Over-thinking causes entrepreneurs to get stuck at every stage of their businesses. Often times it’s the reason that people don’t get started in the first place. Anxiety caused by thinking too much can keep us immobilized. The most common form of this insanity is DDS (Doomsday Syndrome): obsessive worrying about how things could go wrong.
A sure sign you have Doomsday Syndrome: It’s not a matter of IF things will go wrong, it’s a matter of WHEN.
The tricky thing about this syndrome is you can easily see it in others, but not really in yourself. When we see someone else over-thinking (aka worrying), we think to ourselves, “That’s just crazy.” But when we do it, it makes sense because what we’re worrying about is justified. I know this all too well. I took my DDS to the next level into OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) always worrying about what could happen. The ‘what if’ question and I are great, great friends.
Anything is risky when you’re always on lookout for pitfalls.
Asking yourself the question, “What could possibly go wrong?” to a point is good. It’s a Plan B, and we all know sometimes it’s good to have a Plan B to fall back on. However, more often than not, we overdo it. Our future projecting always ends up being on the negative side rather than the positive. Wouldn’t it be great to think about all the positive outcomes of a scenario? It definitely would be better than getting wrapped up in the turmoil of every possible bad thing that could happen. But it’s easy for most of us to get caught in our own web of worry and “What if?” We as human beings experience this every day.
“Stop thinking about your problems!”
Asking yourself to stop thinking is just more thinking – are you getting the insanity? And we actually THINK that might make a difference. But this is just another telltale sign that you might be suffering from DDS.
Overanalyzing everything is like trying to get rid of a headache by hitting yourself on the head with a hammer. It’s like playing that mind game where someone tells you not to think about something like a polar bear in a pink tutu. You find yourself thinking about just that! We can analyze over and over about just about anything, big or small. Should I hire that person? Should I follow that marketing plan? Should I write a book? (I over-thought this for seven years.)
The prize for using one’s head excessively…
You’re not to blame for contracting DDS; I’m not sure it can be avoided. We’re taught to use our brains and rewarded for it from Day One. If we struggled for an answer in school the teacher would bark, “THINK about it. If you THINK about it, the answer will come to you.” The issue is we weren’t taught what to do when the thinking goes amuck. And we weren’t taught that analytical thinking and strategizing can only get you so far. It won’t really help you discover your purpose or those things that make you truly happy, though it will help you get the job, the house, the car.
But there will always be that feeling there’s something missing from your life.
You know what I’m talking about. You’ve seen or know someone (maybe even the person sitting in your chair) that has everything society labels as a necessity in order to be happy. But too often they’re unfulfilled and unsatisfied. The issue is we spend way too much energy on strategizing how to get where we want to go and get the things we want to have. Then we try to apply that type of thinking to figuring out what we really want out of life.
We can’t strategize to discover our life’s purpose and what we really think is important. That all comes from within.
It’s what gets you most excited and brings you enthusiasm, no matter how illogical it is! If you don’t dare to step beyond your boundaries or society’s boundaries, you will be bound to that existence. Once you’ve figured out your purpose and started down that path, over-thinking will just get in the way.
Get out of the over-thinking phase and simply start taking action.
