Analysis Paralysis

Analysis paralysis is overthinking something to the point of not actually attempting or completing it. That goal, plan or dream that you wish to achieve but you think too much about and then you give yourself the excuses and fears not to try. We’ve all been guilty of this at some point. As a martial arts coach of over 20 years, I often hear people’s life goals. Some people just don't seem to progress and year after year they will recite the same goals but they won’t be any closer to them. It all boils down to analysis paralysis which ultimately causes self-doubt. It could be a health goal, a work goal, a financial goal, a relationship goal, a property goal, an investment goal, a new car, a travel experience etc. It can be any goal large or small. It will help at this point if you have something in your mind that you haven’t proceeded with, yet! Anything that requires due diligence can put some people off.

Due diligence is doing your homework and researching what may be required to attain your goal. Thinking things through properly is really, really necessary. I do consider myself to be an over thinker. I will analyse everything. I will go through all of the many situations and problems that could happen. Like most people, I can talk myself out of going ahead with something but if it's something I really want, I’ll make sure to avoid analysis paralysis. The process of fighting has kind of knocked it out of me anyway. From a fighter's point of view, you absolutely overanalyse during your whole training camp.

*You need to listen to the recent Success Sensei podcast; ‘What It’s Actually Like To Fight In A Cage’. It's very relevant to what we're talking about here.

https://successsensei.podbean.com/e/what-its-actually-like-to-fight-in-a-cage/

The mental process of a fighter before a fight is to over strategize and over analyse. You do your due diligence and you do your research on your opponent but you completely overthink everything. You overthink things to the point that you literally can't think about anything else. It’s easy to drive yourself crazy by going around in circles in your mind. The fight and your opponent are all that you can think about and it consumes your life. Then when you enter the cage or the ring, there comes a point where it all goes out of the window. You don't have the luxury of being able to overthink when someone's punching and throwing kicks at you.

It goes from one extreme to another. Over analyzation and over strategizing to ‘IT’S ON’! You simply have to fight. No matter how you wish it to be, when it comes to the crunch, you're going to have to drop all of that. Hopefully you can retain some of the strategy that you've worked on. When it comes time, you have to be ruthless in your pursuits. You can't afford to be thinking on a conscious level. The same goes for your goals or ambitions. Too many people over analyse to the point of paralysis. Not even attempting to achieve the thing that they’re overthinking about. It could be because they’ve given themselves reasons not to go ahead or they’ve made their fear of failure greater than their need or want for success.

Fear of failure, fear of success and imposter syndrome are all part of analysis paralysis. I hate doing business plans. I don't like doing them because what I find a lot of the time is that they're fictitious anyway. Especially the projections. I think about every eventuality and I do my figures but I don't like doing business plans because the process can give me enough reasons not to proceed with the area of business that I was interested in. You can end up giving yourself many reasons not to move forward and at least attempt a start.

That brings me on to the next thing. Something is better than nothing. Starting something and perfecting it along the journey is a hell of a lot better than not starting at all. The worst fear is the fear of what people are going to think of you. I could very easily not have started the success sensei. I knew I might open myself up to criticism or sneering or hating or any of these things. It’s the very same with you and your goals. You know that your peers, your neighbours, people that know you and your friends could all potentially criticise you. With any project you're opening yourself up to the negative as well as the positive. Therefore, use that fact to drive you forward to make the very best account of yourself. It should spur you on.

There’s another martial arts reference coming. The Success Sensei is always going to be making a lot of references to martial arts because it's my area of expertise. Business, investing, everything I've ever done in life has been through the eyes and in the shoes or the foot pads of a martial artist and fighter. The thing I like about Kickboxing is that from your first day you feel like a fighter. From day one you are a kickboxer and you simply perfect it along the way.

When I did karate as a youth, it took a good while before I felt like I was a karateka. With kickboxing, boxing and MMA, you're hitting pads straight away. You're drilling with training partners straight away. You learn while doing and this is the whole point. When you start something, you're certainly not perfect but you'll pick it up quickly by immersing yourself in your subject matter. You will gain the knowledge that you need when you start your project.

If you are open about what you want to do and you actively work towards it, you will attract the people that you need to help you. You will meet like-minded people who are on the same path as you and you can learn from and gain experience from them. You need to start whatever it is you've been putting off. Procrastination is ruinous to many, many people. Imagine your future self, looking back and thinking; I would of, I should of, I could of…….if only I had tried. That to me is a bigger fear than the fear of failure or the fear of looking stupid or the fear of what someone might say.

If you’re lucky enough to know what your goals are and what you want to do then you're ahead of a lot of people. You owe it to yourself and everyone around you to get started and to build your momentum. You will be miserable if you feel that you're living a life that's not true to what your goals and aspirations are. Obviously look before you leap, do your due diligence, run your analysis and do your planning. Once you've made your decision, you have to be happy with that decision and you have to follow through. There's nothing worse than half an attack or a half-hearted attempt. You're setting yourself up for failure if you do that. As the famous Nike quote says “Just do it”. I hope this helps you and I hope it helps you beat your analysis paralysis.

I would love to hear your views. Please get in touch using any of the channels below. All comments, reviews, subscribes, likes and shares are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your continued support.

Every Wednesday there’s a brand new Success Sensei Blog, Podcast and Vlog.  

By Roundhouse Rob, The Success Sensei

Robert Devane is a serial entrepreneur and experienced investor as well as a former martial arts multiple World champion and professional MMA fighter with over 20 years of coaching experience.

For more amazing FREE content please visit:

The Success Sensei on Apple itunes
https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-success-sensei-podcast/id1448626122?mt=2

The Success Sensei on Android

https://successsensei.podbean.com

The Success Sensei Blog
http://www.thesuccesssensei.blogspot.com

The Success Sensei on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZG1Ly9zBKc5ZZ134dkjeHA

The Success Sensei on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/thesuccesssensei

The Success Sensei on Instagram
http://www.instagram.com/thesuccesssensei