Tell me if you can relate to this:
You’re a business owner who has hundreds of ideas circling in your head. When it’s time to choose one, you suddenly come up with a thousand reasons why it’s not going to work. Your thought process is constantly leaving you stuck.
This, my friends, is analysis paralysis and it’s hugely detrimental to your evolution in business. Here are some ways to cure a bad case of analysis paralysis:
Calmly Step Away From the Business Books
“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” – Otto von Bismarck.
We can all agree this is true to an extent. Reading business books and learning from the other mistakes and successes should be something you do periodically. If you’re discovering that you’re doing more consuming than implementing, it’s time to start chartering unknown territory.
I’ve found that learning from other business owners can take you only so far. This is especially true if you’re learning from someone who grew their business at a completely different time than you. Marketing tactics from just a few years ago are now outdated.
You have to tweak strategies to make them work for you and your customers. The only way you’ll know what works is through experimentation, so get into the game.
Failure Happens — Expect It and It’s Easier to Stomach
Another cause of analysis paralysis could be you fearing failure. When ideas are just in your head, you can make excuses such as not having enough time to see them through. Time (you may believe) is out of your control so lack of success in this scenario is a less harsh blow to your ego.
You can’t make the same excuses when you try something and it doesn’t work. You have to take ownership of the outcomes. There is nothing wrong with failing or making mistakes. It’s a lot less earth-shattering when you go in with the expectation that some of our efforts will fail.
Do everything in your power to control results like doing appropriate market research before you launch anything. But understand that whatever happens will be a lesson that leads to your growth.
Do Something — Anything!
A quick way to resolve analysis paralysis is to choose one thing to see through to its completion. Make this one area of business your obsession. Know the common excuse traps that you fall into and push past them.
It may feel uncomfortable, or you may feel unprepared. This is all fine. Act before you feel ready and you’ll learn along the way. Analysis paralysis was a huge problem for me until I realized that I have all the resources and tools at my disposable to act on the ideas that I’m the most inspired by. Trust me; you can always make a way.
Final Word
If you’re a head case when it comes to business, don’t feel alone. I’m right along with you. The solution is acting anyway. There’s only so much thinking you can do before you get caught up in your own head. Without trying anything, you cannot make a sound analysis of what is or isn’t going to work. Give more “doing” and less “thinking” a try.
