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You know that feeling when you open your closet and somehow have nothing to wear—even though it's packed full? That's what running your business feels like right now. Not because you lack options, but because you have too many of them.

Fresh off our CEO Retreats, I've been hearing the same thing from small business owners across the country: they're stuck. Not on client work—they're confident there. But on the CEO-level decisions that could make or break their next year. The ones about pricing, team, strategy. The decisions they keep putting off because "what if I'm wrong?"

Here's what nobody talks about: this isn't a confidence problem. It's not an effort problem. It's decision fatigue, and it's eating up your cognitive capacity before you even get to the decisions that matter. Every morning you're starting with a tank of mental fuel, and by the time you need to make the big call, you're running on empty.

In this episode, I'm breaking down why wait-and-see mode is costing you more than you realize, what Steve Jobs and Barack Obama understood about preserving brain power, and the one tool that's going to help you cut through the noise: your CEO decision matrix. If you've been spinning your wheels on a decision you know you need to make, this one's for you.

In This Episode:

• Why small business owners feel economic shifts first—and what that reality means for the decisions sitting on your desk right now that you've been avoiding
• The cognitive capacity trap: I'm breaking down how your morning routine, chronic illness, or last night's sleep actually determines how much decision-making power you have today (and why this changes everything)
• What prolific leaders do differently when it comes to preserving mental energy for strategic decisions—it's not about working harder, and the examples might surprise you
• The real cost of "wait and see" mode—I'm sharing what I've witnessed happen when small business owners delay tough conversations about team, pricing, or strategy, and why your options shrink instead of expand
• How too many options create paralysis—your packed closet explains exactly what's happening in your business, and once you see this pattern, you can't unsee it
• The CEO Decision Matrix framework: I'm walking you through the filtering system that uses your vision and values to help you make tough calls faster and with more confidence

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

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🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!