For small decisions, don’t agonize over them. For big decisions, don’t second-guess yourself.
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that excessive worry and rumination damages the spleen and stomach. If this then spirals into anxiety and panic, it further harms the kidneys.
In life, not every decision can be made perfectly — even the most skilled decision-makers don’t have a flawless strategy every single time.
By following the natural, objective course of how things unfold, you can reach the point where small decisions no longer drain you, and big decisions no longer haunt you. That, in essence, already satisfies the ultimate goal of sound decision-making.
For the following situations, stop overthinking — just roll up your sleeves and get to work:
Things that can be accomplished without much effort. Just do them.
When fortune is not on your side. Life is not always a smooth road. In difficult times, struggle and toil are simply the norm. Many things must be done whether you like them or not. There is nothing to deliberate over.
When the present situation closely mirrors a past one. Once you confirm that what is happening now is highly consistent with something that happened before — and once you’ve identified which stage of that pattern you’re currently in — you can use that experience as your reference and make your decision accordingly.