As we start a new month, and head rapidly towards a fresh New Year, it’s time to start looking back at what you’ve been doing, and where you’ve been heading, in 2009, and how that compares with what you’d like 2010 to look like for you and your career.

For many people, any kind of planning, goal setting and analysis of their lives makes them feel uncomfortable. They find excuses to put it off, do something to distract themselves from thinking about it, and procrastinate until they forget what they were supposed to be doing: oh yeah, planning their career. It’s what is called “Analysis Paralysis”, where people literally cannot move into the zone required to plan their lives in relation to the creative businesses they want to run.  I run into it all the time when I’m coaching people on career guidance/planning, and not just for actors, but for anyone.

Sometimes, the paralysis has a psychological reason. One good example of this is a young boy I coached once who admitted that if he got highly successful it would upset his father, who had worked in a factory all his life. That boy was destined to sabotage every effort to become successful, and I told him that no amount of planning I could do with him was going to help until he saw a counsellor to work through his conflicted feelings about success.  Most people think a fear of failure is the biggest worry when attempting to become successful – I’ve found that, more often, it’s a fear of success, for a myriad of reasons. From parental approval to not feeling worthy, fear of success causes analysis paralysis in many people. If they think too hard about things, they might figure out that they’re not doing what they should for their careers, and never will, simply because they fear the one thing they really want – success.

If any of this seems familiar to you, if you feel it describes feelings you have, then you need to find ways to unparalyze yourself. Get a good coach to start with, someone you’re accountable to for your progress. That’s why fitness trainers work so well. Sport coaches, in general, are great examples of the type of help everyone needs, no matter what you’re trying to accomplish, because their job is to make their athletes be the best they can be. In L.A., actors not only have managers who help them plot out their careers, but they also have career coaches, who work with them on a psychological level, making sure that fears are kept under control, and attitudes are kept strong and positive.

The book, “The Artist’s Way”, by Julia Cameron, is a fantastic tool for finding artistic blocks that need fixing, and deep-seated beliefs that need looking at. If you can’t find a Creative Cluster to do the work with, then buy the book and do it by yourself, even if you have to find a friend or family member you can talk about the work with as you do it.  There are 12 chapters of exercises to work through, and it’s very powerful for ANY creative person, no matter what area they want to work in.

Finally, you need to think about the old joke: “How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light has to really want to change.” No one can change anything about you without your own, strong desire to change it.

Dorothy Parker has rather risque quote I love that illustrates this. When asked to use the word “horticulture” in a sentence, she said: “You can lead a “whore to culture”, but you can’t make her think”.  It’s funny, but so true when applied to trying to change anything about anyone.

Another great quote is from Mark Twain: ”The secret of getting ahead is getting STARTED. And the secret to getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the FIRST one.”

In other words, step by step, inch by inch, you break off the shackles of paralysis and walk forward into a bright future for whatever you want to accomplish.

The FIRST “small” task? Analysis of where you’re going and how you’re going to get there!

So, have you got Analysis Paralysis? If so, what are you going to do about it? Take that first step. Make 2010 a great year.