Today we’re asking, “Do you suffer from multiple possibility disorder?” You’re probably wondering what is ‘multiple possibility disorder’? It might be easy to confuse that condition with the condition identified in psychology as ‘multiple personality disorder’.

Multiple personality disorder occurs when a person presents with an array of several personalities. Some of these personalities can be very different from each other. One might be gentle and caring. Another might be completely opposite and be angry and vindictive. That’s not what we are talking about here.

We’re talking about multiple possibility disorder. Don’t waste your time looking up the definition – we just made up the term! It’s a way to look at how personalities can change, sometimes drastically, when people suffer with being faced with multiple possibilities in life.

How do we see multiple possibility disorder relating to multiple personality disorder? Here’s how. In both situations, people may not recognize how their personalities change. When people suffer from multiple possibility disorder, it can affect their personalities in several ways. Let’s look at how their personalities may change.

First, people who are usually gentle and thoughtful may end up being overwhelmed. They are often nice and sometimes they take on other peoples’ tasks, which also piles on more possibilities. When they feel they can’t handle all the possibilities, they can get stressed. When overwhelmed and stressed, they may abandon their gentleness and become easily frustrated and demanding.  At this point, they are just trying to survive the overload.

Second, when suffering from multiple possibility disorder, people who are very careful can easily become anxious about what are the best possibilities to pursue. If they are normally good analytic types, they can become frozen with having to evaluate multiple choices and make the best decisions. They may feel they need to analyze each possibility. They can get stuck, fearing they’ll make the wrong choice as they analyze fear of loss and hope to gain.  Consequently, they might move slowly or not make any choice at all.

Third, alternatively, if people are normally ‘take action’ types, when they suffer from multiple possibility disorder, they may just choose the first, fastest or easiest possibility. Then they feel they are ‘action takers’ and ahead of others because they’re doing something to move forward. When the choice is good, that’s wonderful. However, here’s a problem that can happen. If their fast choice was not a very good choice, it may take extra time, energy, and finances before they realize their choice did not yield the best results.

Fourth, people with multiple possibility disorder often face confusion. They can feel like someone caught in an ocean of ideas and not knowing how to find the shore. They can end up with all the personality traits that we’ve mentioned above – stressed, anxious, frozen with inaction or making hasty decisions. And of course, confusion can encompass all these traits. It can make people appear ‘wishy-washy’ because it’s difficult for a confused mind to make a decision.

Fortunately, there’s an answer that can help with all the personality traits we’ve listed. The answer is to find clarity. This makes the job of sorting possibilities easier. So, let’s look at ways to go from confusion to clarity.

Having clarity about an issue is critical, because as Robin Sharma says, “Clarity precedes success.” Piggybacking on this thought is a quote from Steve Maraboli, where he lays out a formula for success. He says, “The best way to succeed is to have specific Intent, a clear Vision, a plan of Action and the ability to maintain Clarity. Those are the Four Pillars of Success. It never fails!”

Doesn’t that about sum it up! Notice how having clarity is a critical pillar of success. This brings another question – what should we be clear about? We think Brian Tracy has a good answer for that question. He says clarity is needed “about who you are, where you are going and how to get there.” We would agree. Take time to reflect on not only who you are, but also who you need to be to achieve your goals. As you do this, you’ll be able to identify your purpose, values, and vision. These steps will help you determine your priorities. This may also fuel your passion so you can choose, with clarity, the best possibilities for your life.

What about you? If you suffer from multiple possibility disorder, we hope our suggestions will be helpful. As you go from confusion to clarity, you can gain renewed energy, confidence about your choices, and a clearer sense of purpose for your life. What’s not to like about that!

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@TheBalanceCenter.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2023 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.