Resonance Over Rightness
Let the option pick you for once
Choices are a luxury that not everyone gets, yet they can be a dizzying thing because too many options can invite a busy mind to get busier.
You forecast outcomes, test theoretical pitfalls. Essentially, over-analyzing pure fantasy. All this in the name of making the perfect choice.
This happens in small ways, like finding the right pair of shoes. Or it can be something that’s got higher stakes, like a career pivot. Regardless, too many options can become too much to think about. Meanwhile, zero action is being taken.
I’ve been a victim of this, and I bet you have too. But lately, I’ve been experimenting with a visualization exercise. It’s been helping to stop the overthinking so I can choose things no matter how many options I have, and get on with life.
This exercise requires a fair amount of letting go, trust in yourself, and mindfulness. But I found that occurs naturally if I approach this with playful curiosity.
It goes like this. Usually, we view options as paths before us and feel pressured to pick the right one. Instead, let go of “right” and swap the view. In your mind, look at yourself from the perspective of the option.
Now, while looking at yourself through the eyes of the option, you’ll find that you care less about the “right” choice because the future isn’t in question. The only question is what resonates right now.
Now go down your list of options, inhabiting each one, and feel which are reaching out to you, recoiling, or are neutral. The option with the strongest pull is the one.
End the visualization and walk that path without a second thought. Because chances are, the moment you let in that second thought is the moment you stop walking and start wondering again.
So if you get stuck in overthinking because there are too many options, then try letting go of finding what’s “right” and allow yourself to follow the one option that’s been trying to pick you all along.
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Thank you for reading.