We’re told to think carefully. To imagine every possible obstacle and outcome before taking action, whether we’re thinking about looking for a different job, hiring a new employee or just taking a vacation. But when too much time is devoted to overthinking you’re wasting your energy and your most valuable resource. . . your time. Analysis paralysis is one of the worstthings you can do. Whether you’re a salesperson or you’re an entrepreneur, you need to break this habit of overthinking if you want to succeed RIGHT NOW.

How do you know if you have analysis paralysis? There are a few clear signs:

1. You feel stuck. You’re not sure what your course of action should be and you’re waffling back and forth without making a decision.
2. You aren’t hitting your goals. It’s impossible to meet your goals if you’re not taking action.
3. You’re afraid. You’re worried about making the wrong decision, what people will think, what will happen.
4. You feel left behind: It seems like everyone around you is succeeding and doing new things while you remain in the same place.
5. You want perfection: Who doesn’t love perfection? But not taking action unless everything is perfect often means you’re not moving at all. If you don’t move, you die.

These are some of the grossest feelings ever, and it’s a huge waste of your talent to spend your time overthinking everything when you could be taking action and moving forward. Analysis paralysis stunts your growth, sucks up all your time and ultimately it will hold you back from achieving anything at all. Analysis paralysis is the worst.

How to Cure Analysis Paralysis:

The good news is that even the most stubborn cases of analysis paralysis can be cured.

1. Get a sounding board: Sure, it’s important to get feedback about ideas, but chances are if you ask 1,000 people for an opinion you’ll get 1,000 different answers. Identify smart, trusted people in your life who can be your go-tos when you need quick feedback.
2. Just try: It’s simple. Many times you just won’t know whether or not something is a good idea unless you actually try it. I tried being an actor. It didn’t work out the way I wanted, but to this day I’m glad I didn’t spend valuable years thinking about whether or not I should give acting a shot. It didn’t work out, but ultimately it led me to my career in sales and I couldn’t be happier.
3. Speed is king: Cash might be king in finance, but in sales it’s speed. If you don’t move fast enough someone else will get the client, make the sale, and be on to the next one while you’re still thinking about what to do. Be quick – with your decisions, your actions and your follow-up and watch your sales go through the roof.
4. Accountability: If you can’t hold yourself accountable why should someone else? If you’re having trouble making decisions or taking action, give yourself a deadline. Mark it on your calendar with a big red circle, tell your friends you’re making a decision by a certain date and they have to hold you to it. Find someone, anyone who will keep you accountable.

We’ve all made difficult decisions or have felt afraid to take a step forward. Building a team, expanding to Brooklyn, writing a book, starting a new TV show – all of this stuff was scary and involved much decision-making.

Could I fail? YES. I could fail, and that would suck! A million things could go wrong! But even if that happened, I still tried and would move on to something else. I still pushed myself to try something new, and there is value to that. Not trying, not reaching my full potential and holding myself back because I can’t make a decision? That is a fate much worse than failure.

MORAL OF THE STORY: STOP THINKING AND START DOING RIGHT NOW!

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