The Search for the Perfect Answer Is a Trap
One of the biggest issues with social media that can cause anyone an immense amount of information overload, analysis paralysis, whatever you wanna call it is … there are too many people vying for your eyeballs.
Last week, my neck was achy from too much screen time. I searched for neck stretches, found one. I watched it, did the stretch … felt better! The next day, I was inundated with neck stretching videos. “Try this one!” “No, try this one!” “You might have seen these 10 stretches, they’re all AWFUL! Try these instead!”
Every video I watched, claimed the previous stretch was wrong and offered a better one!
Which stretches were the right ones? Which ones should I do? Do I have this kind of neck pain or that kind? Is it bad if I do the stretches from the first video? Should I rotate them?
What’s the right answer??
Why does this happen? The reality is, from a content creator perspective, we’re all trying to stand out. How do I set myself apart? I find what someone else has done and I weigh in. I criticize it, tear it to shreds, say it’s okay for some people, but not others? Yes. All of that. And the truth is, those three stretches were ALL FINE.
But a fitness “guru” can’t repeat them in their video, because someone else already shared THOSE!
It’s like going around the Thanksgiving dinner table saying what you’re all thankful for. Someone says the exact thing you were going to say! Now you need a new answer so it doesn’t look like you were copying them.
It SEEMS innocent enough. How do I stand out? “Don’t do what you’ve seen! Do what I tell you to do instead! Those others stretches? Bad! Mine? The best!”
But you can see how this quickly becomes a really shitty cycle where every suggestion you have is quickly torn apart by someone else who is just trying to get more views. We’re all drowning in options, opinions, and variations.
In fitness: These are the best exercises for your biceps. Wrong! THESE are the best exercises! WRONG! If you want big biceps, you need to do THESE exercises!
In finance: Dividends are great. WRONG! Dividends are AWFUL, tech is great! WRONG! Tech is too risky! Broad market ETFs are the best! WRONG! They’re boring! Take risks! Buy individual stocks, coward!
The question you’ll ask is, yeah, but how do I KNOW which one is ACTUALLY best??
Stop overthinking it. Everything is fine. Do a little research. Find a handful of people you do trust, and then just take the plunge.
Any of those neck stretches were fine. Any biceps exercise is fine. Do a little research - maybe like, away from social media and through an actual book? And then just pick something. Tweak it as you go if needed.
If you bought an S&P 500 index fund ten years ago, you’d be up 258%.
If you bought a dividend fund ten years ago, you’d be up 133%.
If you bought a total market fund ten years ago, you’d be up 241%.
If you bought a tech fund ten years ago, you’d be up 740%.
No matter which one of those you picked, you’re up. Some are better than others - but no matter what, you’re up! You did great. Someone will say, yes, but you could have done BETTER. Okay, so keep learning, reading, studying, evaluating. But don’t sit on the sidelines overwhelmed with information to the point where you do NOTHING.
Most people don't fail because they picked the wrong neck stretch.
They don't fail because they picked SCHD instead of VTI.
They fail because they spend so much time trying to find the perfect answer that they never commit to any answer at all.
That’s the real problem.
That’s exactly why I created my Research Vault. Not to give you another 500 opinions to sort through, or another endless stream of information telling you what you’re doing wrong, but to put the information I think ACTUALLY matters in one place.
Instead of spending another six months scrolling TikTok trying to figure out which investing strategy, stock, ETF, or financial rule is the “right” one, you can cut through the noise, learn the fundamentals, use the tools and resources I’ve put together, and make your own decisions.
You’ll never eliminate uncertainty, and you’ll never know with absolute certainty that you picked the perfect investment. But you can stop drowning in information and finally start doing something with it. That’s what the Research Vault is for.
And since you made it to the end of the article, use the promo code FB5OFF for $5 off!
