Sometimes we spend a lot of time trying to know everything about a situation to make a decision, figuring the more data we have, the better decision we can make.
That’s true! Until it’s not.
Here’s an example of what I mean.
When my husband and I were looking for a house here in France, the more data we could get about the market the more informed we were to make an intelligent offer. We talked to realtors, looked at sold data, went to house viewings, spoke to friends and read articles on the French housing market.
But in the end, even if we found an awesome house for an awesome price, it still might turn out a disastrous purchase.
Why?
Because what we really needed to make that decision was more data about ourselves, not the French housing market.
Did we really even want to buy a house at all?
What were we trying to achieve by doing this?
What was most important to us about owning a house in France?
Were we ready to commit to this area of France?
At some point in the process, we realized, we didn’t know the answer to these questions.
As we thought through these questions we realized we just haven’t been here long enough to know the answers for ourselves yet.
This was a big decision to make with incomplete data.
We decided to postpone that decision to give us time to know these things. We need more internal data to make this external decision.
No matter how “great a deal” we found at this moment, there wasn’t enough internal data to feel good about the decision. It was also probably why we were having trouble making the decision in the first place.
When it’s not clear what you want, everything feels difficult to move forward with decisively.
These may also be moments you get external pressure to make a decision that makes sense on paper, but something feels “off” in your gut. These “gut feelings” come from a place in a our brain that stores information in the form of emotions. That data is just as valid as thoughts, it just comes in a different form. It’s another form of internal data and it’s incredibly useful. Tune into it.
If something is feeling off, you find yourself continually searching for more information to make a decision, or you are feeling paralyzed analyzing the options over and over, ask yourself do actually need more internal data?
- What do you want out of this?
- What are you trying to achieve?
- What’s important about achieving that?
If you’re not sure about the right questions to ask yourself, book a call with me. This is what I’m trained to do.
You are doing enough.
XOX,
Raina
