The Head Not Shaven
I’ve been thinking about Cicero’s quote: “More is lost by indecision than the wrong decision”. It suggests that when faced with uncertainty, it’s often more cost-efficient to make a decision quickly and accept the consequences, whatever they may be.When you decide to take action, you generally have clear results within a reasonable time frame. Whether the results are good or bad, you have something tangible to learn from.
What’s more difficult to accept for me is when the decision itself is to not act. For example, deciding not to adopt a cat for various reasons. The idea does not just fade away, sometimes it sits there like a bad apple. It can stick with you for a while, festering and rotting in your mind.
The irony is that sometimes inaction is the optimal decision, but because there’s no visible outcome, no closure, your mind keeps turning it over. You won’t really move on from an idea that never gets tested.
One forgetful summer, I found myself obsessing over the idea of buzzcutting my head—thanks to an Asian guy I’d seen who had sharp facial features and solid facial hair. Both of which, I do not have.
Eventually, I decided not to go through with it, which was objectively the right call given the oddly placed bumps on the side of my lumpy skull (extra brain space, obviously). But the idea didn’t go away. It just sat there, whispering: “What if the bumps shrank after you lost weight?” or “Maybe that sixteen-year-old amateur boxer accidentally smacked it back into place like a dented car.”
I knew the rational choice was to move on and accept my beautiful locks as they were. I couldn’t do it. Like in Inception, the idea had rooted itself deep in my subconscious—it had to be manifested. So I convinced my mom to give me the cut, leaving just a bit of hair on top (the coward’s buzzcut)
Normally, I’d show the results here, but since I’d prefer to keep both my readers and potential employers from abandoning this blog forever, I’ll refrain. You get the idea.
I think what kills me more than my misshapen head is how long the decision took. Not only did it drag on for months, but I was also convinced that this decision was a monumental life choice - that my quality of life would vastly swing in one direction because of this. Now, there’s a bit of peace in my muppet head that I never have to worry about again. One problem checked off the list
The way I reinterpret Cicero’s quote is simple: do something now, regret it later. We could have all the answers laid out on the map, but if the ship never sets sail, we’ll never have the chance to reach the shore. You steer with the knowledge you have, and if you need to course-correct along the way, so be it.
If an idea lingers and starts to rot in your mind after you’ve “decided” not to act on it, that’s usually a sign—it’s worth taking a step in some direction. For instance, if you’ve wanted a new living situation but chose not to move cities, and that thought keeps resurfacing for months, maybe that’s your cue to upgrade your apartment or try a new neighborhood instead.
Overthinkers who recognize their own analysis paralysis understand this: it’s often not a lack of clarity holding you back, but the fear of failure. And that fear prevents both the wrong or the right decisions from ever happening. It’s better to fail fast and learn than to stay stuck in hesitation.
TLDR: Shave your fuckin’ head!
