Step 14: What if you genuinely don't know?

Jo finished every step, filled the notebook, still no answer. You're not alone. Sometimes you do everything "right" – and the fog sticks around. What about those days when even your best thinking refuses to give you certainty? Here's how to move forward anyway, without faking conviction.

Not knowing isn't a flaw. Sometimes it means you need more info. Sometimes it means life isn't giving you a signal yet. THiNK! can sharpen your idea, but it can't manufacture timing. Most of the world pretends certainty is always possible – but real founders know when to wait.

The real challenge is spotting the difference between useful uncertainty and avoidant stuckness.

This difference is rooted in what's called analysis paralysis - when gathering more information becomes a way to avoid making a decision. The trap: more data doesn't always equal more clarity. Sometimes you're not waiting for the right answer. You're waiting for the courage to act on what you already know.

Useful uncertainty is the gut-level feeling that the answer isn't here yet – that more information, experience, or time needs to land before you can decide. Avoidant stuckness is a loop: circling, overthinking, or pretending you don't know, when deep down, you're just afraid to move.

Even Jürgen Klopp has transfer windows where the right player never appears. Waiting, not forcing, is often the move that saves your season – and your sanity. Sometimes, a single honest conversation is the fastest way to spot if you're really missing information or just talking yourself out of a leap.

Quick Test

  • Find two people who match your audience. Share your one-line version of the idea.
  • Ask: "Does this make sense to you?"
  • Ask: "How would you describe it back?"

If you get puzzled looks or a score under 3 out of 5, go back and clarify what your idea really helps people do. And remember – unclear feedback isn't rejection, it's an early-warning system.

"I don't know yet" is better than pretending you do. Manufactured urgency is the enemy of honest founders. Move only when you're ready – not because someone's clock is ticking. Sometimes "I need more info" is the wisest possible answer.

If that's you, jot down what you need and give yourself a clear deadline to find it. Don't drift. Step away on purpose, with a plan – not because you're stuck, but because you're acting. That's strength, not avoidance.

  • What would have to change – in your world or your mindset – for this decision to feel clear?
  • Is that change up to you, or are you waiting for a green light that won't ever come?

What's next

Right. Uncertainty acknowledged. Now for the final move: making the call with brutal honesty, so you can commit to a decision.

Sometimes, the difference between "time to pause" and "time to push" only shows up in hindsight. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, founders of Airbnb, spent months agonising over whether their weird idea for "air mattresses in strangers' flats" was just a student joke or a real business. In their own words, they nearly quit – not once, but half a dozen times.

What finally forced their hand wasn't a business plan, but running out of money and running into friends who said "I'd use that – but only if you made it real."

  • Time to pause: When you can't picture yourself showing up for this every day, when it needs time or money you don't have, or your gut says "not me" instead of just "not now".
  • Time to push: When you're scared, but the idea keeps coming back, when you can take a risk without blowing up your life, or when the only way out of indecision is to run a real test and see what happens.

The truth? You may never get the timing perfect. The real trick is to notice if you're waiting for a sign that will never come, or ignoring the signs that are already here.

Analysis paralysis is a well-documented phenomenon in decision psychology. Research by Barry Schwartz (author of The Paradox of Choice) shows that when people are given too many options or too much information, they often freeze rather than choose. The brain treats "gathering more information" as productive work, when in reality it's become a way to delay the discomfort of committing to one path.

The paradox: more information doesn't always reduce uncertainty. Sometimes it just gives you more things to worry about. The key is recognising when you're genuinely missing critical information versus when you're using "I need to research more" as emotional protection from making a call.

Example: A founder spent six months "researching" pricing strategies, reading every case study and pricing psychology article they could find. They had spreadsheets, frameworks, competitor analysis. But when pressed, they admitted: "I already know roughly what I should charge. I'm just scared people will say no." That's not useful uncertainty - that's analysis paralysis protecting them from rejection.
Practical takeaway: Ask yourself: "If I had this extra information, would I actually make a decision - or would I just find another question to research?" If the answer is the latter, you're stuck in analysis paralysis. The cure isn't more data. It's a small, reversible action that tests your actual fear.

Plain English: Sometimes "I need more information" is true. Often, it's just a respectable way to avoid the discomfort of choosing. The difference? Useful uncertainty has a specific question you can answer. Analysis paralysis has an endless list of "what ifs."

The myth of "act now or lose out" has sunk more businesses than slow decisions ever did. Take Mailchimp: for years, the founders refused outside funding, ignoring countless "now or never" offers from investors. Their reasoning? They didn't want to compromise control or culture just to hit someone else's timeline.

It wasn't flashy, but it let them build something lasting on their terms.

Practical takeaway: In business, real urgency is almost always self-imposed. The loudest deadlines are rarely the most important. When you decide on your own terms, you keep your power – and your options.
Try this: set your own next check-in, even if it's a week away. If the world is pushing you to decide, that's the moment to slow down, not speed up.

Sometimes you need an outside nudge. In 2022, a London-based founder of a boutique marketing agency found herself circling the same decision for months: niche down to one sector, or keep serving everyone?

She wrote down her full dilemma and pushed it through ChatGPT, asking: "What am I really stuck on here – is it fear, lack of data, or am I just avoiding a tough call?" The AI didn't hand her a magic answer, but it surfaced the line she'd been dodging: "I'm scared I'll be invisible if I specialise."

Naming the real fear let her try a small, safe experiment – offering her service to just five clients in the new niche, without shutting down her old work.

Try it: write your own uncertainty, exactly as you feel it, and paste it into ChatGPT.
  • Ask directly: "What am I really afraid of here? Is it lack of info, fear, or something else?"
  • If you get a sharp answer, run a tiny, low-risk test to see if the fear is real.