I recently spoke with a retired Army officer about the analysis paralysis that plagues many creative entrepreneurs. You know what I mean . . .

– when you have so many business ideas you can’t choose one, so you do none of them, or
– you can’t figure out what to charge for that new product so you never release it, or
– you can’t decide whether you need to learn how to build your own WordPress site or outsource it, so you never get your site up.

army hatWhen I told him that analysis paralysis kills creativity and momentum for creative entrepreneurs, he said, “In the military, indecision kills people.”

Bigger stakes require learning how to make smart decisions quickly. The former officer’s ability to make swift, confident decisions intrigued me so much I decided to pick his brain on how he does it. He was kind enough to share his no-nonsense strategies. Here’s a bit of our conversation:

Me: How do you make decisions so swiftly?

Former Army Officer: Trust your gut.

Me: So you trust your gut. I think we (creative entrepreneurs) over analyze our gut feelings and go into a war between gut and logic.

Former Army Officer: Trust your gut, to the extent it is logical.

Me: LOL okay. Maybe we always feel like we’re missing data and need more, and of course there’s never enough.

Former Army Officer: The thing to remember is when you don’t make a decision, you are, in fact, actually making one (deciding not to decide), and it will be wrong almost 100% of the time. Even if you guess, you have a 50/50 shot at getting it right.

But your gut (combined with a little logic) should push the odds in your favor. Really, the hardest decisions are choosing from options that are all good or choosing from options that are all bad. Picking between a good option and a bad option is the easy one.

Me: Any advice for when the options are all good or all bad?

Former Army Officer: There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Just that if all options are good, you will get a good result. If they are all bad you will get a bad one. Knowing that going in can make the decision to decide easier.

So there you have it. I think these are wonderful guidelines for decision making, and they fit well with my business theory that any decision is often better than no decision. Remember that when you’re faced with several good options for your business, look at the info you have at hand. Then go with your gut and pick one! If you do, you will get good results and keep the momentum going in your business. If the results aren’t good enough, just tweak them as you go along. Until you get moving, you’ll never know.

Ready to break through analysis paralysis? Join me for my upcoming group energy session

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About Marnie Pehrson Kuhns

Marnie Pehrson Kuhns is a Certified SimplyAlign Practitioner™ who uses music and creativity to mentor you past barriers, fears and doubts to discover, create, align with, and deliver your soul’s song (the mission, message or purpose you are on this earth to live). Marnie is a best-selling author with 31 fiction and nonfiction titles. If you'd like Marnie and her husband Dave to work with you personally on Your Great Reinvention, get a FREE 20-minute strategy session with Marnie here.