Ready to FINALLY get your career on track?
I’m a compulsive over-analyzer. Rarely am I able to just “let things go” when I should. Instead, I dwell. I pick apart. I dissect until whatever it is no longer resembles itself. I think way too much.
The human brain has a remarkable ability to find order in chaos. I blame my need to over-analyze on this biological fact. I think, ultimately, I’m searching for some sort of reason in an unreasonable world.
In business they call it analysis-paralysis: becoming so obsessed with understanding what happened in the past and why that you fail to actually move forward. You simply become stuck in the analysis phase.
The search for meaning and understanding is a noble one and I’m not suggesting it should be abandoned completely. But there’s a point when we simply have to let go of the past. We have to accept what has happened and where we are, and we have to move on. Otherwise, we become frozen. We keep searching for something that may or may not exist and, meanwhile, the rest of the world carries on.
Whenever I’m stuck in analysis-paralysis, I remind myself of a few things I’ve learned over the years:
- Sometimes, the obvious explanation is the right one.
- Sometimes, there is no meaning.
- Sometimes, you’re not supposed to understand.
- Just because it takes a long time to come to a conclusion doesn’t make the conclusion any more “right.”
Stop analyzing. Stop planning. Stop searching for meaning and Just. Move. Forward.
Often, it’s only when you stop thinking and start doing that things become clear.
Photo Credit: ξωαŋ ThΦt (Flickr)
[...] JobJenny: Another challenge, I find, is there’s so much to learn and to know that you could literally sit and research and study all day every day. So my challenge is finding the balance between running a recruiting agency, running JobJenny, [...]
[...] be fooled into thinking that the small stuff is unimportant. Yes, it’s counterproductive to obsess over the details so intensely that you lose sight of the ultimate goal. But a little sweat is necessary. Being [...]
[...] be fooled into thinking that the small stuff is unimportant. Yes, it’s counterproductive to obsess over the details so intensely that you lose sight of the ultimate goal. But a little sweat is necessary. Being [...]
[...] is true for the “imperfect”. Why waste so much time and energy on it then? Why not, instead, simply focus on getting started? And, in the future, focus on making improvements? Why not embrace evolution and remind yourself [...]
[...] happens to the best of us. After spending a certain amount of time doing your research, you have to stop thinking and start doing. How long you spend is up to you. But be cautious of getting so bogged down in decision making that [...]
I would like to speak with you regarding a speaking engagement of IAAP DeKalb Chapter on April 30th.
Please contact me via email for more information.
Thanks.
[...] be fooled into thinking that the small stuff is unimportant. Yes, it’s counterproductive to obsess over the details so intensely that you lose sight of the ultimate goal. But a little sweat is necessary. Being [...]
This is great career and lifestyle advice! Many young entrepreneurs run into this problem several times a day, even right at the start with, “What to wear?”
This post reminds me that the time I waste thinking, is the time I could be doing- an important task to succeed in business.