Overthinking: The art of creating problems that weren't even there.
The line between thinking and overthinking is a thin one. It’s hard for anyone to discern where they are relative to it. The classic overthinking definition is, “To think about something too much or for too long.”Often overthinking is a byproduct of anxiety or depression. If this is the case, you may need to treat your anxiety or depression to reduce overthinking.
At a basic level, overthinking everything is unpleasant and keeps you from moving forward and making progress. At an extreme level, overthinking utterly and completely shuts you down and causes severe anxiety.
Actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger writes in his autobiography Total Recall, “You can overthink anything. There are always negatives. The more you know, the less you tend to do something. If I had known everything about real estate, movies, and bodybuilding, I wouldn’t have gone into them.”
Here's a story that'll explain what overthinking does to you:
Harry Houdini, the master magician, once claimed that he could break out of any jail cell in the world. All he had to do was walk into that jail cell with his street clothes on. well, a very old jail heard about Houdini's claims and they accepted his challenge.
On the day of the event, many people gathered outside. Very confidently, Houdini walked right into the jail and into the cell. They shut the metal doors behind him. The first thing Houdini did was he took off his coat. Then, very strangely he took off his belt. Secretly hidden in Houdini's belt was a ten-inch piece of steel, very tough and very flexible and Houdini started working.
In about 30 minutes, that confident expression Houdini had when he walked in, disappeared. In 1 hour, he was bathed in sweat and at the end of 2 hours, Houdini in defeat collapsed against the door, which then opened. It opened because that door had never been locked. But that's not entirely true, is it?
That door was locked. It was firmly and thoroughly locked in Houdini's Mind. Which meant it was locked as if the best locksmith in the world had put his lock-on it.
The mind is powerful. How many doors in your life do you think are locked but aren't? How many times have you been stuck in the mental prison of Overthinking? Something that really had a simple solution.
There is an ancient African proverb that says, "When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm."
Your mind is the most powerful force you will ever face. It will tell you lies. It will tell you you can't do that, you're not meant for that or you're not good enough for that. You must thank it for its opinion and carry on. Because like Houdini showed us, that the only locked doors that exist, are in your own mind. The doors, in reality, are open and all you have to do is a walkthrough.
Overthinking may ruin happiness and opportunity, and it can create unneeded anxiety. You're overthinking so much because you want to control the outcomes. The only thing you can control is your effort and your attitude- that's it. Tell yourself you deserve it and then take necessary actions so you can earn it.
It is super important to understand that if you have a tendency to overthink things, you are simply being human. There is nothing wrong with it. We are hard-wired to constantly seek solutions to problems.
But, don’t let your brain get ahead of itself. Don’t consider everything that could go wrong or right. Just focus on learning what you don’t know, creating a couple of tentative plans and milestones, and taking action. You will learn and adapt as you go.
Overthinking is something that can happen to anyone. But if you have a great system for dealing with it you can at least ward off some of the negative, anxious, stressful thinking and turn it into something useful, productive, and effective.
Here's a story that'll explain what overthinking does to you:
Harry Houdini, the master magician, once claimed that he could break out of any jail cell in the world. All he had to do was walk into that jail cell with his street clothes on. well, a very old jail heard about Houdini's claims and they accepted his challenge.
On the day of the event, many people gathered outside. Very confidently, Houdini walked right into the jail and into the cell. They shut the metal doors behind him. The first thing Houdini did was he took off his coat. Then, very strangely he took off his belt. Secretly hidden in Houdini's belt was a ten-inch piece of steel, very tough and very flexible and Houdini started working.
In about 30 minutes, that confident expression Houdini had when he walked in, disappeared. In 1 hour, he was bathed in sweat and at the end of 2 hours, Houdini in defeat collapsed against the door, which then opened. It opened because that door had never been locked. But that's not entirely true, is it?
That door was locked. It was firmly and thoroughly locked in Houdini's Mind. Which meant it was locked as if the best locksmith in the world had put his lock-on it.
The mind is powerful. How many doors in your life do you think are locked but aren't? How many times have you been stuck in the mental prison of Overthinking? Something that really had a simple solution.
There is an ancient African proverb that says, "When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm."
Your mind is the most powerful force you will ever face. It will tell you lies. It will tell you you can't do that, you're not meant for that or you're not good enough for that. You must thank it for its opinion and carry on. Because like Houdini showed us, that the only locked doors that exist, are in your own mind. The doors, in reality, are open and all you have to do is a walkthrough.
Overthinking may ruin happiness and opportunity, and it can create unneeded anxiety. You're overthinking so much because you want to control the outcomes. The only thing you can control is your effort and your attitude- that's it. Tell yourself you deserve it and then take necessary actions so you can earn it.
It is super important to understand that if you have a tendency to overthink things, you are simply being human. There is nothing wrong with it. We are hard-wired to constantly seek solutions to problems.
But, don’t let your brain get ahead of itself. Don’t consider everything that could go wrong or right. Just focus on learning what you don’t know, creating a couple of tentative plans and milestones, and taking action. You will learn and adapt as you go.
There are simple effective ways to stop overthinking everything. Review the list below and the next time you find yourself caught up in your thoughts, apply just one of the techniques below to free yourself from the chains of overthinking:
- MEDITATE: Sitting to meditate for even 10 minutes will stop overthinking in its tracks. Meditation is like a mirror that lets you look deep down into who you are and how things are going. With even a short meditation session you can witness the overthinking mind. With this awareness, any negativity associated with it will drop away.
- CHALLENGE YOUR THOUGHTS: It’s easy to get carried away with negative thoughts. So before you conclude that calling in sick is going to get you fired, or that forgetting one deadline will cause you to become homeless, acknowledge that your thoughts may be exaggeratedly negative. Remember that your emotions will interfere with your ability to look at situations objectively. Take a step back and look at the evidence. What evidence do you have that your thought is true? What evidence do you have that your thought isn’t true?
- CHANGE THE CHANNEL: Telling yourself to stop thinking about something will backfire. The more you try to prevent a thought from entering your brain, the more likely it is to keep popping up. Change the channel in your brain by changing your activity. Exercise, engage in conversation on a completely different subject or work on a project that distracts you. Doing something different will put an end to the barrage of negative thoughts.
- NOTICE WHEN YOU'RE STUCK IN YOUR HEAD: Overthinking can become such a habit that you don’t even recognize when you’re doing it. Start paying attention to the way you think so you can become aware of the problem. When you’re replaying events in your mind over and over, or worrying about things you can’t control, acknowledge that your thoughts aren’t productive. Thinking is only helpful when it leads to positive action.
- GET PLENTY OF GOOD QUALITY SLEEP: I think this is one of the most commonly neglected factors when it comes to keeping a positive mindset and not get lost in negative thought habits. Because when you haven’t slept enough then you become more vulnerable. Get good sleep of about 7-8 hours, and you'll feel much good when you wake up.
- GET SOME EXERCISE: Exercise, like sleep, is like pushing the reboot button on your mind. I find that many times, my overthinking tendency is worst when I have tons of energy that I haven’t burned off. Get outside for some exercise and you will find that mental tension and overthinking is no longer an issue when you return home.
- BREATHE CALMLY (PRANAYAMA): Yogis have known this secret for years, and it is why Pranayama has been long-standing practice and pre-requisite for those wishing to explore higher states of consciousness. It is just as important as physical exercise and mental-meditation.
- WRITE OUT YOUR THOUGHTS: Have you heard of “Morning Pages”. This is a practice of writing three pages, completely unfiltered, each and every morning. I find that writing out thoughts, at any time of day, can unload the overthinking mind and help with focus and stress relief.
- CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT: It is said that Albert Einstein, in struggling to formulate his theory of relativity, achieved his biggest breakthrough while taking a break from working on his problem to relax by a fire and daydream. If you find yourself overthinking, change your environment. Go to a coffee shop, park, or library. Switch from using a computer to a pencil and paper. Surround yourself with different people and talk about new things. Stop actively working on the problem and just daydream.
- DONT THINK OF WHAT CAN GO WRONG, BUT WHAT CAN GO RIGHT: In many cases, overthinking is caused by a single emotion: fear. When you focus on all the negative things that might happen, it's easy to become paralyzed. Next time you sense that you starting to spiral in that direction, stop. Visualize all the things that can go right and keep those thoughts present and upfront.
- PUT THINGS INTO A WIDER PERSPECTIVE: It's very easy to fall into the trap of overthinking minor things in life. So when you are thinking and thinking about something ask yourself: Will this matter in 5 years? Or even in 5 weeks? I've found that widening the perspective by using this simple question can quickly snap me out of overthinking and help me to let go of that situation.
- LIVE IN THE MOMENT: By being in the present moment in your everyday life rather than in the past or a possible future in your mind you can replace more and more of the time you usually spend on overthinking things with just being here right now instead.
- SET SHORT TIME-LIMITS FOR DECISIONS: If you do not have a time-limit for when you must make a decision and take action then you can just keep turning your thoughts around and around and view them from all angles in your mind for a very long time. So learn to become better at making decisions and to spring into action by setting deadlines in your daily life. No matter if it's a small or bigger decision.
- REALIZE THAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL EVERYTHING: Trying to think things through 50 times can be a way to try to control everything. To cover every eventuality so you don't risk making a mistake, fail or looking like a fool. But those things are a part of living a life where you truly stretch your comfort zone. Everyone who you may admire and have lived a life that inspires you has failed. So stop trying to control everything. Trying to do so simply doesn’t work because no one can see all possible scenarios in advance. This is of course easier said than done. So do it in small steps if you like.
- TAKE A NAP: Naps are underrated! Just like exercise, a 20-minute nap works wonders. I like to take my naps in the afternoon, around 3 pm, after going for a run and drinking a healthy smoothie. I don’t need to say much more about naps, just give it a try!
Overthinking is something that can happen to anyone. But if you have a great system for dealing with it you can at least ward off some of the negative, anxious, stressful thinking and turn it into something useful, productive, and effective.
James Cameron said, "There are many talented people who haven't fulfilled their dreams because they over thought it, or they were too cautious and were unwilling to make the leap of faith."
So please stop overthinking life like you have to have an answer to every feeling or situation. that's not how life works. We figure it all out by just living. By fucking up, by missing an opportunity, by seeking advice and not taking it. We learn what's important and what isn't. Sometimes we have no fucking idea what to do and that's okay. Always trust your gut and know that everything will work out exactly the way it's supposed to. It always does. Relax, we were never in control anyway.
Comments
Post a Comment