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A Gentle Nudge to Go Your Own Way

by | 4 minute read

Problem: There’s an endless stream of information on the internet telling you what to do and how to live your life. If you try to process it all, you’ll burn out and go nowhere.

Solution: Pick one thing to work on and turn off all inputs until it’s complete.

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Of all the risks you can take in your life, the one that stands out the most to me is the risk never taken at all. Most of us don’t suffer from a lack of ideas or ability to analyze them. Instead, we suffer from an abundance of them and an inability to turn off our analysis, our inner critic, and make a decision.

It’s this over analysis that stops us in our tracks and kills progress. It’s what keeps us pondering action rather than taking it.

In a fast paced world that’s gaining speed every day, new information arrives in our lives every minute that can alter how we think and feel about things. This is powerful and useful if you have a system in place to filter the important from the unimportant and make decisions that can propel you forward.

But what if you’re still learning? What if you’re still trying to develop these systems? New information is flying at you so fast that you don’t know what to do with it. It’s like playing your very first game of Tetris on level 100. You never learn the basics because the game is over before you could even figure out the controls. Where do I put the L-shaped piece?!

Too much information when you’re still figuring out what to do with it is paralyzing.

When I need to make a big decision, the first thing I do now is set a deadline. After that time frame passes, I make the best decision I can with the information I have. Sometimes things change and don’t work out perfectly, but it’s the best way I know of to force myself to move forward.

One of my ultimate fears is that I may be contributing to your information overload. Riskology.co is filled with amazing readers (that’s you!) from all parts of the planet, with many different goals, and at many different stages of life. Every month, a new batch of riskologists discover the site for the very first time and set out on their own journey. Some of you have been around awhile and are starting to become integral parts of the community. A few of you have even been around since the very beginning. Congratulations if that’s you; you’re a founding member.

I’m grateful for every one of you, and I hate to see anyone go, but I believe there are certain times when you simply shouldn’t read this site (or any other one, for that matter).

My goal here is to publish the best work I’m capable of twice a week, every week, from now until eternity or at least the next rapture. But that doesn’t mean that everyone ought to read it all the time.

If you’ve been here awhile and you have a big decision to make that you’ve been putting off because you’re waiting for new, better information, then it may be time for you to take a break, reflect on the information you have, and make the best guess you can.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want you to leave. Every urge within me says to give you reasons to stay rather than go. But I also know that if you’re here and enjoying the site, then I don’t really need to do much convincing. You already know why you like it and want to stay.

They say that if you love something, let it go, but I like what my friend Chris says: “If you love something, you have to protect it.” In the end, I think that presenting the best and clearest ideas I have, even if they don’t directly benefit me, is the best I can do to protect what I love. These ideas don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

And I’m not really letting you go. If you’re reading this and feeling like it makes sense, then I hope you’ll try it, get much better at taking action toward your important goals, and then come back, when you’re ready, an even stronger part of the community.

What to Do While You’re Away

After you’ve disconnected yourself from the never-ending information stream, there are a few things you can do to make your time away a valuable experience. Most of all, pick one thing and do it. The whole reason you’re sequestering yourself is to free yourself to take action, so don’t debate with yourself too much about what that action should be. Find something you can do immediately, no matter how small, and try it. Assess later and pivot if necessary. For now, just do something.

Also, don’t second-guess yourself with conflicting advice. There are always two paths you can go by, and the whole world is pretty evenly split on which is the best. Each has its merits, and each has its drawbacks. The right choice is easy—it’s whichever seems most suited to you.

Pick one thing, execute, assess, and pivot. Do those a few times, get good at them, and then come back. It may take a few days. It may take a year. It doesn’t really matter how long it takes; I’m not going anywhere, and the stream of never-ending information will be here when you get back. You’ll just be much better prepared to work with it.

Solitude can produce breakthroughs and authenticity comes from within. Embrace the silence, even if for only a moment, and use it to focus your actions on the things that are truly important to you.

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Thanks for reading this. I hope I see you again soon. If you’ve already mastered this skill, then I’m glad you’re still here and sticking around. If you’re brand new and want a better idea of what this is all about, sign up for the newsletter.

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I’ll never share your address and I do an impressive disappearing act if this isn’t for you.

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Just know that, eventually, you may need to take a break to refocus. And that’s okay.

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To learn more about disconnecting and making hard decisions, read Tammy Strobel’s smart piece on digital sabbaticals and Joshua Becker’s inspiring article about what it takes to fulfill a dream. Image by AmericaninCanada.