Analysis Paralysis happens when you think so much about something that it causes you to freeze up and not actually do anything.
I spent plenty of time for instance in analysis paralysis over writing this article.
I knew what analysis paralysis was and I knew some of the things I wanted to write about it but I kept thinking about writing it and what it was I had to say to convey what it was I wanted to get across and this left me scared and doubtful.
Because I was scared and doubtful I began to think about the consequences of not finishing the article.
I thought about how I might lose my job or be reprimanded by my boss.
This made me even more nervous.
I was nervous about what would happen if I didn't write an article so I spent my time feeling that way instead of writing the article.
This is ironic to say the least.
It's easy to get caught up in your head mulling something over.
Everyone has had this happen to them at one point or another.
Our brains are wired to think our way out of situations to protect us and keep us alive.
Sometimes however we get caught in an endless loop of thinking and inaction.
This is called analysis paralysis.
In a big moment a pro sports player can choke even though they have completed whatever action it is that is required of them thousands of times in their life.
Chances are because it is instead of simply acting and doing what they know how to do they instead began to think about it.
They began to think about the pressure, the fans, the situation, ect.
This may leave them unable to complete the action that they have made their career on being able to complete.
Analysis paralysis tends to happen to people when they have put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform.
Because of this added pressure people think they can think themselves out of a situation.
While intuitively this makes sense it is not the most practical of solutions.
The types of people that tend to fall into the trap of analysis paralysis are intelligent people who have used thinking to get them further ahead in life.
People who have professions or lifestyle that are intensive on thinking and theory might be able to figure out plenty of stuff but when it comes to say doing something they do not understand they may spend their time trying to think their way through it than solving the problem through action.
You actually paralyze yourself from taking action because your monkey brain is too busy analyzing things that it thinks will be advantageous to have thought about before taking action.
If you want to break this habit you need to break into action right away.
Instead of thinking about things over and over just do the first thing that comes to mind and take some action.
learn from doing not from mentally running through scenarios.