Stuck in analysis paralysis and unable to make decisions when renovating or building?

Repeatedly experiencing the inability to make a decision, and finding it’s causing stress, delays and challenges in your project’s progress?

Learn how to avoid this You Risk, and set yourself up for success, build trust in your decisions, and keep getting educated and informed for a great project experience, and fantastic, functional, feel-good home!

Listen to the episode now.

Hello! This is Episode 309, and in it, I want to discuss a risk that is super common for anyone who is building or renovating. And it’s the risk of repeatedly experiencing the inability to make a decision. Otherwise what we call ‘analysis paralysis’.

I call this a ‘YOU’ RISK, and it can be crippling in any project. Not only for you, as the person experiencing the inability to make a decision. But also for those around you and anyone who is impacted by your analysis paralysis. 

This can be your partner, your team, but also any friends or family members you regularly discuss your project with, and spend time with you going over and over the things you’re weighing up.

As a reminder: YOU is one of my five factors that I believe threads through every decision and step in your project journey. The other four are COST, TIME, TEAM and DESIGN.

When you’re spending this much money, and making choices that will impact your health, finances and lifestyle long-term, it can of course feel incredibly challenging to know whether you’re making the right choice. 

And for some, that can mean they stall, go over and over (and over) their decisions, and struggle to make a commitment to any choice. 

This can be hugely stressful to experience. I find many get really annoyed and frustrated with themselves. They recognise their inability to make the decisions they need to, but they just can’t seem to take the necessary steps forward in their project. 

And meanwhile, they know that time is ticking and money is potentially slipping through their fingers. There’s this logical recognition of what’s going on, but that doesn’t mean the decisions come any more easily. And more stress and pressure from those around them can simply make matters worse. (Cue couple arguments, big time!)

So, let’s talk about the YOU RISK of analysis paralysis, or the risk of repeatedly experiencing the inability to make a decision in your project.

Now, let’s dive in!

Before I jump into this YOU RISK, I want to just talk quickly about this:

What I know in all the experience and exposure I’ve had to homeowners and their projects, is that your mindset, and how you show up for your project, is a significant factor in how well your project goes.

It’s not something that’s necessarily discussed. Not explicitly anyway. But time and time again, I see that it’s the personal journey of your confidence, your knowledge of yourself and the way you handle being outside of your comfort zone, that can impact the success of your project, your relationship with your team, and your ability to speak up as the ambassador for your future home.

You’ve probably heard me say before: I firmly believe that YOU unlock what is possible for your future home. It’s your decisions, your money, your vision, your goals. These are the things creating and driving this project. 

And no one (not even the best professionals) will care about your project as much as you do. 

It’s super important to recognise the power of your mindset and the role you play in bringing your dreams to reality through your project.

And it’s also super important to support your mindset, help it grow and strengthen, as part of your project preparation. 

I remember when I travelled to Uganda with The Hunger Project on a Leadership and Immersion program created in partnership with Business Chicks, and getting to meet people who were overcoming generations of hunger and poverty, and creating new futures for themselves. 

When you asked them what helped them do this, they said “I changed my mindset”. It was the first step in the Vision Commitment Action process that The Hunger Project took people through, and it was explicitly discussed and acted upon. 

I know I’d never personally experienced anyone being so upfront about how changing their mindset was the first step in the change they’d created in their lives. But it’s so true. 

We talk with our builder members inside my other business, Live Life Build, that they need to ‘own it’. They need to take responsibility for where they are. Not from a victim point of view, but from an acknowledgement that you can’t control what anyone else does. What’s going on around you. The only thing you can control is the decisions you make, the actions you take and the way you respond. And take responsibility for where you’re at.

We outsource our agency in so many parts of our life because it can feel awkward, uncomfortable or challenging. But your mindset plays a huge role in feeling like this, so doing the work on supporting your mindset is a big help in everything, and most definitely in your project.

And that’s why I include YOU as one of my five factors that I believe threads through and impacts every decision you make and every step you take in your renovation or new build project. 

The specific area I want to discuss in this episode relates to a YOU RISK I see play out detrimentally in many people’s projects.

This YOU RISK is this: The risk of repeatedly experiencing the inability to make a decision. Otherwise what we call ‘analysis paralysis’.

When you expose yourself to this risk, these are the things that are likely to happen:

• Your project will be an incredibly stressful experience
• You’ll most likely experience time delays
• You’ll experience cost blowouts as well
• You’ll be forced to make decisions under pressure
• Things will need to be decided on, so choices can then be made by others, or you can only choose from what’s available because it’s been left so late
• You can frustrate your team, your family and yourself as you change your mind or are unable to make a decision
• Your home can end up being a hodgepodge of ideas and input, and lack a holistic approach as all the ideas have been crammed in
• Your project is a dramatic ride from stress to stress, rather than the enjoyable experience it can be.

It’s totally understandable when you’re making decisions that can have such big and impactful consequences, that you can feel the weight of that. 

But you definitely want to avoid having a project experience that feels so stressful because you’ve exposed yourself to this YOU RISK.

They say don’t sweat the small stuff … but a lot of small stuff makes up your renovation or new build project. 

And so having clarity about that overarching vision and goal will help you not sweat the small stuff, because the decisions and choices about them are much simpler.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

RESOURCES:

Access the special offer for podcast listeners to PROJECT 101 by heading to www.undercoverarchitect.com/project

Here’s some resources to review …

• Episode 194 ‘How to Communicate with Your Project Team’ >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-how-to-communicate-project-team/
• Blog post ‘How to make the right decisions when renovating or building’ >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/how-to-make-the-right-decisions-when-renovating-or-building/
• The decisions that matter when you design a home >>>
  https://undercoverarchitect.com/how-to-design-a-home/
• 9 Things to know about your Project Choices >>>
  https://undercoverarchitect.com/get-started-9-things-to-know-about-your-project-choices/
• Season 9 ‘Keeping it Real’, Season Index >>>
  https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast/season-9/
• Episode 195 ‘How to Stop Sabotaging your Renovation or New Build with Lisa Corduff’ >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/how-to-stop-sabotaging-your-renovation-or-new-build-project-with-lisa-corduff/
• How to Design a Home (5 Step E-Guide) >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/homedesign

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program, HOME METHOD >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/the-home-method/

Learn more about how to interview and select the right builder with the Choose Your Builder mini-course >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/choose-your-builder

Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/projectplan