Running your own business comes with an endless stream of decisions. Some are exciting. Some are terrifying. Most are tiring.
And if you’re not careful, the mental weight of all these choices can slow you down, burn you out, and keep you busy being busy, with little to show for your efforts.
As an owner on a growth path, decision-making can become a massive bottleneck when teams are waiting to hear back from you. This can have a compounding effect of undermining your leadership, effectiveness, and confidence.
But, with a few shifts in how you think and work, you can make better decisions, faster – and with far less second-guessing. Let’s break it down.
Stop being overwhelmed
The words you use matter. If you keep saying “I’m overwhelmed!!!”, you’re telling your brain that you’re indecisive, drowning, and incapable of clarity.
Overwhelmed typically means you’ve lost the ability to distinguish between important and unimportant things – which is the basis of good decision making.
So if you ARE overwhelmed? Stop your energy leaking all over the place, by saying you’re overwhelmed, and start discerning between fast and slow decisions.
Know the difference between fast and slow decisions
Not all decisions deserve the same amount of energy.
Some are strategic, expensive, and benefit from pondering – these belong in your slow lane:
- Launching your premium, flagship group program
- Hiring someone
- Deciding on a new brand positioning
- Changing your business model
Others are low-risk – these are your fast lane:
- Launching a paid live experiment
- Firing someone
- Choosing a new software
- Picking a great headline
- Deciding whether or not to reply to a DM or email
The key is to pre-sort: which decisions are meaningful and need space and marination? And which need speed?
Do it now
One of the simplest ways to move faster is to stop letting micro-decisions and their corresponding micro tasks pile up.
If something is important and will take you less than five minutes just do it now. No scheduling, no debating, no mental tabs left open. Respond to that email. Approve that design. Record that 30-second video. These tasks aren’t worth the time it takes to add these to your list or calendar.
The five-minute rule is a game changer because it:
- Builds a bias toward action
- Reduces background mental clutter
- Makes you more productive.
- ‘Just in time’ research
If you find yourself endlessly Googling – stop.
Research is only useful when it’s tied to an immediate decision. Otherwise, it becomes procrasti-research, trussed up as intelligence.
Ask yourself:
- Am I actually making this decision now?
- What’s the minimum I need to know to make this decision?
- Is this research directly feeding my decision, or postponing it?
Don’t go down rabbit holes unless there’s a real decision happening imminently (like, today). You can always learn more later, but right now, focus on what matters now.
Carve out thinking time
For decisions that require time and pondering, these don’t happen while multitasking with 25 open browser tabs.
You need space to think. Time to plan. A date with your creative, expansive, brilliant brain.
Build this into your calendar:
- Your weekly CEO date
- Your weekly decision day (inside Audacious mastermind, we have ‘decision parlour’ for this)
- A 20-minute solo walk with a question in mind.
The busier life becomes, the more important it is to carve out regular thinking time – focused, distraction-free, without media – to ponder, ruminate, and marinate.
Ask yourself:
- What am I avoiding?
- What’s a choice that would make everything else easier?
- What am I ready to move forward on?
Make a list of all the open loops in your brain, set a 30-minute timer, and for each item, either: decide / defer (with a date) / delete.
This can free up a shocking amount of energy.
You don’t need to crowdsource every call. You don’t need more information or advice. Make the call.
Clarity is a byproduct of action
This part is critical: you have to decide. Which means you have to close off other options for now.
And here’s where the common misconception about clarity keeps you stuck – you’re waiting for clarity before you act. But you can think yourself into clarity and you can think yourself out of clarity (and into chaos, overwhelm, confusion, and self-loathing).
Clarity is an inevitable byproduct of taking action – it comes after the decision.
Clarity doesn’t come through delaying the decision. Business learning without application is just procrasti-learning. Real business learning happens when you enact the thing – get results – and then iterate and repeat.
So the next time you feel stuck between Option A and Option B, ask yourself:
“If I already trusted myself, what would I do?”
Then go do it. You’re closer to clarity than you think — it’s one decision away.
