Just do it!

In my job, I don't do much without thinking through ideas, charting out paths and analyzing potential outcomes, which makes my job the perfect one for me, as I have been told multiple times throughout my life, "Kerri, you over-think things." And, I agree. 

Over-analyzing is a necessary process in the public relations world. We are 'idea people,' but before we bring an idea to the table, we spend time rolling it around in our thoughts, processing it in hypothetical situations, determining potential problems, creating prospective solutions and considering possible outcomes. Then, when it comes time to present our ideas, we map out the presentation, scrutinize every image, contemplate the use of critical words and evaluate the probable response. All of this happens before we ever do anything.

Now, as much as I value this process for my professional life – where a conclusion is inevitable because there is task to be completed – the tendency to over-analyze often hinders me in my personal life, especially when an action is not mandatory. I will get a fantastic idea for a home project, a new hobby or a life change, and the process begins. Ideas begin rolling, and the hypothetical, potential, prospective and possible begin to be evaluated. (I actually truly love doing this, by the way.) However, with no timeline from management and no paycheck coming upon execution, that process often doesn’t come to a resounding conclusion and is instead filed away to make room for the compensated processes.

I have recently determined that I am going to repudiate this phenomenon one step at a time, beginning with this blog post.

I signed up for this blog nearly a year ago with an excitement to have a forum to do something I love to do – write. And, although my schedule hasn’t allotted a lot of time during the past year to considering blog posts, I have had many thoughts and stories that I felt, at the time, would be worth publishing. However, my process was always halted when I couldn’t map out additional posts, or tie an overlying theme to the purpose of my blog. Today, while it distresses me to dip into under-evaluated waters, I remind myself that there is no reason to stay out of the water when I really want to swim!

So, here I am – making a little splash and just doing it.