Think about the last time you couldn’t make up your mind about a big decision. Maybe you made a pro-and-con list, read every review, and talked it through with other people — and still couldn’t decide.

We tell ourselves that just a little more information will finally bring the certainty we need to choose. But my guest today says more research can fuel your Anxiety and the certainty we’re chasing doesn’t actually exist. If you’re indecisive, you overthink every choice, or you freeze up for fear of making the wrong decision, this episode is for you.

My guest is Simone Stolzoff, a journalist and the author of The Good Enough Job. His new book, How to Not Know, is all about making hard decisions and learning to tolerate uncertainty.

In this episode on decision-making and uncertainty, we discuss:

• Why our tolerance for uncertainty is shrinking at the exact moment the world is becoming more uncertain
• The two surprising ways people dodge hard decisions — and why impulsive decision-makers may be just as avoidant as obsessive researchers
• The study that showed we’d rather face a guaranteed painful event than sit with the uncertainty of one
• Why the best leaders aren’t “know-it-alls” but “learn-it-alls”
• The Only Option Test — a fast way to break a stuck decision when both choices look equally good
• The Chinese farmer parable, and why “maybe yes, maybe no” is one of the most freeing things you can tell yourself
• The line from an oncology doctor that can change how you face anything uncertain in your future
• The Therapist’s Take: my top three strategies for making decisions and living with uncertainty, starting today

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• ⁠⁠60 — Face Fear and Embrace Uncertainty So You Can Live a Good Life with Best-Selling Author Jonathan Fields
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Links & Resources

How to Not Know

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Amy Morin Therapist, Bestselling Author, Host of the Mentally Stronger Podcast

Amy Morin is a psychotherapist, international bestselling author and the host of the Mentally Stronger podcast. Her books on mental strength, including 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do, have sold more than 1 million copies and been translated into more than 40 languages.

She’s practiced therapy for over 20 years and she’s a sought after speaker whose TEDx talk, The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong, has become one of the most popular talks of all time with more than 22 million views.

Amy lives on a sailboat in the Florida Keys.