Analysis paralysis. That is the number 1 thing that holds most entrepreneurs back from succeeding.
You may be shocked by this answer, but it’s true.
Decision-making is a huge part of being an entrepreneur and with so many decisions to be made, it can cause major stress and anxiety in your life, leading you to never make a decision.
Analysis paralysis hits all entrepreneurs at some point but you don’t have to continue living your life terrified of making mistakes.
Today we share more about analysis paralysis and how you can combat it.
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What is analysis paralysis?
Analysis paralysis is essentially being so terrified of making the wrong decision that you put off making any sort of decision at all.
As business owners, we have a lot of decisions to make. Every day there are decisions that need to be made and since we’re the boss, we’re the ones that need to make them.
What will I be posting on our blog?
What should I post on Instagram?
Should I update that sales funnel?
Do I need to update our website?
What should I focus on first?!
Analysis paralysis can be detrimental to entrepreneurs because it can hold us back from accomplishing the goals that we set for our business.
The fear of making the wrong decision is so overpowering that we resolve to make no decision at all, which keeps us from moving forward.
Studies show that analysis paralysis can kill your productivity and when you’re an entrepreneur your most valuable asset is time.
Ultimately, analysis paralysis is what keeps most entrepreneurs back from succeeding because they’re too scared to make the wrong decision and fail.
If you suffer from this, you definitely aren’t alone. Let’s chat about signs of analysis paralysis and how to overcome it.
What are the signs of analysis paralysis?
Some may think it’s obvious when you experience analysis paralysis but that’s not always the case. Have you ever been so in your head, negative thoughts and doubts swirling around-consuming you to the point where you feel like nothing you do is worthy?
That could be a sign of analysis paralysis. Here are some other common signs of analysis paralysis:
1. You feel ambivalent about making a decision, no decision excites you: Making decisions about your business should be exciting to you. If you feel “iffy” about most decisions you could have analysis paralysis.
2. You have difficulty with long-term projects: Long-term projects seem like a total drag to you and you have a hard time breaking down a task into smaller, easier-to-manage chunks.
3. You’re experiencing information overload: Ever sign up for a bajillion email newsletters but don’t ever implement any tips they share? Yup, analysis paralysis could be happening.
4. You spend more time scrolling on social media than you do focusing on tasks: The Insta-scroll. We’ve all been there. Sometimes it’s for pleasure, but sometimes it’s to avoid making a decision.
5. You multitask at all times: Guilty!
Related post: How To Review Your Year & Plan For The Next Year
How to overcome analysis paralysis
The good news is, you can overcome analysis paralysis. It takes hard work and determination, but you can start taking action and not let fear take over. Here are a few tips on how to overcome analysis paralysis:
1. Prioritize your goals: As an entrepreneur, you probably have a laundry list of goals you want to accomplish, but spend time narrowing in on which 1-3 goals are most important to you this year. Maybe it’s to take your business full-time. If so, what steps do you need to take to help you take your business full-time?
Write out every little thing that you need to do to start moving forward on this one goal and then prioritize. Check out our blog post on how to set priorities for your business to learn more.
2. Minimize the number of decisions you need to make: There are so many decisions we have to make each and every day, even just as human beings, so the more you can simplify the number of decisions you do need to make, the better off you’ll be.
Plan your meals out for the week, pick out your clothes the night before, pick certain days to do chores…whatever decisions stress you out the most find ways to minimize the amount of time you spend thinking about them and move on.
3. Remove distractions: In a world where there are thousands of distractions that are trying to get your attention, this can be difficult but it’s necessary.
Unsubscribe from email newsletters that help you for your current goals, unfollow people on social media that don’t make you feel good about yourself, clean up your desktop and workspace, work with your phone in a different room. Whatever distracts you the most try your best to remove it from your life as much as possible.
4. Have a visual reminder of your goals: Keep a visual reminder of your goals in your office or on your fridge or mirror will be extremely helpful in reminding you of your purpose and your “why” behind why you do everything.
If you aren’t feeling inspired, check out this blog post we wrote last year on inspiration.
5. Take the one small step forward: Big goals are intimidating because they often take a long time to accomplish.
Break down your goals into tiny, small steps that can be accomplished in a day or week’s time and you’ll soon be making headway on your goals. Lara Casey’s Little By Little series on her blog is a great place to get inspiration.
My experience with analysis paralysis
I stumbled upon a podcast episode on Analysis Paralysis and it was like a light bulb went off in my head.
I never realized how much my overthinking and overanalyzing has made me think I’m busy all the time and that I “don’t have enough time” when in reality that’s not the case.
I have plenty of time. I waste time by overthinking and overanalyzing which makes it difficult to complete tasks and get things done early (or even on time).
Deep down, I don’t want to make the wrong decision because I don’t want to fail. But the fact is, we all have failures and successes. And if I keep wasting time making no decision I certainly won’t succeed.
Often time our failures are what activate our successes. Failure is important because that shows us what not to do in the future.
I’m personally trying to cut back on the information that I consume, not multi-task (so last year’s mistake doesn’t happen again) and make faster decisions (even if they still seem scary!).
Related post: How To Increase Your Reach Without Sacrificing Your Time & Energy
Final Thoughts
I saw this quote on Pinterest and thought it was fitting to end this blog post:
“We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.”
– Steve Maraboli
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