A friend of mine had some big wins recently. I'm genuinely thrilled for them - their success is well-deserved and inspiring.
AND I caught myself spiraling.
"If only I had done (xyz) then maybe..."
If I'd done it like them, maybe I'd be there too.
Then I remembered a story about Rober Frost's famous poem, and realized I was doing exactly what his friend used to do.
the Frost poem
You know the poem, right? "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..."
We've all heard it quoted as inspiration about choosing the less-traveled path and how that "made all the difference."
No shade intended on being an individual, or taking a less traveled path (pun intended ha).
But here's what I didn't know until recently - Frost wrote this poem about (and for) his friend Edward Thomas, who struggled constantly with indecision.
Thomas would agonize over every choice. Which path to take on their walks.
Which direction would lead to the best views or seeing the badgers or whatever.
What would have happened if they'd gone the other way.
He was doing the "shoulda's" - just like I was doing and beating myself up.
But the poem was almost a gentle joke.
Yes, decisions matter.
AND you can't actually know what would have happened on the other path.
You only get to walk one road at a time - and you won't know where the other one led.
Because you can't take it TOO.
why perfect choices are a myth
Overthinking steals time you could spend getting real data.
When you're stuck in "what if I had..." mode, you're not just wasting mental energy.
You're losing the time you could be using to test something actual and gather real information about what works for YOUR business, YOUR audience, YOUR situation.
You only get one path - and that's okay.
Someone else's success story isn't a blueprint for yours.
They took their road with their skills, their timing, their resources, their audience.
You're taking yours.
Most of the time, the "right" choice isn't obvious until you're already walking that path and can look back.
And I love what someone said - "what if you worry less about making the right choice, and worry more about making the choice you made BE the right choice?"
Business clarity comes from movement, not ideation.
You can plan and research and strategize all you want (and yes it IS valuable).
But most of what you need to know about what works for your business?
You'll only learn it by trying something and seeing what happens.
My husband's favorite saying?
"You can't steer a parked car."
my real experiment
So here's the road I'm taking right now: a 6-week SEO experiment.
I'm working with a retail client who has products that get search impressions but little traffic or sales.
We could theorize forever about what might work.
Instead, we're testing.
The experiment: One basic SEO/AEO tactic per week for 6 weeks.
We're tracking impressions, clicks, search rankings, and website sessions for those products.
If we see sales bumps, we'll note those too.
Week 1 was baseline measurement plus updating product descriptions.
Now we're documenting what actually moves the needle - not what "should" work according to best practices, but what produces measurable results for this specific client.
I don't know if 6 weeks is enough time to see significant results.
That's why it's an experiment. I'm not waiting until I know everything about SEO or until I have the perfect comprehensive strategy.
I'm trying something manageable and tracking what happens.
What I'm learning already
It feels so much better to be gathering real data than spinning in "what if" circles.
Even if the results are modest, I'll know something I didn't know before.
And I can adjust from there.
what decision are you spinning on right now?
What "road" could you actually walk instead of standing at the fork trying to predict where each one leads?
- Maybe it's testing a new marketing channel for your business.
- Trying a different email sequence.
- Experimenting with your pricing.
- Running ads to see what happens.
- Posting consistently on one platform for 30 days.
Here's what I've learned so far: You don't need the perfect plan.
You need a testable plan and a way to measure what happens.
Small experiments beat big theories every time.
Want help setting up your own marketing experiment?
I'm opening spots in January for Marketing Experiment Sprints - we'll design a focused test for your business and track real data together.
Click here to get on the waitlist for a discovery call (they'll be in January too.)
In the meantime, I'll be here documenting what works (and what doesn't) with this SEO experiment.
Video 1 is already available, and Video 2 drops 11/21/2025.
(You can subscribe here if you want to follow along).
What road are you taking?
