Does this sound like you? I just need to polish my resume one more time and do some more research before I apply for that job...or...I just need to compare a few more web sites and visit a few more paint stores before I make a decision about painting the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating being unprepared. What I’m talking about is analysis paralysis. Finding excuses not to take action because of fear of failure.
I am working with an amazing guy. Smart, creative, personable. He wanted to apply for his dream job. He researched the company at length. We worked on his resume and cover letter, analyzing each word and semi-colon, comparing each nuance of the job description with his skill sets. Finally, he knew more about the company than the CEO and his resume and cover letter were letter perfect and ready to send. But did he send it? No, this amazing, smart, creative, personable guy spent a full hour coming up with reasons that the company could find fault with him and why he needed to do more research before sending his resume.
We all want to succeed, but some of us confuse success with perfection and that stops us in our tracks. Instead of looking for ways to move forward, we look for ways to backtrack. Our minds conjure up all sorts of scenarios in which we might fail. We believe that with “just a little more preparation”, “just a little more research” (read: “just a little more stalling”) we can take away all the risk of failure. But in truth, there is no perfect plan. So what is the answer? It’s as simple (and difficult) as this...fire.
I think Lee Iacocca said it best. “So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don’t sit there. If we screw up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.”
So back to the amazing guy - after facing the fact that he was looking for certainty in an uncertain situation and that not sending his resume was the best and fastest way to failure, he sent it...and he got the job.
So next time you are struggling with analysis paralysis, remember:
READY...figure out what you want
AIM...do your due diligence
and then don’t be afraid to...FIRE!
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