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Yesterday, we broke down the 3 forces driving the Clarity Recession:
- We're outsourcing our thinking to AI
- Social media has hijacked our brains
- And we’re drowning in a tsunami of information
These forces are making it more difficult to make decisions. And if we’re not making decisions, we remain stuck in the same place, making ZERO progress.
But everyone is facing this problem—just check out Google’s search recommendations when you type “why am I so confused”:
So today we’re going to talk about how to beat it.
Or rather, we’re going to explain the “hacks” everyone tells you will work… and why almost ALL of them backfire (and leave you more confused and uncertain than ever before).
(We know, because we’ve tried these countless times—and they always left us feeling even more uncertain.)
Let’s dive in.
Solution #1: Talk to friends and family
This is typically what most people try first.
But here’s the problem with this method:
- Your partner projects their own fears onto your situation.
- Your best friend has their own agenda (even if they don't realize it).
- Your mom wants you to be safe (so won’t ever advise you to take a risk).
They mean well, BUT...
When you ask 10 people for advice, you get 10 different opinions. Now you're MORE confused than before you asked!
What you’re doing is outsourcing your thinking, hoping someone else will do the decision-making for you.
But ultimately, no one can make the decision for you. You have to take responsibility for it, and the only way you can do that is to make sure you’re clarifying your thinking and reflecting on your choice in a proven, systematic way.
For example, when I (Dickie) quit my $180,000/year job at BlackRock, all my friends and family thought I was CRAZY.
But 3 years later, that one simple decision has helped me build a lifestyle business I love (and has generated over $19,000,000 online).
I spent hours writing about the choice and came to an important realization:
My friends and family weren’t where I wanted to be and so weren’t the ideal people to ask for advice.
Instead, I had to trust MYSELF to make the right decision.
Solution #2: Take another course/read another book/listen to another podcast
Now don't get us wrong.
We're HUGE believers in online education. We invest thousands in courses every year and make every investment ROI positive.
But too many people buy courses/read books/listen to podcasts as a form of productive procrastination:
- "Maybe THIS $2,000 course will give me clarity!"
- "Once I finish this book, THEN I'll be ready to decide!"
- "If I just learn this ONE framework, I'll know what to do!"
But consuming more frameworks DOES NOT mean you’re making a decision.
You're just mindlessly consuming, not taking action.
And the reason you're not acting isn't because you need more information.
It’s because you don’t trust yourself to make a decision—and no course can fix that, no matter the amount of money you spend.
Solution #3: Ask an expert
Financial advisors, career coaches, business mentors...
They know their field inside out.
But they don't know YOUR life.
They can often give textbook answers to unique situations:
- The financial advisor who says "max out your 401k" when you're trying to start a business
- The career coach who pushes corporate ladder climbing when you want freedom
- The business mentor who has a one-size-fits-all framework that fits nobody
You pay $500/hour for "professional" advice that feels completely wrong in your gut.
And sure, it’s good to get a different perspective and expert advice when you’re faced with a problem or decision you’ve never encountered before.
But most of the time you’re just DELAYING the choice (because it feels a whole lot safer to stay you’re “confused!”).
Deep down, you already know what you need to do though—you just wanted someone else to validate it.
So, what will work?
Ready?
Here it is…
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Journaling!
Now, to be clear, we're NOT talking about:
- Gratitude lists (though those are nice)
- Morning pages where you ramble for 3 pages
- "Dear diary" emotional venting or positive affirmations
We're talking about using journaling as a PROVEN SYSTEM for decision-making.
A system that gives you the exact prompts you need to clarify your thoughts, work through a decision, and figure out what YOU actually think & want to do.
This exact process has helped us make thousands of life-changing decisions.
These include:
- Deciding when to leave my $180k/year job on Wall Street (Dickie)
- When to move from Chicago to LA, LA to Miami, and Miami to Arizona (Cole)
- Which business opportunities to pursue and the ones to turn down, no matter how tempting (Dickie & Cole)
And tons more.
Which is why we call this method…
Decision Journaling.
And tomorrow we’re going to go deeper into why this method is the best way to escape the Clarity Recession (and finally make the one decision that will change your life).
See you tomorrow,
—Dickie & Cole
PS… Want to know a bit more about how we are beating the Clarity Recession?
Then join the waitlist for our upcoming Black Friday product drop.
If you want to:
- Escape the Clarity Recession
- Re-build your decision-making muscle
- And finally unlock the clarity you need to hit your next personal or career breakthrough
Then you won’t want to miss this.
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