Are You Stuck in Analysis Paralysis?

Intro by Skip Cohen

This could be my most favorite archived post of the year, and it’s all thanks to Nicole Begley. And, the reason it hits home so hard is the situation she describes is so familiar to all of us! Even Nicole’s challenge with Instagram parallels my own situation of doing everything BUT getting my Instagram feed going.

Business and communication technology are changing every day. We’re all challenged with building a stronger brand; getting through all the noise to our target audience, and dealing with all the paths we have to choose from in expanding our reach. The list goes on and on.

So, Nicole calls it a “state of stuck,” while I call it Analysis Paralysis. We have so many choices in how to do so many different tasks that we do nothing as if the world is going to decide for us. It’s a repeat performance of the story we heard as kids about the elves coming in at night to help the shoemaker! Only they lost the address of my office, and I’m still waiting.

I’m betting each one of you has something that’s been on the back burner too long. It might be a project, picking up a new skill set, or expanding your reach into a new social media strategy.

I can suggest all day long, that it’s time to unstuck yourself on actions you already know will make your life better. The challenge is you’re the one who has to do it. But here’s the best thing, and Nicole hits it in her post – 99.9% of the decisions we make are changeable!

We’re just a couple of months away from the last four months of the year and the seasonality of the fall. Take the time now to look at all those projects you’ve been procrastinating about. Then, take a leap of faith into the ones that you already know will make the most significant difference in your business and life.

And best of all, you’ve got so many of us out here to help! I’m throwing my hat in the ring right now…you know where to find me and the Marathon team to help you get out of that rut! Time to get unstuck!

By Nicole Begley

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been trapped in a perpetual state of stuck.

I’ve discovered that this is a regular state for me and most recently been caused by being completely overwhelmed with trying to come up with the perfect Instagram “strategy”.  Every week, I say “this is the week I create a strategy and start posting”….another week goes by with me wasting far too much time down internet rabbit holes because that’s EASIER than making a decision!

The issue is that I am trapped in my state of perpetual stuck because I procrastinate on the things that I REALLY need to be doing….and today I realized what the common thread is that keeps me stuck in a procrastination loop….

It’s when I don’t have ALL OF THE ANSWERS.

It’s when something doesn’t have a clear path.  It’s when I’m not sure what my path should look like.  So instead of just rolling up my sleeves, digging in and trusting that the path will appear…I get lost in looking at blogs of families who travel the world full time.

I become afraid to take action because I don’t know if it’s the RIGHT action.  Can any of you relate?

And just for the record, we aren’t talking life-altering decisions like should I start a family – should I move my family to Charlotte NC – should I allow my daughter to start dating when she’s 16 or make her wait until 37?  Those decisions are pretty easy for me.  I can be decisive when the rubber meets the road.  Hell, we bought all of our houses after looking for only one day.  We are a realtors’ dream client!

The nonsense that trips me up?  “What should my Instagram strategy be?”

Seriously, I haven’t taken action on this item for 9 months because I’m scared of doing it wrong and I don’t have a map.  WTF?!?!  What’s the worst thing that happens if I choose incorrectly here?  I have an Instagram feed that looks a bit disjointed?

Guess what’s worse?  Doing NOTHING!

So this is my new mantra – “All I need is the first action.”

If all I need is the first action – I don’t spend weeks overcomplicating and overanalyzing something.  I don’t see 8,000 possible roads to get me there and freeze like a deer in the headlights.  I don’t get hung up on PERFECT action.

If I can just GET STARTED – the path will appear.  Sure, I may change direction on that path a few times – but at least I’m ON THE PATH! Imperfect action beats perfect inaction.

So, this is a call to arms for all of my fellow “control enthusiasts” – TAKE ACTION TODAY. One step – just that FIRST action.

These aren’t life and death decisions.  If it is, then I allow you to get hung up for a little while….but genuinely, 99.99% of the decisions we make are reversible and adjustable.  And quite honestly – they aren’t that important considering that gravity is holding us onto the side of a spinning rock with a core of fire that is rocketing through space at 1,000 mph in a solar system that is a tiny speck in a galaxy with 200 billion stars in a universe with over 100 billion galaxies.

Deciding how to manage that Instagram feed doesn’t seem so big after all, right?

What is it that you have been scared to tackle?  What are you going to take that first step of perfectly imperfect action towards?