Making An Important Decision - Do You Tend To Overthink Things?

Lee

Lee

Senior Member
Location
Chatham, Ontario
I never used to, always would jump right in and face the consequences later. But lately I find that I am going over every little detail till my head hurts.

The what if's and the why not's and then I just tell myself to forget about it and stay with the now. Until the next time the thought comes up.
 

We humans tend to make decisions on a qualitative (emotional) level and/or on a quantitative (value/mathematical) level. Sometimes we make them on impulse and sometimes we give the important ones the analysis they deserve.

One major decision where I applied the training that I received in statistics and operations analysis was when my wife and I decided that I should retire from the Navy at 31 years instead of staying in, taking orders to Scotland or Spain and competing for another promotion which would have added about $900 a month to my Navy retirement check.

I had already made that decision at the qualitative level when I realized that I was uncomfortable with direction that our new "bean counting" Admiral intended to take our organization. I was used to "operational" Admirals.

My quantitative analysis was complex and mathematical. While an additional $900 a month stretched over the remainder of my life would be a lot of money , it was counter balanced by the fact that my probability of picking up that big promotion was only about 55% (estimated lifetime value .55 X $900 X 12 X 35 = $207,900) , and then my wife and I would be stuck overseas trying to do a job search. I would also have disrupted her career which was just taking off as an upper/middle level government employee. She would likely never fully recover from the dead certainty of that loss ( estimated at ($420,000).. By the time I finished cranking all the numbers, the mere act of staying in the Navy came to a highly probable loss of about $750,000. Which was an eyeopener to both of us and sealed the decision. I requested retirement from the Navy on the following Monday and never looked back. My wife also deserved to have the primary career at that point anyway. I was actually hired the very day that I retired from the Navy.

So making decisions is not always easy for us either. If you think that you have trouble making up your mind, you probably have good justification for feeling that way. Take your time on the important stuff.
 
It's sometimes helpful to remember that if a decision is "urgent", most times it not really all that important. Conversely, if it's truly important it's usually not that urgent.

Barring some sort of emergency, I generally take the time to thoroughly think through a decision, act, and then move on.
 
Pecos said:
We humans tend to make decisions on a qualitative (emotional) level and/or on a quantitative (value/mathematical) level. Sometimes we make them on impulse and sometimes we give the important ones the analysis they deserve.

One major decision where I applied the training that I received in statistics and operations analysis was when my wife and I decided that I should retire from the Navy at 31 years instead of staying in, taking orders to Scotland or Spain and competing for another promotion which would have added about $900 a month to my Navy retirement check.

I had already made that decision at the qualitative level when I realized that I was uncomfortable with direction that our new "bean counting" Admiral intended to take our organization. I was used to "operational" Admirals.

My quantitative analysis was complex and mathematical. While an additional $900 a month stretched over the remainder of my life would be a lot of money , it was counter balanced by the fact that my probability of picking up that big promotion was only about 55% (estimated lifetime value .55 X $900 X 12 X 35 = $207,900) , and then my wife and I would be stuck overseas trying to do a job search. I would also have disrupted her career which was just taking off as an upper/middle level government employee. She would likely never fully recover from the dead certainty of that loss ( estimated at ($420,000).. By the time I finished cranking all the numbers, the mere act of staying in the Navy came to a highly probable loss of about $750,000. Which was an eyeopener to both of us and sealed the decision. I requested retirement from the Navy on the following Monday and never looked back. My wife also deserved to have the primary career at that point anyway. I was actually hired the very day that I retired from the Navy.

So making decisions is not always easy for us either. If you think that you have trouble making up your mind, you probably have good justification for feeling that way. Take your time on the important stuff.
Click to expand...
Wow, my head hurts. I never knew thinking was so complex. 😜 I am also terrible at math. Lol
 
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Seriously, though, I think I often use both analytical and emotional components in my decision making. Being an experiential person, I tend to compile as much information as possible, including the more intuitive/subliminal aspects. The more rounded out the picture, the more confident I am in making the right decision. Obviously, this approach is designed for complex decisions rather than basic every day stuff.
 
I over think everything. Usually if it is an important decision I rarely take chances which in some cases hasn't panned out, such as in financial matters. The hubby is willing to take more risks than I would and he usually is right,
I stress over the most foolish things.
An example is this Labor Day weekend coming up. I am a list maker and as soon as I knew I was having family for the weekend I have made list after list of what I will serve for the weekend. Every time the list has changed.
Decided on several different dessert ideas, which I baked and stashed in the freezer and I've made 3 different casseroles and I still can't make a decision of what to serve.
No wonder their are still shortages in the food market. Its all in my freezer!
 

Making An Important Decision - Do You Tend To Overthink Things?​


I plan
I can take days to pencil whip something in regard to future concerns
Then stick to my decision...until I can't
Back to the drawing board

I let my woman do the worrying and fretting over day to day stuff
Or things that 'could' happen
She devotes a lot of energy to that
I blame that process on wimin in general



worry....not.jpg


Heh
'Worry'
The bastard child of concern
 
Lee said:
I never used to, always would jump right in and face the consequences later. But lately I find that I am going over every little detail till my head hurts.

The what if's and the why not's and then I just tell myself to forget about it and stay with the now. Until the next time the thought comes up.
Click to expand...
I use to analyze EVERYTHING. Meditation has helped me tremendously.
 

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