goins? He has a Facebook group in which the members encourage each other to write 500 words a day. It’s a great group!
I am not familiar with Jeff Goins, I have seen his tweets retweeted by people I follow. I am not on Facebook either, but I am inspired to do 500 words a day. Thanks for the recommendation. I will look him up. Thank you for you posts too. This one was a reminder that I need to get moving on a consistent basis with my project.
Hi Michael. What a great post! I was talking about this to a client yesterday. One thing we sometimes miss is what happens to our decision-making capability when we are not sleeping well. We each have so much energy for a 24-hour period. Sleep restores us, so we have enough for what we need physically, cognitively, emotionally, and some held on reserve. When we’ve used up these energy stores, the only thing to “re” store them is sleep. We can tell when they are used up. We have trouble making decisions and feel overwhelmed. Too bad we can’t take our brain out, put it on a shelf to sleep for awhile, and keep going!
You’re right Linda. Sleep restores us. My wife and I had a conversation about this very thing this morning. Great point. Enjoy your day!
You too, Michael!
I am stalled out on post-graduation decisions. There are some choices to be made now that I am moving past the master’s degree, and I am hesitating between options.
So, today I will write out what I see those options as being, to clarify which ones are choices, which ones are dreams that can/must be worked on in preparation anyway, and what’s just crazy.
Great idea, Doug! Let me know how this goes and how I can help.