Hello guys, today we are going to explore the dangers of overthinking. – Why do we overthink and try to rationalise everything – How a quick shift in your mindset can help you break this vicious circle – How easier things become when you start taking action! Don't overthink, just do it bro.
Welcome to episode number five or our podcast. So I hope everybody is going great today. Today is Sunday, so I will try to have a shorter podcast than yesterday.
Today I want to talk to you about something that's affecting everybody. It's the dangers of over thinking. OK so me, I'm prone myself. Right. So you heard my story yesterday and I told you that because I know how I was as a teenager, I spent a lot of time by myself thinking about how my next day was going to happen.
So it became a habit for me it's like a reflex. My brain is wired to basically anticipate what's going to happen and stuff like that.
The danger of overthinking is that there is more room for doubt. What if this happens and what if that happened and stuff like that. So instead of taking action, you're going to start making up all these possible doomsday scenarios. And eventually you're not going to do anything and there is a term that people use that's called “analysis paralysis”.
Don't overthink, just do it bro.
So the more you analyse, the more you find excuses and reasons for you not to do it. OK. So me again for example, I have a backup plan for whatever can happen in the future. And then I have a backup plan for that backup plan and maybe sometimes that one as well.
I could have started this podcast a year and a half ago but I kept postponing it because I was thinking about what will happen with the sound.
So there are two extremes. So you have the extreme of going where you want to go as prepared as one can be with information about everything. And there is the other aspect, where you just go in like a cowboy and just kick the door. You get it and then and then you try to make it happen. You have no idea what’s waiting for you on the other side.
So I'm not saying you should do this. There is a middle ground between overthinking and going in there like a cowboy. So let me give you an example. Let's say you need to go into the meetings where there are five people. So I for example would be like “oh who are those people, what are their names, are they married, do they have kids, etc, etc?
You know stuff like that. I would want too much information and just stand in front of the door instead of just opening the door and going to talk to these people. And then the other the other example will be that you know you have absolutely no idea how many people are in there. You actually don’t care and you kick the door down. So people function in different ways.
I'm more towards the analysis side. I have a good buddy of mine is more towards the other side. He’s like “yeah let's go and try”. And there is this quote that I that I heard recently and it's Wayne Gretzky. And he said something like” I missed every single shot I didn't take which you know it makes a lot of sense right. “If you don't try you'll never know what will happen. So you could miss or you could score but if you don't try you'll never know.
Don't overthink, just do it bro.
You cannot predict what's going to happen. The analysis is just you trying to rationalize everything and you're trying to predict what other people are doing and what they will do. But you can't predict what people are going to do. So there is no reason for you to try and be like a psychic.
The ultimate test is reality. You can make an informed decision if you have enough data and you have experience so you can pretty much figure out like four or five different scenarios and stuff and one of them might happen. But ultimately it's not up to you. The market your involved in is going to decide what's going to happen.
I have a good friend of mine who lives there in Bali and I am learning a lot from him. His name is Yiannis. He's more towards the action approach.
I remember I was trying to develop a new product. I had this idea and that's it. I was pretty sure everybody would love it and it was going to spread like wildfire. And I had everything done. The legals, the disaster recovery scenario. I had everything for the developer.
So I was already thinking about creating a product out of it. And I had already done everything for development right. So this is what you need to do. But before I started paying developers and stuff I decided to try to reason a little bit and I needed to go and test out before I invested around five grand.
So I went to see my buddy and showed him everything. He thought it was great! But still wanted figure out exactly the best sequence and blah blah blah. That's how detailed I was. But he said “Well let's test it”. We tested it in five minutes. And it worked!!
I had been thinking about it for the last three months!!!! FIVE MINUTES MAN!
So that's what I want to tell you. You need the right amount of information to go in. OK. Not too much not too little. You need just the right amount of information and that's what I did with this podcast.
That's one of the big lessons that I've learned since I've been here. Since I've been in contact with people like my buddy. Because you do learn a lot from each other. That's what I try to do. And that's why I like Bali because it's very mentally and intellectually stimulating and challenging. You have some you know sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone and you have to learn from others.
So I'm learning to put some more action right. So to be quicker to the market instead of overthinking everything. You don't have to be perfect to launch. Sometimes, you just have to launch and see what happens. It feels like there is always one more thing I need to learn. And then there is always another one. Don't wait until you have all the information. Just go and do it and see what happens.
