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Podcast · Ep. 10

How to Avoid Making Wrong Decisions: Why the Right Choice Isn't the Point

By Dylan Ayaloo


You are standing at a fork. Two paths, maybe more. And you cannot move.

You turn it over and over, waiting for something to tell you which one is right. You want a sign. You want certainty. You want, more than anything, to not get it wrong. And so you stay stuck.

Here is the honest answer to the question you are really asking, "How do I know which one is right?" You don't. That is not a failing in you. That is just how life works.

Life Doesn't Hand You an Insurance Policy

We want the guarantee. We want life to lean in and say, "Here, let me save you from making a mistake." But it never does that. Life doesn't give you an insurance policy against getting it wrong.

Sit with that for a moment, because it changes everything. If there is no certainty coming, then all the mental circling you are doing.. the endless weighing, the searching for the one right answer.. is chasing something that was never on offer.

Your body knows this already. Notice what happens when you try to force certainty out of an uncertain situation. The jaw tightens. The chest holds. You brace. That bracing is not wisdom. It is fear wearing the costume of caution.

The question is not really "which path is right." The question underneath is "how do I make sure I never get hurt." And no decision, however carefully made, can promise you that.

A Mistake Is Only a Mistake If You Call It One

Here is the reframe I keep coming back to. A mistake is only a mistake when you see it as a mistake.

Think about how I hold my own work. You either get the result, or you learn. That is it. There are no failures in that frame, only outcomes and lessons. You are the CEO of your life, the business of your life, and you get to decide how you treat what happens next.

When something doesn't go the way you hoped, you have not failed. You have received feedback.

You either learn or you get the result. Either way, you win.

But watch what happens when you decide that learning itself is the problem. Now the lesson becomes a wound. Now you label yourself. And the whole machinery of avoidance kicks in, because if learning feels dangerous, you will do anything to dodge it.

That is your survival instinct talking. We are wired to avoid the misstep, to stay safe, to never get it wrong. It made sense when the stakes were life and death. It makes far less sense when the stakes are simply the next choice in front of you.

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The Faster You Move, the Faster You Learn

So try this shift. Instead of "I must avoid every mistake," try, "The quicker I make the mistake, the quicker I learn."

Because the sooner you allow yourself to learn.. which really just means the sooner you allow yourself to act.. the sooner you get feedback. And the sooner you get feedback, the sooner you can take it in, adjust, and change course. Maybe one degree from where you were. Maybe a whole new direction. But moving, and correcting as you go.

The more you learn, the fewer mistakes you make anyway, because now you have the experience.

Let me be clear about what I am not saying. I am not telling you to make silly, careless choices on purpose. If you already know a path won't work, don't walk down it. This isn't about being reckless. It is about stopping the habit of standing still because you are terrified of a wrong turn that may not even be wrong.

The person who moves and adjusts gets further than the person who waits for certainty that never comes.

What You Are Really Learning Is Trust

Now let me name what is happening underneath all of this, energetically.

When you say you want to develop your intuition, your gut, your connection to something larger, what you are really saying is that you want to learn to trust yourself. Those are your words. Trust your gut. Trust your guidance. Trust your intuition.

But here is the quiet contradiction. When you refuse to make a mistake, when you demand the right answer before you move, you are saying, "I don't actually trust.. but I'm going to pretend that I do."

Developing your intuition is not about receiving perfect answers. It is about practising trust.

And practising trust means sometimes things don't go the way you expected. You get some information, you act on it, and afterwards you wonder, "Was that my intuition, or was that my mind being very clever?" Because the mind is very clever. It will dress up its need for control and call it guidance.

You cannot tell the difference by demanding a guarantee up front. You can only learn it through practice. Through moving, listening, and noticing afterwards what was actually true.

The Path the Mind Doesn't Want to Choose

Here is the part I really want you to hear.

If you insist that your intuition should only ever guide you somewhere safe, somewhere you never get it wrong, that is not intuition. That is the mind again, wanting to survive, wanting to always be right.

Real guidance is different. Sometimes it points you down a path your mind does not want to choose. And that is precisely where you grow. That is where the bigger opportunities live, the possibilities, the openings that only appear once you have stopped clinging to certainty.

The safe, controlled, guaranteed-right path is often the smallest one. The living one asks something of you.

So all of this, in the end, comes down to perspective. And my answer to you stays the same as it was at the very beginning.

Make a decision.

If you couldn't make a mistake, would you even be this bothered about getting it right? The whole knot loosens the moment you let the mistake be allowed. So choose, move, get your feedback, and adjust. That is not the risky way to live. That is the only way anything real ever gets learned.

You already have enough to take the next step. Make the decision. Then trust yourself to meet whatever it teaches you.

* This article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, therapy, or any form of regulated healthcare. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or require clinical support, please consult a qualified healthcare professional. Full terms & conditions →

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How to Avoid Making Wrong Decisions: Why the Right Choice Isn't the Point — Dylan Ayaloo