Making Decisions While the Ground Shifts Beneath You

Why waiting for certainty keeps you stuck

Change is the only constant in life. When you figure out that every decision you make happens while you're in motion, you stop waiting for certainty and start getting comfortable with making choices while the ground is shifting beneath you.

The Illusion of Perfect Timing

Most people treat decision-making like a laboratory experiment. They want all variables controlled, all outcomes predicted, all risks calculated before they make a move.

But life doesn't work in laboratories. Life works in motion.

While you're gathering information, circumstances are changing. While you're waiting for clarity, opportunities are moving. While you're hoping for certainty, the ground is shifting beneath your feet.

The promotion you're considering? The company is reorganizing while you decide. The relationship you're evaluating? Both of you are growing and changing daily. The investment you're researching? Markets move while you analyze.

Every decision happens in the context of change, not stability.

The Wrestling Match You're Already In

After coaching wrestling for years, I learned something that applies to way more than sports:

When you go for a takedown, you don't aim for where the opponent's leg is. You aim for where it's going to be.

In football, you don't throw the ball to the receiver. You throw it to where the receiver will be when the ball arrives.

You don't make decisions based on current circumstances. You make them based on where circumstances are heading.

Here's the part most people miss: the opponent doesn't just stand there waiting for you to make up your mind. They're coming, ready or not.

Life is the same way. While you're analyzing your options, the situation is evolving. Your competition is moving. The market is shifting. Other people are making choices that affect your choices.

You're not making decisions in a static environment. You're making them in an active match where hesitation gets you countered.

The Cost of Hesitation

In wrestling, hesitation is the difference between a takedown and getting taken down yourself.

You see the opening. You think about it. You calculate the risk. And in that split second of hesitation, the opponent shifts their weight, changes levels, and suddenly the opportunity is gone—or worse, you're the one on your back.

The same thing happens in life:

When a great job opportunity arises, someone else applied while you were perfecting your resume.

The girl you wanted to ask to the dance said yes to someone else while you thought about what to say (Maybe this was just me).

Instead of testing a business idea, you waited too long and someone beat you to market.

Perfect information doesn't exist. But the match is happening whether you engage or not.

The Consciousness Shift

Here's what changes everything: accepting that uncertainty is the context, not the problem.

Instead of asking "What's the perfect choice?" start asking "What's the best move I can make with what I see right now?"

Instead of "How do I avoid making mistakes?" ask "How do I build the judgment to adjust as the situation changes?"

Instead of "When will I have enough information?" ask "What do I actually need to know versus what I'm collecting to avoid deciding?"

The goal isn't to make perfect decisions. It's to make conscious choices and stay awake enough to adjust as things evolve.

Decision-Making in Motion

This changes how you approach every major choice:

Career moves: You don't wait for the perfect job to appear. You make the best move available and course-correct as you learn what you actually want.

Relationships: You don't wait for someone to check every box. You choose someone whose growth trajectory aligns with yours and evolve together.

Investments: You don't wait for guaranteed returns. You make informed, diversified purchases based on today’s market and adjust your portfolio as circumstances change.

Health choices: You don't wait for the perfect plan. You start with what works now and modify based on how your body responds.

Life direction: You don't wait for your calling to announce itself. You move toward what interests you and let the path reveal itself through action.

The Real Risk

The biggest risk isn't making the wrong decision. It's making no decision while life moves around you.

Every day you postpone choosing is a choice. You're choosing to let circumstances decide for you. You're choosing to be reactive instead of proactive. You're choosing drift over direction.

The people who thrive aren't the ones who never make mistakes. They're the ones who make conscious choices quickly, learn from the results, and adjust course based on new information.

They understand that perfect information is impossible, but conscious action is always available.

Aiming Where It's Going

In wrestling, the best competitors don't just react to what their opponent is doing right now. They read patterns. They anticipate movement. They commit to the shot based on where things are heading, not where they currently are.

Life requires the same skill.

You can't wait for circumstances to stop moving before you decide. The circumstances won't stop. The opponent keeps coming.

You have to read the trajectory, commit to the move, and adjust as you go.

Will you be wrong sometimes? Absolutely. Every wrestler gets countered. Every quarterback throws interceptions. Every decision-maker makes mistakes.

But the alternative—standing still hoping for certainty—guarantees you lose.

Your Next Move

Look at a decision you've been avoiding or overthinking. What additional information are you waiting for that would actually change your choice? What would you decide if you had to choose today?

Most of the time, you already know enough to make a good choice. You're just uncomfortable with the uncertainty that comes after choosing.

The uncertainty exists whether you decide or not. The ground will keep shifting regardless. The difference is whether you're actively navigating the changes or just hoping they'll stop long enough for you to figure everything out.

The opponent is coming. What’s your next move?

This insight about decision-making in motion is part of the consciousness-based approach I'm exploring in my upcoming book "Stop Lurking, Start Living." Sometimes the most important realization is that waiting for perfect conditions is just another form of lurking.

-Ricky