Analysis paralysis (overthinking) is one of the biggest things keeping you from achieving your music goals! You overthink every detail to the point that you never take action. We've all been there! If you're struggling with overthinking right now, I wrote this blog to help you navigate these thoughts and hopefully break through to taking action.
In order to stop overthinking, you have to address the root cause: Fear. Although there’s a variety of reasons people are fearful of taking action, the most common 2 reasons are fear of what others will think and fear of failure. So in today’s blog post, I’m focusing only on these 2.
Fear of what people will think. You know exactly what you want to do, but you’re terrified of the things people will say or think. It’s completely understandable! In today’s world of brutal comment sections full of trash can 🗑and doo doo emojis 💩, it can be intimidating to shoot your shot. But the thing you have to realize is no matter what you do, no matter what level of talent you have, no matter how you look, no matter how you sound, no matter how hard you try to perfect your strategy, somebody will always have something negative to say about you! Always! Free yourself fam and understand you can’t prevent this! This has always happened and will always happen! So since it’s going to happen anyway, why not just go ahead and do what you really want to do? Your stuff isn’t going to be for everybody and that’s okay! I understand some people will verbalize their dislike very disrespectfully (like saying you're trash or 💩 lol), but WHEN that happens, just block them and keep being great! Don’t stop or derail your plans over a few comments. Most people who make shrewd comments are really just afraid or lazy. They can't stand that you have the audacity to actually follow your dreams lol! It’s much easier for them to cut you down than to put in the work required to build themselves up. They've already given up on themselves. Don't let them trick you into giving up on yourself. Get up and go do what you want to do!
Fear of failure. The perfectionist in you loathes the thought of having a few mishaps or failing altogether. Again, free yourself and understand you can’t avoid this! You are a human and you won’t get everything right. This has always happened and this will always happen! So since you’re going to mess up anyway, why not take action and go try stuff? The reality is no matter how much advice you receive, how many detailed plans you make, or how many preventative measures you put in place, you WILL experience failures. This is actually necessary. You can’t figure out what does work/doesn’t work until you stick your neck out and try things. Thomas Edison had many failed attempts before creating a successful light bulb design. The Wright brothers had many failed attempts before creating a successful airplane design. Henry Ford had many failed attempts before creating a successful car design. If just these few people had gave up from not getting things right the first time, we probably wouldn’t be enjoying indoor lighting, air travel, and automobiles today. Understand you're going to have to take a stab at things multiple times before you strike fire. You’re not going to have it all figured out on the first attempt so start taking action and be resilient. Learn from mistakes/failures and improve as you go. You'll miss 100% of the shots you don't take. You only truly fail when you stop taking shots.
If your life ended right now at this very second, would you be happy with how much effort you've put towards your goals? Would you be able to say you gave it your all or would you be filled with regret? If your answer is regret, you can change that starting right now. Don’t over plan and don’t overthink. Break everything down into small actionable goals that you can start doing now and then go do. Months from now you'll look back in disbelief at how far you’ve come. But it all starts with freeing yourself from limiting thoughts and putting one foot in front of the other. Hope this is encouraging! Blessings. -Tone