Information and Indecision…
Why doing too much research can sometimes be bad for decision making..

“The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.”
― Malcolm Gladwell
Our life is a sum total of every small or big decision that we make.
We all have made some great decisions, some bad decisions and some decisions that have filled us with regrets and guilt.
While we might often forget to give ourselves credit for the good decisions that we took, we don’t forget to blame ourselves for the bad ones.
“How could I be so stupid??”
“What was I thinking??”
“May be I should have done some more research.”
Whenever something goes wrong,we start to have such kind of thoughts.
After all who likes to fail .. Right?
To minimise our chances of failure we insist on making a well-informed decision.
‘Well Informed Decision.’ A decision that is based on proper research and knowledge.
And boy!! In today’s day and age, making a well-informed decision is a piece of cake.
There are so many people out there who have already tried and tested what we are thinking of trying.
So it’s better to know their experiences before going ahead and making our decision.
We are so fortunate to live in this modern age of information and technology where any information or cognition is available just by a clicking a button…
Thank goodness for that!
Right??
But let me ask you something.
If merely doing research, could have saved us from the trauma of making bad decisions, then everyone with an access to internet and search engines would have always made successful choices in life!!
But it doesn’t happen that way.Does it?
Now, I am a strong supporter of doing adequate research and gathering required knowledge, before making an important decision in life.
I personally never like to make hasty decisions and want to be well informed before saying YES to something.
However, for a long time, my research was purely based on finding out what others thought of a particular idea or opportunity.
When exploring something new, I used to dig for information on search engines, just to find out if anyone else had done that before.
I made my decisions based on the reviews, feedback, and experiences of others.
I thought that if most people say it's a good idea, then definitely there must be something to it and if the majority out there is vouching against it, then I better not take a chance.
What I failed to realize is, that my so-called well-informed decision was actually based on the knowledge and experience of people that I didn't even know!!
And even if I knew these people, whether they support or reject a particular idea, is purely based on their perception.
Deciding whether or not to go ahead with a particular idea or opportunity is just the first step.
There are many decisions and choices we make after that, which finally lead us towards success or failure.
I began wondering if I was doing this research to expand my cognition, or to validate the decision that I had already made in my mind??
This realization worried me.
I understood that while researching about something, I always saw what I wanted to see and believed what I wanted to believe.
We often tend to rely too much on information and ignore out gut instincts.
When it comes to any new idea, business, opportunity or a major life choice, there will always be two types of people — Those who succeed and those who fail.
Those who succeed will recommend it because they could do it and those who fail will warn you against making a certain choice because it went wrong for them.
Just because someone was successful after making a particular choice doesn’t mean that we too are gonna be successful.
The same way, just because someone has failed that doesn’t mean that we are going to fail as well.
It’s a matter of chance.
So let’s not forget to make our decision with a perfect blend of information and intuition.
Instead of just researching about what others think of a particular idea or opportunity, I now prefer to do a thorough research on what I think of it.
If I claim that it’s not for me, then I ask myself WHY..??
I try to find out the real reason.
Is it because I don’t want to do it, or because I don’t dare to take that risk????
The answer is not always in my favor but digging deeper within myself gives me a better understanding of whether or not the idea resonates with me.
It gives me the courage to make an uncomfortable decision.
Once I am convinced, I then begin my research on HOW to do it.
Just this tiny alteration in my attitude towards acquiring knowledge while making a decision has given me so much surety in life.
Does that mean all my decisions will be super successful..??No
However, if fail I would still be proud of my decisions.
Because I would know that those decisions I made …were mine .

