It’s spring. And I have been on a bit of a cleaning frenzy! You know the ones where you just get a bee in your bonnet, and it all has to be done NOW! It has also meant, my little hoarded piles of business stuff around the house have been sorted. My notebooks, pieces of paper, course notes, post-its, inspirational articles…
In my travels, I came accross my online course that I mapped out. I then found another one while going through my online files. And then a blog post too. And a mapped out version of a new community I am launching here soon (that I had subsequently redone…). All things that at the time flowed out onto the page, easily.
It had me thinking, why had I not launched any of these? What was holding me back?
There is this feeling in me sometimes that everything has to be original. Perhaps it steams from people copying (or being inspired…) my ideas in the past, that I don’t want anyone every thinking I was copying them. So therefore, I feel like I have to do everything from scratch. That it needs to be hardwork. I need to reinvent something new and exciting, rather than looking at what I have already right in front of me!
So then I suffer from overcomplication paralysis. This is a condition whereby I have a tendency to overcomplicate a situation and then as a result do nothing, because I don’t feel like what I am doing is ‘fancy’ enough, or ‘technical’ enough or is just too EASY (I’m going to blame my upbringing and uni for this).
Being aware of this has been key for me. Here are some strategies I also use:
1. “It’s ok for work to be easy” – This is an affirmation I often remind myself of. I grew up in a hardworking family, where the ingrained thinking was that ‘nothing comes easily’. So I am working to rewire my thinking, that when you are in flow and doing what you are meant to be here for it is meant to be easy!
2. WHY – Ask myself why I am in overcomplication paralysis mode – is it because I am blocking myself, or is it because it doesn’t ‘feel’ right. If I am not acting on something I know its probably not the right timing. Equally if something is still on my mind after 3 months, I know its time to make it happen! If I’m blocking it or holding back from uplevelling? That’s where my coach, self-help books, chats with friends etc comes in.
3. Accountability – I have a coach and I will also announce things publicly, so then I have to do them!! Accountability really is key to making leaps forward in business, it’s why a coach or mentor (or business nurturer! 😉) should be a key person on your support team.
4. JFDI – Just beeping do it!! Gosh the number of ideas I have had that are still sitting there. But also there has been a huge number of ideas I have put out into the world! Have they all been successful? No. But I have a much greater success rate when I actually share my gifts rather than hold them back! I am a big believer in that you won’t know until you try.
5. It doesn’t have to be perfect – I am a software nerd. I get all giddy on the latest doosey watsit, that can do a thingy majig! I can waste so much time overcomplicating something because I want the software setup to be perfect. The things that have gone the best for me are actually the things I have just thrown out there to see if they work! It doesn’t have to be the perfect setup from the get go. Test your product and market before investing the $$’s and time.
6. Use Technology – There are some great tools available to manage projects, plot ideas etc to keep them organised. I have become a fan of Trello (I have mapped out a 9 stage plan for SA Woman on this). Asana is another great tool for project management and evernote or microsoft one note are great for keeping everything in one spot (rather than bits of paper around the house… although I am a bit of a pen and paper girl!).
Would love to hear if you have suffered overcomplication paralysis! How do you overcome it? Right, now I’m off to do some more implementation…. Public Accountability right here… The Nurtured Collective coming soon!
Xx