In a time of change, difficulties are bound to arise. And in the midst of all this uncertainty, even if we know how we want to move forward, there are still three main reasons why we can find ourselves stuck.
The first of these is called overthinking or analysis-paralysis.
Overthinking paralyses us with endlessly flipping back and forth between alternatives: wondering which is best or which is ‘right’. As a result, we never actually do anything.
The classic example of this comes from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Here it is very clear, very early on, that Hamlet’s uncle has murdered Hamlet’s father and married his mother. But instead of simply taking action to avenge the king, Hamlet overthinks it.
“Is it nobler,” he wonders, “to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?”
If he did take action, would he succeed? Would he fail? Might he be killed? Would death become a time “to sleep, perchance to dream”? And on the other hand… ?
While Hamlet is dithering over whether “to be or not to be,” events move on around him… until suddenly: “I am dead, Horatio!”
Ooops! A wasted opportunity.
We all recognise this indecision, which is why we love the play. But the living death that Hamlet achieves by not taking action is worse than the actual death he suffers anyway. By overthinking, Hamlet accomplishes nothing and the play becomes a tragedy in the truest sense.
In this time of change, just like Hamlet, we often don’t know for certain what has happened, and we can’t predict what is going to happen or whether our actions will succeed. And all ways forward are likely to be difficult, so we all have the potential to become like Hamlet.
But if we overthink our options then events will move on around us and we too will achieve nothing.
Better instead to make the clearest sense we can of the situation, find as many options as possible to move forward, choose whichever one inspires us most, and begin, learning and adapting as we go.
Then if events turn out as we expected, we will have started sooner and we will be more likely to achieve the results we want. And if events turn out differently from our predictions then at least we have gained clarity on what matters most to us and also gained experience that we can apply to our next attempt to achieve it.
As Charlie Chaplin said,
“We think too much and feel too little.”
This time of change is calling us all to stop overthinking and instead to take more inspiring action to become whatever makes us feel most alive.
This is another step to becoming antifragile.
Have you ever found yourself overthinking or over-analysing a situation? When you did eventually move forward, did you choose the option that most inspired you? Which way forward inspires you most from where you are today?
PS
A Short Term Fix:
If you’re finding it difficult to choose between two alternatives try tossing a coin to decide.
Then notice how you feel about the result: pleased or disappointed?
This tells you which option you really want.
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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