Have you heard Aesop’s fable, the Fox and the cat?

A fox and a cat are discussing ways to escape their predators. The cat has only one trick. The fox brags about having a whole bag of tricks.

But when hounds suddenly appear and chase them, only the cat survives. It uses its only trick and climbs up a tree.   The fox however, gets caught up while he debates which is the best way to escape in this situation.

Aesop’s moral of the story:

Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon

Aesop drives home the point that analysis-paralysis is a plague. It usually paves the way to its brother, procrastination. Together they make up the perfect tag team to stiffle our productivity, creativity and resourcefulness.

To make matters worse, we are very good at self-justification. We might explain our analysis-paralysis away, saying that we need more facts, more options or more time before we can make the best decision possible. Story of my life.

The reality is that thinking too much has the opposite effect. I came to the realisation of this while on holiday and vlogged about it.

Earlier that year, I had been on a business call with a manager/mentor and she was relating how she had to discard mentally all other business options in order to reach her financial goals with her current business. There were many other options and she could have spent a lot of time trying to fathom out which was the best one. But even the best option wouldn’t have worked if she went for it half-heartedly, still thinking about the other options.

Although I would have gone a different path with some of  her decisions, she hit her goals. She proved to me that thinking is important but it must be overtaken by action quickly and consistently.

Here’s 3 reasons why you need to think less and do more:

1.  Just like you can’t tell what a fruit tastes like just by examining it, you can’t really become an expert in your chosen field just by analysing it from a distance. You need to sink your teeth in it.
2. You can never have ALL the facts to a given situation. Thinking too much will only confuse you and discourage you to take action.
3. You learn faster and understand better by doing. Or as entrepreneur Marie Forleo says, ” clarity comes from engagement, not thought”

So, whether you are thinking of launching that blog, business, YouTube channel or writing that book or anything else…

Think less, do more

Reflect by all means, Redefine when necessary but  Rise promptly!

Rudiano