Do you find yourself stuck, paralyzed, not knowing what to do or how to do what you want?
In my experience, both my own (when I was considering leaving my scientific career) and helping several of my clients, there are at least three different types of paralysis and although, normally as a coach, I focus on solutions, it is important to know what the origin of your paralysis to apply the most suitable solution for you.
These are the three most common types of paralysis:
1. When you just don't know what to do
Perhaps you have been working on the same thing for a long time, or you have never stopped to consider other alternatives or professional options; And suddenly you find that your situation has changed, or that you simply didn't like what you used to like, that you're not satisfied anymore. You want to do something else but you have no idea what.
In fact, I remember an exercise I did when I was doing my PhD that was extremely difficult for me. What would you do if your profession ceased to exist and you couldn't do anything remotely similar? They asked for five answers. It took me days to finish it because I had never ever considered dedicating myself to anything other than science (except when I was little). I recommend that you do it. It might interest me (and yes, coaching was the number one option).
If you identify with this situation, what you need is introspection work. Stop to think who you are, what you want, what you need, what you like, what are your priorities. This is sometimes easy, but sometimes not. With my clients, many times in the first session with a few questions, digging a bit, everything comes out; and they are amazed because they had not realized that, deep down, they did know what they wanted. You can also do it yourself with self-help books or articles like this one.
2. Due to fear and insecurity
In this case you are clear (more or less) what you want, but you do not dare to take the step out of fear. Fear of all kinds: to fail, to be wrong, to criticism, to not measure up, etc. The first thing you have to be clear about, even if it sounds harsh, is that fear does not disappear, rather it is transformed. You start with some fears, then you have others, etc. You have to get used to being afraid and move on despite it. That is the only method. If you paralyze your plans until fear disappears, you will be waiting indefinitely…
Of course, you can try to minimize the effect of your fear. For example, having a plan B just in case what you want doesn't work. This helps many people to stay calmer and to move on. Others, however, prefer to launch without looking back and not consider more options, burn the bridges, as they say. It depends on you. Another option that can help you is to delve into what you are afraid of, analyze the worst that could happen. So that you realize that, in many cases, the worst that could happen is not so bad. But what I recommend the most if this is your situation is to finalize your project. Because when your project is somewhat diffuse, it is normal to be scared, but when you are able to see it, feel it, imagine what it will be like and have in mind what exactly you want, uncertainty is reduced,Fear is reduced (I insist, it does not go away) and, most importantly, you know where to start.
3. Because you have so much information that you don't know where to start, you are overwhelmed
In this case you have to start by stopping looking for information, that's enough. It is great to have information, but for inspiration, not a burden! This is something very frequent, do not worry, it happens to all of us when we are excited to start something. The important thing now is to stop and go back to your beginnings, so to speak, to consider what you really want, so that you do not get carried away by everything you have seen. Once you have a clear image of what you want, it is time to create a strategy, an action plan so that you do not become saturated with information and focus on what will give you results.
