The Hidden Cost Of Waiting For Clarity (And Why It’s Keeping You Stuck)

When you avoid action until you feel certain, the real thing you lose isn’t time.

Photo by Egor Myznik on Unsplash

After years of manic effort, I’ve been in a weird holding pattern lately.

Not frozen or collapsed. Just... circling.

I’ve been pondering what I’m building, how much energy I want to give to it, and whether this version of my business still fits who I am now, and where my life is going.

And every time I think I’m ready to move forward, I hesitate.

I second-guess the idea. The audience. The offer. The approach.

It’s like I’m waiting for some internal green light that never quite clicks on.

It’s not laziness. It’s not indecision.

It’s a shift in focus, and waiting for clarity that never fully arrives.

And it’s costing me more than just time.

What waiting for clarity actually costs

I’ve been building this coaching business on the side of a full-time job for a few years now, and my goals have shifted each year.

For a while, it was burnout recovery focused, whilst also studying for an Art-based Coaching Diploma to expand my skillset to include creative coaching.

There’s been a refocus over the past 6 months towards resilience building and burnout prevention, following personal and professional changes I’ve experienced.

But when you’re used to being capable, thoughtful, and high-functioning, you don’t just stall when problem-solving or shifting - you strategise the hell out of your hesitation.

You convince yourself you’re being responsible.

That “not yet” is the wise option.

That you just need to wait until you’re ready.

You need to do the research and base your next move on data and evidence, until you feel the click. The shift. The “aha” moment.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

• You’re not waiting for information. You’re waiting for emotional safety.

And in the process?

You slowly erode your motivation, your momentum, and your trust in your own ability to decide.

Because the hidden cost of waiting for clarity isn’t just lost time, but self-trust.

Every time you delay action; you reinforce the belief that you can’t move without certainty.

And when you’re juggling a thousand things, you need to trust your judgment more than ever.

The neuroscience of uncertainty and choice

When you're stuck in limbo, blinded by decision fog, your brain isn’t just anxious.

It’s burning energy at a ridiculous rate.

It’s running multiple internal simulations, weighing outcomes, trying to forecast what will happen so it can protect you.

That effort comes at a cost: cognitive fatigue, indecision, and that low-level dread that something’s off, even when you can’t put your finger on it.

At its core, your brain is a prediction system.

It constantly models what’s next to conserve your body’s resources, what neuroscientists call your body budget.

But when plans collapse, or outcomes feel ambiguous, it flags a prediction error.

It’s a signal that something doesn’t match expectations.

That triggers a search: What will make this feel safe again? What can I control?

And here’s what most people don’t realise:

• Research shows that simply having the ability to choose, even if the outcome is the same, activates brain systems like the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex.

• These circuits are associated with motivation, subjective reward, and value-based decision-making.

In short: your brain values agency.

It doesn’t just want a solution.

It wants to feel like you’re the one choosing.

But perceived control isn’t a bonus or nice to have, but a basic psychological and physiological need.

So, when you stall, even when it seems logical or comfortable, you starve your system of one of its core rewards.

The ability to choose something and move.

And here’s the part I love:

• After you make a choice, your brain tends to re-evaluate your options in favour of what you picked.

It’s called post-choice rationalisation, where your system backs the path you’ve taken to reduce conflict and conserve energy.

This means you often feel more confident after acting, not before or at the point you choose.

So, you don’t need the perfect decision or certainty.

No, you need movement to restore control and let your brain do what it does best:

• Reinforce the direction you’ve committed to.

Action creates its own clarity.

When waiting for confidence might feel safer, choosing is often what generates it.

Reclaiming agency without clarity

I’ll be honest, there’s a part of me that isn’t clear on what this business is becoming.

I’m not sure what I want to grow next or whether I want to promote anything at all right now.

Ongoing health issues, flare ups, and keeping on top of a demanding full-time job, onboarding a new team member, and shifting financial markets, have made me re-prioritise.

I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.

It’s where work and life are right now.

But I’ve learned the hard way that waiting for full clarity before I move just keeps me stuck in neutral, or frustrated, or feeling shame.

So, this week, I’ve shifted my non-negotiables.

I decided to share notes mainly about my urban foxes because they’re a fun part of my real world.

And I chose to continue something that still gives me purpose, connection, and space to explore these questions: I wrote this post.

OK, I’m trying not to break my weekly streak to 100 weekly posts too…

But I didn’t wait for a lightbulb moment or some clear direction.

I just decided that showing up with what I had was enough.

Even if it feels vulnerable, awkward, and uncomfortable sharing it in public.

And that simple act - the act of choosing, not just circling - feels better than I expected.

Not because I fixed anything.

But because I remembered I don’t need to feel certain to be capable.

I don’t need perfection.

I just need to stop outsourcing momentum to some future version of me who magically “knows.”

The tool: The decision pulse check

When you're circling a decision or holding off on action, try this 3-question check-in:

1. What’s the actual unknown here, and what am I making it mean about me?

   1. e.g. “If I don’t know my niche, I must not be serious.” Sound familiar?

2. What small move would bring me data, not certainty?

   1. A test post. A conversation. A messy draft. Something that puts feedback into motion. Momentum.

3. If I trusted that clarity comes after action, what would I try?

   1. Not the whole answer. Just one clean next move. A micro-step.

Reflection prompts

Ask yourself:

• Where have I been waiting for readiness that might never come?

• What narrative am I attaching to clarity or indecision?

• What is doing nothing costing me?

• What might shift if I made one simple move, without forcing the rest?

Key takeaways

I’m relearning that waiting for full clarity slowly chips away at your self-trust.

Even when you know your values and long-term goals, you still crave certainty in the moment.

It might feel strategic, but underneath your brain is learning to associate inaction with safety.

The science backs it too. Even when the outcome or result is the same, your brain values control, not just certainty.

And once you make a decision, post-choice rationalisation helps you commit.

Clarity often follows a shift and movement, not necessarily the other way around.

I didn’t write this post because I had a breakthrough.

I wrote it because I was fed up with circling and weighing myself down with indecision.

That one simple decision gave me more energy and peace of mind than another week of concern or overthinking could.

So, you don’t need full clarity to move.

Or waiting for perfect.

Restore your self-trust with one, simple choice.

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P.S. Where are you waiting for full clarity? What one simple choice can you make to move forward and build self-trust?