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Just Can’t Throw Your Business Switch? The Paralysis of Analysis
See if this describes you: You’ve been thinking about becoming a private health or patient advocate for awhile. You know you can do it, you truly WANT to do it, you know people need help with their medical system challenges… But something, undefined, just holds you back. You may have taken courses in patient or health advocacy. Maybe you’ve been a volunteer advocate for your family members, or friends. Everyone you know thinks it’s a great step for you. You’ve connected with others who want to be advocates. You’re quite good at getting at the heart of challenges patients face so you aren’t too concerned about whether you could actually do the work. But something, you’re not sure what, just holds you back… You just can’t seem to make that leap from being a volunteer who steps in to help, to being a professional, privately-paid, patient advocate or navigator in your own private patient advocacy practice. Sound familiar? This is a conversation I have frequently with almost-advocates. The most recent was this week with a PACE member of AdvoConnection, one of the most knowledgeable advocates I know. But she hasn’t flipped that switch yet. No – so far – she just hasn’t officially opened her practice. She just hasn’t thrown that switch. It’s called the paralysis of analysis – our tendency to over think, to worry that we’re not doing something exactly right, to be concerned that we’ve missed some important detail…. to the point where it stops us in our tracks. The good news? There IS a cure. The bad news? That paralysis of analysis keeps us from pursuing that cure, actually makes us do things we would never do otherwise and, worst of all, prevents those patients we would help from finding us and getting the help they need. In other words – if you are among the paralyzed, there are people getting sicker or poorer because you haven’t thrown that switch. There are a number of reasons I’ve been able to identify that cause the paralysis of analysis, and they are all about questioning one’s capabilities: 1. …