Do you constantly find yourself buried in busy work, avoiding the one big task that could change everything?
Many ambitious folks trap themselves in a cycle of endless planning and preparation, terrified of what might happen if they actually did the work. But what if your fear is the very thing holding you back?
How Fear Turned Me Into a Last-Minute Speaker
In 2016, I gave a talk at the Velocity conference in Amsterdam. I submitted the proposal nine months in advance, so I had plenty of time to prepare.
But because I had never presented at a conference of that caliber before, I was terrified! So, instead of working on my talk, I read book after book on public speaking.
As a result, I was finishing my slides on the 10-hour flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam. Then, I practiced the night before the talk. When I finally got on stage, I was so tired that I just wanted to get it over with.
The feedback? “Great content, but boring presentation!” Ouch!
Avoidance Through Business
Research shows several types of mental blocks can prevent us from taking action. Two common ones are:
- Analysis paralysis: When we become overwhelmed and unable to make decisions or take action.
- Avoidance through busyness: When we keep ourselves busy with less important tasks to avoid doing something that feels risky or challenging.
Both types are well known, but the second type is much sneakier, so let’s discuss it.
Avoidance through business could be hard to spot because it looks like… productivity! It often shows up as:
- Taking on many small projects
- Constantly reorganizing and planning
- Getting caught up in perfectionist thinking
- Making excuses about timing never being right
Avoidance through business is often driven by fear. You know what you need to be doing. (In fact, you’ve known for the last five years!) But you’re deathly afraid to start.
It might be because if you mess up, “they’ll finally find out what a fraud you are.” Or, maybe you’re already feeling busy and exhausted, and you’re thinking, “Imagine how busy I’ll be if this thing actually pans out?!”
And so you choose to be busy—and you get really creative with it—anything but actually doing the work.
How Do You Break Out of This Kind of Paralysis?
The answer is surprisingly simple, though not easy: Give yourself permission to be imperfect.
Instead of trying to do everything perfectly, try the opposite—deliberately half-ass it. This might sound counterintuitive, but it works for two reasons:
- It takes the pressure off. When you aim for "good enough" instead of "perfect," the fear loses its grip.
- Taking any action, even imperfect action, builds momentum. Once you start moving, it becomes easier to keep going and gradually improve.
If you've been stuck in avoidance for so long that you've lost sight of what truly matters to you, try this: completely unplug from your busy routine for a day or two. Give your mind space to settle. Often, when we stop drowning ourselves in busy work, what's truly important naturally rises to the surface.
Start Small, Start Today
What's one important thing you've been avoiding? Take 5 minutes right now to do the smallest possible piece of it. Don't worry about doing it well—just do it.
Not sure what that thing is? Take a 30-minute break from everything. No phone, no email, no busy work. Just sit with your thoughts and notice what comes up. And if you feel like you could use extra help, click the button below to let me know.
