In business you’re flooded with information from marketers and experts.

Some of it piques your interest but eventually you simply get stuck staring at all of it; “Is this the right thing to do next, or is that the right thing?”

That’s Paralysis Analysis! And before you know it, hours, days, even weeks can go by and you’re still stuck in the exact same place—nowhere.

The truth is, analyzing information creates a “feeling” of work and it creates the illusion of progress when it’s really just another insidious form of procrastination.

So, here are some important tips that can help you bust out of Paralysis of Analysis:

Tip #1: Unsubscribe from those unnecessary lists, set inbox rules, and find an expert who can answer your questions quickly. Limit your information influx and you’ll have a lot less stuff to analyze!

Tip #2: Don’t over-think your business, keep it simple. I don’t mean to oversimplify things here, but remember that building a marketing plan around your business consists of a few key concepts—a validated “niche” idea, a strong and effectively written offer/message, a proven strategy for building your own list or distribution, and the ability to execute the plan. So, focus on grabbing insight on those key concepts but don’t get sucked into spending hours and hours analyzing every possible approach to doing these things—pick a technique, confirm it with a coach or expert—then Get To Work!

Tip #3: Get To Work! That’s right, nothing moves you out of being stuck in paralysis quicker than getting moving…just start doing it! You’ll learn more and gain expertise faster than you can by reading more stuff and “thinking about” it. In the words of those killer athletes over at Nike, “Just Do It!”

Analyze yourself for a minute. Are you spending more time studying and contemplating information more than you’re actually doing real work? If so, you’re stuck in Paralysis of Analysis.

It’s time to get moving! Go get to work!

Capturing the attention of your target audience is the “Holy Grail” of marketing. For decades eager marketers have produced goofy jingles, shocking images, and unique perspectives to make us stop, look, and listen.

Every once in awhile a marketing campaign works perfectly. It’s rare, but it can happen. Recently, I found myself spending almost an hour glued to a marketing campaign. In fact, my three kids were huddled around with me staring at the monitor. We were a hypnotically captured audience. (Pathetic!)

Within 15 minutes my kids were pushing me to buy a thousand dollar blender. A thousand dollar blender? That’s ridiculous to consider. I mean, what, am I going to start the next great smoothie shop? I don’t think so. But I was still very tempted to purchase something I had no real need for and at a price that’s about 15 times the price of a similar product I could find at Target or Walmart.

I’d like you to take a look at the best online marketing website I have ever seen. And I’ve analyzed thousands of them.

When you’re finished checking this out…and after you purchase your first thousand dollar blender; I’d like you to give me your opinion about why this site works so well. What stands out for you? Why does this site hit the Holy Grail of marketing? I’ll look forward to your comments…

Here’s the site…hide your credit card: www.willitblend.com

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Let me introduce you to David. He’s one of the janitors who works in our office.

This guy is amazing, really.

I first met him a few weeks ago…I couldn’t help but notice him!

That’s because one evening I was startled when I heard our front door burst open, and then heard a rapidly rolling trash bin and keys jingling loudly rushing toward my open office door–I was immediately in the state of “fight or flight” because I actually thought someone was being chased through our office!

Before I could get out of my chair to defend myself, David-the-Janitor ran by my office pushing his trash-bin-on-wheels.

That’s right, he literally runs through our office, from cubicle to cubicle, emptying our trash bins!

For the next week I watched him run around the office, doing his job as if the world depended on him to get it done.

Honestly, I was inspired.

How often do we drag through our daily responsibilities or trudge through life without passion or energy?

Finally, one evening I invited him into my office to take a break…I proceeded to utterly confuse him with my terribly broken Spanish. But we managed a basic conversation.

After we got acquainted, I asked him if he ran like this through the entire building and he said, “Si!”.

I asked him if his boss was the devil or something and he said, “No!”

So I said, “Then why do you run, David?”

He replied, “Rapido es Happy y slow es Sleepy!

Wow. Here’s a guy who does something basic, something a lot of us would probably complain about…and he’s found one of the great keys to happiness…

Work hard, work rapidly, and take pride in whatever it is you do–and be happy.

Thanks, David!

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Entrepreneurs, by nature, are emotional liars.

Our nature is to get so excited about our vision, adopt an unstoppable optimism, and refuse to face the realities of market factors. We get emotionally attached, and we lie (not in the malicious sense) to ourselves and others when market truths scream that something is wrong. It’s a classic formula for failure.

Here’s why this isn’t all bad; the truth is, your initial failures associated with emotional business decisions can eventually be the key to your future success. Ford’s famous Edsel was a massive flop in 1957, but because of it, the Mustang emerged in 1964.

The idea is that you want to fail fast, learn quickly, and hopefully the failures, while painful, are not fatal. In the case of Ford, they could afford to learn this painful lesson without going out of business. In the case of an independent entrepreneur or small operator, you might not have as much room for error, so you must consider this carefully. (Want some extreme examples? Recall the great flops of the late 90’s.)

So, keep this in mind…first and foremost, don’t get too emotionally attached to your business idea. If you find yourself defensive or angry when someone effortlessly pokes a hole in your concept, or if you have to work real hard to “prove” that it’ll work–you’re in very dangerous territory. Second, understand that there are a thousand ways to get where you want to go, and often the first idea might not materialize, but a new solution or idea will eventuate in ways you could never have planned. It’s amazing how this happens.

You’ve just got to stick with it and keep learning.

PS-Need some more evidence that “liar” can be an appropriate term for eager entrepreneurs (hey, I’ve told many standard emotional lies myself!)? In a classic post, Guy Kawasaki provides a list of The Top 10 Lies of Entreprenuers from the perspective of a seasoned Venture Capitalist.

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