Is It Time You Did Something?
Curt Skene’s In2Win! Career Coaching Supplement.
Have you ever heard the expression “analysis paralysis”? This is where you spend so much time thinking that you actually forego doing anything at all. This can be quite common when you are in transition and embarrassment, self-doubt and over-thinking set in. Inaction is the killer of most career searches.
While taking action can sometimes generate fear rest assured inaction will create terror. As Norman Vincent Peale teaches us action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause of fear. For many executives there is this false belief that everything must be perfect before the search can commence.
They spend weeks, if not months, contemplating what they really want and then more time contemplating how to get it. After that the need for the perfect resume kicks in and there goes even more time tweaking before they actually start searching. The obsession for perfection can be a major roadblock that gets in the way. Remind yourself that throughout the search you are always going to be a work in progress.
You are smart enough to know the difference between right and wrong actions and that throughout the years you have made many great decisions. Nine times out of ten doing “something” is better than standing still. Remember that any action inspires more action.
Goals become real through consistent action. Take at least one deliberate step toward yours every day.
Why I Wrote This Page
Because the biggest killer of job searches isn’t a bad decision. It’s no decision at all, week after week of thinking without acting.
There’s a real reason for this: the first step in anything new requires more energy than any step after it, the same way it takes more force to get something moving than to keep it moving once it’s rolling. Most people wait for the perfect plan before they start, but the plan almost never gets built by thinking. It gets built by doing something imperfectly and adjusting from there.
Nine times out of ten, a mediocre action beats a perfect plan that never leaves the page, because the action teaches you something the plan never could.
Action Steps
- Pick one thing you’ve been overthinking and do an imperfect version of it today. Don’t wait for it to be ready.
- Set a rule: no planning session lasts longer than the action it’s meant to produce. If you’ve planned for an hour, you’ve planned too long.
- At the end of each day, name one action you took, not one thing you thought about. If you can’t name one, tomorrow’s first task is fixed in advance.
In2Win! Afterthought
Curt’s current observations and updated guidance will be added here.
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