The Exhaustion of Always Being the One Who Decides
“My employees can leave work at work, but me – I never stop thinking about it”
Can you relate to that?
There are always decisions to be made in business. But these days those decisions are getting harder: the consequences of making a mistake feel so much bigger.
- “Do I have enough work to keep my people?”
- “Do I change my prices – and if so, which way?”
- “How do I sell to people who’ve stopped buying?”
I’m hearing a new kind of decision fatigue in the business owners I’m speaking to now. Their voices are heavier, they shrug their shoulders a lot – they are deeply tired. Many of these people have run businesses for 20 or 30 years and this is the worst time they can remember.
And the one question that many business owners don’t even want to consider is rearing its head:
“Is this temporary or is this the new normal?”
Because if it’s the new normal, they cannot see a way through.
Cue The Rise of AI Tools?
Is it any wonder that the host of AI tools available are so eagerly used – because they save us deciding. We just type in our dilemma and they spit out a beautiful-sounding strategy, complete with bold headings, bullet points and further offers to draft the emails for us.
It also calms you – telling you “what an insightful question” and “great work”.
We tell ourselves we’re using it for efficiency – as a productivity tool. But sometimes I wonder if what we’re really looking for is company, encouragement and someone (!) to lean on.
But that’s a slippery slope and hazardous for a number of reasons. Firstly, you cannot delegate responsibility for your business to someone – or something – else. The enterprise is yours; that’s why you started it, remember, because you didn’t want to work for someone else.
Secondly, AI won’t carry the can for any mistakes. I’m sure we can all imagine some tribunal in the near future where the defense from the proprietor is something like “But Chat GPT said that was legal”.
And thirdly, you are a human and you work with other humans. Your senior team, your employees, your customers, shareholders, suppliers – they are all humans. They need the human relationships that only a human can build and maintain.
So What’s The Answer
The answer is to be able to make good decisions. And ideally – improve your abilities so you can make better decisions. You are it. You are the business owner. Which is not to scare you, but to point out that when you fall apart, everything goes awry. But when you grow yourself, build yourself and stabilise yourself, everything will stabilise.
So it all comes back to you.
Ground yourself. How? No magic formulas here – you’ll know this already; sleep, water, exercise. Look after YOU. Do a bit less, not more. What?! Yes, what that really means is know what is most important and do those things. Which – you’ll agree – requires clear thinking.
Surround yourself with people who understand you. Find a mentor or circle of peers where you can go and be honest and be sure of being lifted up.
How does this help?
Because you are a human, and humans work better when the machine that is your body and your mind is working optimally.
And recognise your edges. Recognise where you need support and reach out for help.
If you are carrying a decision you are circling, let’s do it together.
It takes about 30 minutes on a call together to identify the thing that creates the paralysis feeling and identify three clear next steps.
I love these calls, because they work. Two heads are better than one, right?
No more paralysis, no more doubt, no more spiraling around in your head. And no more feeling like you have to solve everything by yourself.
Sounds good? Book that call here.
You’ve been the one holding this all together. But you don’t have to figure it out alone anymore. Get another human on your side.