Avoiding Places to Hide

When I am looking to do something, it doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, one of my first steps is to extensively research the topic. Often, I don’t notice I am doing it until after I’ve started; YouTube rabbit holes, exhaustive Googling and double (ok, triple) checking the manual to make sure I understand everything before I start. This approach is a blessing and a curse because I can linger in the research phase and may have a hard time starting up to accomplish the task. Analysis paralysis is one of the places I can hide along my road to doing things.

There are countless places for people to hide on our paths to accomplishing whatever we want to accomplish. Sometimes we’re conscious of these places to hide and other times they are hidden in our blind spots. So, how do we limit the places to hide and focus more on accomplishing the tasks we start? Well, many people have tried to answer this question and there is still no singular answer which works for everyone. However, I’d like to offer my two cents because, as you’ve probably guessed, I’ve done a little bit of my own research as well.

Identifying Your Emotions to Move Forward

There are times we can do the big things with ease and other times the little stuff can weigh us down tremendously. Why? I believe, in large part, it’s the emotions behind the action that can limit whether we accomplish things. Are you afraid to start? Is accomplishing this thing more beneficial to someone else than yourself? What if it actually works? These questions, and more, are rooted in emotion and their answers are worthy of us prolonging starting to do things.

However, the actions themselves are usually straightforward. Want to write a book? Write. Want to help your kids buy house? Plan and save. Want to mend that relationship? Communicate. This is what Nike aims to get us thinking about with their “just do it” slogan. In order to do it, you have to do it–but as we’ve seen, it’s not always that easy. So, if you find yourself getting stuck in the places to hide, stop focusing solely on the action. Zoom out and spend time reflecting and identifying the emotions behind the inaction. If you spend some time doing this, accomplishing the tasks may take care of themselves.