doubt

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I always tend to doubt stuff - like I think of something and am pretty sure about it, then I analyse it like a million times in my head and then am not sure whether I was right originally or whether I'm being stupid and making it up. Then I end up stuck because I don't want to proceed with something I'm not sure of because then I'll just look dumb or something. Anyone have any advice?

No advice - I, too have struggled with this problem all my life and I believe it's very much an Aspie trait. While others around me seem able to make judgements and assess values based on their perceptions of a world in which everything is either absolutely BLACK or absolutely WHITE, I can't do that about anything.

No matter what the situation, no matter what the question, even as I study those black and white aspects, they melt and run and blend together into a world that is just slightly variant shades of gray. In the final analysis, any decision reached seems utterly arbitrary - there are perfectly valid arguments to be made for either side and neither seems to be 100% right.

Its just another of those things that leads me to a sort of Zen detachment. Nothing is real, all decisions are ultimately equal and all roads lead back to the same unknowable mystery. We're all just improvising parts in an enormous, complicated play, that has been repeated infinitely and will never cease. The plot loops back on itself and begins again without ever stopping...as we all watch as one, the marble rolling around the spiral track...

I have a similar issue, and like Willard everything seems like a blend of different shades of grey.

My problem seems to be multiplied that im almost convinced that i missed something out, and even though i may be on a specific shade of grey, i then think whether im really on that shade.

For instance, i often think in the terms of probability scales. So i imagine a scale from (-)1 - (+)1 in my head, and when it comes to making a decision, or being of an opinion of something, i try and analyse where i am on that scale, with +/- 1 being certainty/impossibility of something.

But then i start thinking how sure am i that i am on that specific part of the scale, so then i do the same thing.

I've often done this quite a few times and basically gone around in circles without making decisions.

In the end I often come to the conclusion that I am not really sure if I know anything for certain. As a result (to the annoyance of people i know) I very rarely give my definitive opinion as I dont think I have one, and even if i do, i usually say that it may not correct.

Not sure if any of that made any sense lol

When it comes to decision making though, I give myself a time limit. Say 10minutes to analyse whether it would be better to go left or right. If I still dont have the faintest idea then I will just pick one direction at pretty much at random and deal with it from there. I made a decision, its probably the wrong one to make, but I've learnt that it is better to make the wrong decision than none at all. I cant go back on the decision as it is to late so i try and forget about it, and just focus on the consequences of the decision I made instead. Once I've dealt with them, then Ill probably question whether it was the right one or not.

EDIT
Sorry I should have said this is easier said than done especially when it comes to important decisions.

Feel the doubt and do it anyway. Unless it's a matter of life and death.

Thanks for the advice.. I know I need to act and should.. of course once I do, I spend hours and hours deciding whether I did the right thing.. I wish my brain came with an off switch at times

Tackle your fears, and go with your instincts.