Opening Thoughts
Doctor Mansion, walks into a room filled with scientists, brain surgeons, nurses and residency students. His face grunts with an obvious sign of pain as he limps his way towards the patient’s bed. Held up by his cane, a dark past, and the five cups of caffeine he had in the past thirty minutes. Everyone was gathered around a patient, laying in the bed, skin pale as cooked egg whites. They’re staring blankly at the crowd unable speak, unable to move, and unable to think.
This patient was found by a colleague, that printing out some documents for an important meeting in the morning. As they made their way back towards the staircase, something strange caught their eye. It was the reverse-mannequin scare (if you’ve ever walked past a clothing store you know scaredy cat 😉). A figure that should have been moving seemed to be frozen in time. As the colleague waved and wished them a good night, something strange happened.
No response. No movement.
At first the colleague assumed he wasn’t heard or this person was entitled so they signed and made their way up the staircase. As they gathered their belongings for the night, they remembered one final document they forget to print out. So down the staircase once again, but this time the person is still there, as if they haven’t moved an inch in the past 10 minutes. Overcome with a bit of concern, the colleague makes their way to the person and asks them what they’re working on.
No response. No movement.
They walk closer and panic sets in as the eerie stiffness brings to life the possibility of rigamortis. 911 is dialed and medics arrive shortly. As they struggle to take away the stiffened individual and onto the stretcher, the second medic accidentally bumps into the table which moves and mouse and awakens the computer screen. He briefly looks at the screen and notices a fully-typed email.
The first medic asks him if he’s ready. He responses in the affirmative and they make their way to the hospital.
We return back to Dr. Mansion making his way to the patient’s bed with everyone staring intently at this world-renowned medical savant.
“Analysis Paralysis” he mutters with a hint of boredom and general disdain.
“What, isn’t that just a saying?” notes a confused and sleep-deprived residency student.
“Not when you overthinking every aspect of your life and continuously psyche yourself out of every moment” Dr. Winslow responsed. Thinking to himself that he never would have come to this conclusion, with a slight sense of inferiority.
The patient, now awake looks around the room in confusion.
Dr. Mansion approached them and prescribes his medicine. “Just hit send on your emails from now on without overthinking everything. Life is shorter than you think, make your mistakes and move on. Don’t let the fear of mistakes prevent you from moving forward.”
With a painful limp and annoyance at the world, Dr. Mansion walks away. He needs more coffee.
Human Experience
Overthinking is natural, it is a part of the human experience. Almost everyone has moments or areas of our lives where we operation with so much caution we are standing still. This could be at your job, with certain relationships, or while playing a sport.
Maybe you get a little nervous anything time you have to do a presentation at your job.
Maybe you get a little anxious whenever it’s time for chemistry (I remember the struggle).
Maybe you panic a bit every time you’re playing (American) Football because you hope you don’t drop any easy passes.
Maybe you’re scared to have that conversation with your partner.
Maybe you’re scared to approach or introduce yourself to a potential future partner.
It is perfectly normal to be nervous, anxious, scared, or to panic in the face of certain situations. Once again, it’s part of the human experience. About seven years ago, I started repeating the following mantra until it became ingrained in my mind and a core belief that I carry.
You can’t control how you feel, but you can control how you act.
We are human. We have emotions. We don’t need to act like robots in spite of what is portrayed social media.
The Brave and The Bold
The mainstream or social media often times portray a specific image of bravery. Whether it be a fictional character or the coverage of a “successful” individual.
They never once wavered while facing multiple trials and tribulations.
They never once wavered when getting rejected multiple times.
They never once wavered when being down on their luck.
They never once wavered and never gave up.
They never once wavered while working and toiling aways for a few years and then….boom. It all came together.
They never once had a shadow of a doubt about they inevitable success.
This timeline may be true for a small percentage of the already small percentage of people who achieve their goal, but for most of us, we are human.
We waver at times.
Dr. Mansion Mentality
No matter how big (building a business) or small the task (i.e. sending an email), some things just make us nervous and cause us to hesitate or even procrastinate (bars 🧨). I used to think to myself that If I couldn’t handle something as simple as sending emails without getting nervous then there’s no way I’d be able to build a business. I’ve noted before this is the mindsent speaking to you. It is a self-preservation mechanism.
My mindset has since shifted to where I no longer feel limited, my limiting beliefs feel like they are gradually evaporating overtime, especially everyday that I show up for myself.
That’s a discussion for another time. Let’s introduce another state of mind.
The Dr. Mansion Mindset (👨🏽⚕️).
This mindset is a problem solver’s mindset. You restructure your mental framework such that every part of our life becomes a mini quiz. Every obstacle becomes a question that needs an answer. some questions need you to think more creatively than you normally would.
Speaking from personal experience, life actually become a lot more fun when you view it through this lense. You feel a greater sense of control and start to truly realize the power of your mind and decision.
The Power of Decisions
Let’s dive into some examples to illustrate Dr. Mansion’s mind.
Last year when I first started pursuing entrepreneurship, I quickly noticed that I wasn’t as productive as I wanted to be. In fact, I was extremely inconsistent with my efforts which eventually lead me down a path of overwhelm. Fast forward a year and I stumbled upon a new philosophy that I call The 15-Minute Workday. One of the core tenants of this philosophy is taking consistent small steps on a predetermined schedule. For me, that equate to the workweek and enjoying my weekends free of guilt. This wasn’t a groundbreaking solution, it doesn’t take a doctor to know that you should start with small steps.
There have been times when I would encounter a crossroads on a project. Often times in the form of having to creating something from scratch (think an ebook or template). In the past, this would have been a moment where I would “think” about how to move forwards but this process would lead to weeks on inactivity and a buildup of guilt eating me alive everyday that I didn’t show up for myself.
Once again, because my solution was to show up every weekday and move the ball forward, this forced me to face this crossroads more frequently. This led to me being more decisive and less intimidated by these crossroads or any other moments when I was no longer following a set routine. There were no more extended periods of inactivity. My confidence has continued to grow to the point of me not feeling limited and guilt is an emotion I hasn’t feel too much this year (maybe it’s because I’m a psychopath 😎).
Remember though, a doctor’s prescription comes with the medicine, the dosage, and instructions for best results without harming yourself (in our case that would be burning out or quitting). It’s important to come up with solutions that are not only simple – but simple for you!
Everyone is different. It’s okay if your path is taking you into a different direction that you expected. Trust yourself and your Dr. Mansion mindset.
The Worst Case
We’ve all had moments where we overthink things. Moments where we are extremely circumspect. That is natural and part of the human experience.
Earlier in my career, I would have mini panic attacks every time I would send out an external email. Countless scenarios and thoughts would sweep through my mind like a cranky ocean.
“What if I send it to the wrong person?”
“What if I attach the wrong document?”
“What if it I ask a dumb question and this reflects negatively on the entire company?”
“What if I don’t sound professional enough and the company losses a client because of me?”
“What if i accidently write something that’s too confidential to share via email and the company gets in trouble with regulators because of me?”
If we let the mindsent run wile, there’s no limit to what it can come up with. That why it’s important to take a deep breath and slow down.
What I ultimately ended up doing was removing the human element from this process. I created a checklist for all the things that are required and that I need to look out for. I’ve come to learn the “real world” isn’t as professional as they made it seem in high school and college.
The Doctor’s Office
Your mentality can inspire you to work harder than you’ve ever worked before to reach your goal.
You mentality can also destroy you from the inside-out if you don’t channel it and keep it in check.
It’s normal and okay to feel overwhelmed at times, even over the most mundane tasks. This doesn’t mean that you aren’t capable of doing more or are incompetent. By looking at things from the Dr. Mansion viewpoint, you would understand that there is an underlying issue that needs to be resolved. More problems no matter how small or simple, means more solutions for your to develop.
If you had an issue with procrastination, your mindsent would tell you that you are lazy and aren’t truly committed. However, a Dr. Mansion mindstate would view this as the byproduct of a larger issues. A visit to their office would result in the below conversation:
What brings you to my office (this mindstate)?
I’m want to pursue this goal but I’m too lazy. I’m inconsistent. This means that I’m probably not good enough and should forgot about it right?
Why do you think you are procrastinating?
It’s because I’m a lazy person.
Are you truly lazy? Or are you nervous about the unknown?
Nervous about the unknown?
Yes, why do you think you’re nervous about the unknown?
I tried to do this last year but failed. I don’t want to fail again.
Where there any learning lesson from your experience last year?
Yes, I set a goal an slowly got off track over time. I found myself feeling depressed and like a loser.
What if you just took one small step at a time? This isn’t a laziness issue, it’s a process issue.
What you do mean?
Closing Thoughts
Don’t overcomplicate the process, you don’t need to have everything figured out from the beginning. The likelihood of the worse case scenario happening is much lower than you think and if it does occur be okay with handling it when it arises.
Draft that email.
Use your checklist to make sure everything looks good.
Hit send.
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