Difficulty Making Decisions: Myths That Hold You Back and Mistakes That Pull You Under

Many people spend years convinced that their difficulty making decisions is simply part of their personality — laziness, or "just the way they're wired." Dr. Saulitis sees it differently: there are specific mechanisms at work here, and they can be understood.

Myth one: "The longer I think, the better my decision will be"

This is one of the most destructive misconceptions. Endlessly gathering information, weighing options, postponing — none of this makes a decision more correct. The doctor calls it "intellectual chewing gum": thoughts get chewed over and over, but never digested, never released. This cycle doesn't just fail to help — it genuinely exhausts the psyche. The mind has no direction, and a person begins to stagnate.

Myth two: "I'm just waiting for the right moment"

Another common mistake is mistaking delay for a reasonable pause. In reality, a person who cannot make a decision even on everyday matters is in a state of profound disorientation. The doctor illustrates this vividly: a person sits before bread and a glass of juice and cannot decide where to place the glass. That is not caution — it is a symptom.

Myth three: "Doubting yourself shows depth of thought"

Constant doubt and the urge to please everyone around you are not wisdom or sensitivity. The doctor calls this plainly: a classic neurosis. The stronger a person's desire to be good for others at the expense of their own choice, the deeper the neurotic pattern runs.

The most common practical mistake: no deadline, no decision

People often fail to set a time boundary for making a decision. Without a clear "I will decide by this point," the process turns into an endless loop. The moment a decision is made — even an imperfect one — the brain shifts into working mode: it knows what to do and activates. Until then, it simply spins in place.

"Intellectual chewing gum — it will destroy you."

"The moment the body knows what it needs to do, it switches on."