⚔️ Defeating Analysis Paralysis

Quick Update

I have migrated my products and services from BuyMeACoffee to Gumroad.

Same great offers, just on a new platform.

My reason for this was primarily that BuyMeACoffee has a lack of reporting features, making it difficult to get useful reports on who bought a product, when, for how much, etc. I loved the look and feel of the platform, but the behind-the-scenes is lacking.

For any creators out there looking to offer a product, I’d recommend Gumroad.

What is Analysis Paralysis?

You may have heard this buzzword before, but I have heard many conflicting definitions.

For our purposes, this will be our definition:

Chances are, you have been affected by analysis paralysis many times, whether you realize it or not.

Any time you’ve tried to pick an item off of an extensive restaurant menu, decided which job to apply for on a job board, or felt overwhelmed by the number of stocks on the stock market.

There is no shame in experiencing it.

The key is to learn how to recognize it and push through.

Why is Analysis Paralysis Dangerous?

Analysis paralysis stops you from taking action even when you want to.

This can become a huge problem when the actions you want to take can positively impact your life. Usually, this is based on making some form of progress toward your goals.

If you’re never able to get yourself to invest because you can’t decide on the perfect opportunity, you are missing out on investment returns.

If you can never convince yourself to start that business because you don’t know the perfect profile photo or first post, you’ll never learn what works and what doesn’t.

Analysis paralysis delays or even halts actions that would lead to improvement for the sake of researching for perfection.

The people you look up to in any given space didn’t get there by researching and launching the perfect product. They launched okay products, adapted, and innovated until they were great.

How Have I Defeated Analysis Paralysis?

The short answer is I haven’t. Not entirely.

There will always be greater friction trying to launch something new, as I want it to be as good as possible.

However, there are a few mindsets that I carry with me to work past them as quickly as possible.

• The “greats” (prominent creators in my space) weren’t great initially.

• I’d rather “fail” (no learning experience is an actual failure) than regret never trying.

• Other creators respect putting yourself out there more than endless research before starting.

• Putting out content allows me to learn what resonates with others and adapt.

• Putting out content allows me to learn what I do and do not enjoy creating instead of preparing to do something for months that I end up hating.

Analysis Paralysis In This Newsletter (and My Other Content)

I started my content creation journey through:

• Video game streaming

• Cooking YouTube videos

• Freelance Wix site creation

• Blogging

• Blogging-related YouTube videos

I took on all these avenues, and none panned out how I had hoped.

The thing is, I don’t regret trying any of them. They each taught me about who I am and what I like to create. I would never have learned this by watching reading about or watching other peoples’ experiences.

I take these learnings with me, and they have already made me a better creator.

Start Small

A great way to get past analysis paralysis is to start with less risky steps.

This could be:

• Start investing in reliable index funds

• Start saving $50 more each month

• Post a small piece of content such as a single tweet

Don’t try and perfect it. Just do something.

These steps may feel insignificant at first, but they’re not. These first steps are building the foundation of a habit that will compound over time.

Once you post that one small piece of content, it suddenly seems much more realistic to post more content or more significant content.

This post has been based on my own personal experience.

If you’re interested in more personal coaching with these kinds of topics, I now offer:

• FREE Money Minute Call (quick questions, 15 min)

• Investing Foundations Coaching (30 min)

• Wealth-Building Coaching (45 min)

• Excel Consultation (1 hr)

• FREE Budgeting and Investment-Tracking Tools