Decision-making is like standing on a train platform with a ticket. You don't have a train schedule, or map of where the trains go, or an understanding of how long the journey will be.
Which train are you going to get on next?
I was recently standing on that train platform, trying to decide if I should hop on a train that I didn't love the look of, one that wasn't 100% what I was expecting but had awesome potential, another that checked all the boxes except it might not last very long, and of course, the dozens of other trains that could be arriving at the station soon that I didn't know about.
I have a lot of friends who have been standing on the train platform in the last six months.
This analogy reminds me of the novel, The Midnight Library by Matthew Haig, in which the main character, Nora, gets the chance to open any book in the fictional library to enter another reality of what her life could be like if she made a different decision, or, "hopped on a different train" as I'd like to say.
The catch was if Nora started to think about there being a "better train" out there, then she'd have to leave that life and start over again.
The lesson here is to get on a train that you're pretty sure about; it's consistent with who you are as a human and helps you develop a deeper understanding of who you are. We'll never be 100% sure about our decisions, but if it's those two things, you'll know it's a train full of growth.
Once you get on that train, don't think about the other trains that could have shown up at the station later or the ones you could have hopped on. Commit to it 100%. See what happens. ●●● I posted this on LinkedIn and a friend of mine, Brian Helfman, added this addition that is such an important reminder...thanks, Brian. "And you're not stuck on any train forever, unless you want to be! Hop on, soak in the sights, make friends, learn and grow. Every train station you approach in the future represents an opportunity to reevaluate whether the train you're on is still the one you want to be on."