The one simple reason that decisions suck

Spoiler: it’s not because they’re hard!

“I wish the universe would just tell me what to do!”

How many times have you said that?

How many times have you wished that God, the universe, your higher power, or—hell—even your boss would just tell you what to do, instead of leaving you in the morass of what-ifs?

Well that’s because we hate making decisions. The big ones (should I take this job?) and the small ones (what should I get off the menu?).

And there’s a reason for that. We hate decisions not because decisions are hard, per se. We hate decisions because of one simple, glaringly obvious fact:

Every decision is made under uncertainty.

Read that again. It’s both glaringly obvious—and, once you fully embrace it, fully internalize it, it will radically, fundamentally transform your relationship to decisions.

Every decision is made under uncertainty.

Uncertainty is distressing

To put it differently, if there were no uncertainty, if the universe just told you what to do, you wouldn’t have to make a decision!

There are no decisions without uncertainty.

Every single time you’ve had to make a choice, there are uncertain futures on the other side of it. Doesn’t matter how small or how big that choice is.

Deciding what to pick off the diner menu? Uncertainty. Will the bacon be the right kind of crispy? Will the potatoes actually be the hash browns you were promised? What if your partner’s omelette tastes better?

Deciding whether to leave your job? Uncertainty. What if you left too early? What if you can’t find another job? What if your next job is at a lower salary.

There is no decision without uncertainty.

And it’s that uncertainty—not the decisions themselves—that we struggle with.

Let me say it again:

Decisions are hard because we hate uncertainty.

Like, physically, scientifically, we hate uncertainty. It’s hard on our minds and bodies.

In 2023, a super fascinating study was published in the journal Sustainability, looking at about 350 employees in the hospitality industry in Pakistan.