Action is the key that opens up doors and opportunities to new things. It also opens up the door to failure and mistakes which means that many people won’t ever take this action out of fear. This fear leads to what is called analysis paralysis, which can simply be defined as learning but never taking action on that information. Over-thinking otherwise simple things and fear of failure lead people into a never-ending loop of indecision. Education on a subject is key in order to make informed decisions, and there are many instances where education in depth is warranted before making a huge decision. However, where people get stumped is the part where education takes a backseat to action.
Education stems from action
The best way to learn something is to take action. Learn from people who are doing what you want to accomplish and apply what you learned into making informed decisions. The best way to learn something is to try it, fail at it, and analyze what you did wrong so you don’t do it again. This is how progression takes place as you become more and more sophisticated in your field of choice. Without that initial action, you are perhaps missing out on the greatest opportunity of growth out there, failure. I am a huge advocate for reading books, watching videos, and learning from mentors. All of these things have taught me so much and have helped me understand the fundamentals and strategies in certain fields, but by far the most educational experiences came from action. I do not see that changing in the future.
Justifying inaction
During analysis paralysis, people try to justify their inaction with whatever makes sense in their head. This is human nature, and anyone can find any reason to make something sound more appealing in their head than it actually is. This comes from the fear and anxiety people have when they have to make a decision that they perceive as scary. This is the “I’ll get to it later” generation, and that attitude leads to immense inaction. The key here is to recognize when you brain is doing this and not letting it outsmart you. Make your brain work for you rather than let it hold you back. Understanding when this is happening is key to getting out of the traditional mindset that most people find themselves falling victim to. Audit what you are doing and ask yourself if what you are currently working on is getting you anywhere closer to your end goal. If the answer is no, you may be stuck in analysis paralysis and have to straighten out your priorities. Of course it is a great thing to get that base level education before diving into something, but once an understanding is established anything less than action is just wasting your time. Once you are able to recognize this brain patter once, it won’t be hard to do so in the future as well. Understand human psychology that we all fall victim to and don’t let it claim you as a victim as well.
Emotion
Humans are emotional creatures and the majority of the decisions we make are based purely on emotion. To give you an example, most people will overpay for a home if there is staunch competition for it not because it makes financial sense to, but because they feel a strong emotional connection to it. This is the same with any other decision people make. When taking the jump from learning to action into something you want to accomplish such as getting more fit and going to the gym, learning the fundamentals of the gym may be easy, but going to the gym may not be. You could read all the health magazines and exercise programs you want, they won’t get you in shape unless you take action! Getting into the gym and actually starting to train can be scary and intimidating. This is why so many people chose not to do it and then justify it with ” I don’t have time” or any other of the numerous excuses out there. Human nature here is to make a decision based off the emotion of fear and then justify that decision with self-dialogue to make it acceptable. Over-thinking and over-analyzing everything that could go wrong at the gym or how much you’ll hate it or whatever is holding you back will ensure that everything you may have learned about the gym from reading and researching is rendered meaningless due to the lack of action! See a common theme here? If this pattern seems at all familiar to you, you’re not alone! Just learn to recognize this pattern of thought and end it before it begins.
How do it know when I am ready to take action?
This is a common question but in reality, there is no right or wrong answer. A solid understanding should be established before attempting to do something like workout for examples sake. You may want to watch videos online of proper form and talk to some of the people you know who workout regularly. You may never feel “comfortable”, but you should be able to recognize when you have enough base knowledge to workout and not hurt yourself. The point is, knowledge is meaningless without action under any circumstances. The best way to compound the learning is experience is by taking action and learning from it in terms of what works and what doesn’t. You’ll learn your strengths and weaknesses and how to compensate from them. These are things you can’t learn from watching videos and reading books. Of course you should continue to learn in the traditional way while you take action, but make sure that action is the emphasis or you will see no progress! Ditch analysis paralysis and take action to reach your goals every day!