It’s time to stop overthinking and just make the decision.
More than likely, you have a decision sitting in front of you right now. And you're overthinking it.
Everyone does. The mind spins scenarios, weighs consequences that haven't happened yet, and turns a five-minute call into a three-day spiral.
Fighter pilots don't get three days. They get seconds. So Air Force veteran John Boyd built a framework that turns split-second, life-or-death choices into a repeatable process. He called it OODA.
Observe: what are the actual facts of the situation? Not the ones your mind invented.
Orient: what matters most right now?
Decide: what's the smallest next move you can make?
Act: do it immediately, before your brain finds a reason to stall.
Reading this and nodding isn't the point. Using it is. Pick a decision sitting on your desk, one that takes courage. Run it through OODA. Observe the facts. Orient on what matters. Decide the smallest step. Act before you talk yourself out of it.
If you close this without taking that action, you missed the lesson. Stop kicking the can down the road. Think like a fighter pilot with everything on the line and make the decision.
Your job isn’t to make the perfect decision; it’s to make a decision and then make it right.
Act before your brain finds a reason to stall.
Use Your Gifts,
John Eades
Creator, The Leadership Lens & The Optimistic Outlook