Over-planning over a toothbrush

My toothbrush broke the other day when I was interstate. It simply won’t turn off. So it went into my check-in luggage merrily whirling away.

I spent the flight planning when to return it to the shop, what I would say, wondering if it was still under warranty, where the receipt was, and given the charger was working would it be a shame to return that or should I give it to a friend instead, would that be the right thing to do… and don’t I have a spare toothbrush somewhere which did not have a working charger. Now where was that?

After mulling over this a while, I suddenly realised I now have both a working charger and a brush. And that spending any more time thinking about or even returning the broken one will just be a silly waste of time.

How often, in business, do we spend time agonising, micro-planning and risk-projecting stuff; only to end up with a net result that does not really progress our business at all?

How often do we worry ourselves sick over dire consequences that never eventuate?

It pays to ask – what is the net result? And what is the emotional cost of worrying about things that will likely never eventuate?

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