Analysis paralysis is a symptom of self-doubt. Analysis paralysis is when you have an idea or a goal that will improve your life, but self-doubt causes you to hesitate initiating the steps towards achieving the goal because you want to make sure that it’s going to work or that everything is in place before you start.

This hesitation shows itself in different ways. Some people take endless courses, which makes them feel like they are immersed in the activity they are trying to improve in. For instance, someone takes sales course after sales course as a way of avoiding going out and actually making a sale.

The character Zonker Harris in the comic strip Doonsbury was a professional student who remained in college for as long as possible to avoid having to go out into the real world.

Others never take the first step because they are entrenched in their comfort zone and would rather avoid trying something new than to try something new and fail or fall short.

“The known devil is better than the unknown devil” is their mind-set and strategy for living. Rather than improving his or her skills to get a better job or to walk away from a bad relationship, he or she stays because he or she is afraid that things will only get worse. This is another example of short-term gain for long-term pain.

These people will talk and complain about their situation, but never take the action to improve it. They will say things like, “It’s too late for me…” “What am I going to do? I’m 46 years old!” “He’s a friend. He doesn’t have the money to give me a raise…” They will come up with all kinds of excuses to justify their lack of action. The truth, as Mark Twain said is that, “You can have a thousand good excuses but not one good reason.”

Here is a great strategy that has worked for me for years. Fire-Ready-Aim is meant to help you kick-start your progress. It’s designed to create a sense of urgency from idea to implementation. The traditional process of Ready-Aim-Fire is a process of preparation (Ready) specific direction (Aim) and then implementation (Fire). The problem with this strategy is that it’s easy to get stuck in the Ready and Aim segments. As I described above, many people seem to spend their entire adult lives “getting ready.”

Here is the reality. Any goal worth reaching will not be achieved without encountering some kind of speed bumps along the way. You can prepare as much as you like, but once you pull the trigger you will start to get feedback that will help you stay on course. The sooner you begin to get feedback, the quicker you can make your course adjustments. Preparation doesn’t give you real time feedback. It gives you theories of what may happen. Theories don’t move your forward. Action does.