By Rhonda Campbell
Are you in the habit of analyzing data? I’m talking about really analyzing data. Do you think of all possible outcomes before you consider making a decision? Spreadsheets, databases, industry specific articles and targeted seminars are like friends. You spend hours poring over at least one of them.
Data analysis isn’t always good
You have to know that you’re heading in the right direction. It’s a smart move, to a degree. Yet, it’s easy to slip. Over analyze and you could set yourself up for frustration, procrastination, feeling stuck and eventually boredom.
Boredom that over analyzing data creates isn’t temporary. It lingers, crushing you with despair. It’s no fun. Regardless of how many facts you review, there’s always just one more point you want to consider before you take action.
It could be why you haven’t gone out on a single date in months, perhaps years. It could be why you keep working at a dead end job. It could be why you’re on your way to becoming among the billions of people who leave this earth with this top regret – the regret that you never pursued your dreams.
Analyzing data to prove you’re smart to be afraid
Analyzing data is a way to convince yourself that it is unsafe to change. Analyzing data is a way to make yourself believe that you’ll lose too much if you go after what you really want.
As with most fear, what you could be afraid of is an emotion. You could be afraid of feeling embarrassed, rejected or dumb. All of them tie back into the fear that you’re not loved.
To avoid (a definite fear goal – avoidance) feeling rejected (or unloved), you steer clear of the spotlight. You try to hide or make excuses for your successes, playing them down so others won’t feel threatened by your successes. “This ol’ dress. I got it on clearance,” you respond when someone compliments your fashion choice.
Face your deepest fear
Marianne Williamson said it well, sharing that, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?”
She continued, “You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Smart-dumb way to put dreams on hold
Let an opportunity or an idea pop up and you start analyzing data. You read 20 or more articles or books on dating someone with traits that you think your family and friends might reject (thereby indirectly rejecting you). After reading the articles and books, you still don’t ask the person out.
Out of the blue, someone tells you about a franchise opportunity (something you’ve dreamed about for years). You take the person’s contact information, but you never call. Or you call and ask them a series of questions . . . more material to analyze.
Five, seven, eight, 10 years pass and you still haven’t started a franchise. But, you know a lot about franchises. You’ve spent months analyzing them, the rewards, the challenges, the average money required to invest in a franchise and the potential losses.
Awareness pays off
If you’ve been paying attention to your life, you’re starting to see that over analyzing data could be a symptom of fear. Consider this. As Marianne Williamson said, what you’re afraid — terrified — of is your own greatness . . . your own greatness.
So, you spend time analyzing data, analyzing dreams, analyzing an article and analyzing handwriting. It’s a trick. You think that analyzing data equals taking action, making a decision that will propel you forward. It really is a trick.
Fact is that data analysis isn’t the type of action that leads to advantageous change, not if analyze is all you do. The next time you catch yourself over analyzing, make a decision. You don’t have to go as far as Jim Carrey went in the movie Yes Man, but say “Yes!” to a few love-rooted opportunities that appear in your life.
Forget trying to figure out how it will all turn out. You will probably never know unless you say “Yes!” and take action. Let your higher self take care of the details. Start small if you have to. Just get started, especially on the path to fulfilling your dreams. Because you’re an eternal, limitless being no misses you have can change the truth of what you are. So, take a love-rooted chance.
