This habit of analysis paralysis can negatively affect different areas of our lives unless we make a conscious effort to overcome it.
Don't think too much
Perfectly good relationships have been ruined because one party thought too much about an innocent remark or reaction. Talented people have remained stuck in a rut their entire lives because they thought too long about all the possible ways in which they could fail if they took the classic leap of faith. And far too many reach the end of their lives without having achieved even a fraction of their true potential only because they never got past the ‘planning’ stage into the ‘doing’ phase.
Don't live in fear
Do not think too much, just do what makes you happy Source: iStockphoto/ Getty Images
Different kinds of fear compel people to overthink so many things in their everyday lives. Fear of failure, fear of making the wrong decision, fear of being abandoned, fear of what people will say etc. Unfortunately, in life, there are no guarantees. Whenever we make a decision, for example, there’s a 50% chance it’ll turn out to be the wrong one. But we cannot live our entire lives constantly ruled by this fear. Just as there’s a chance that something may go wrong, there’s equally a chance that it will turn out okay.
Often we wait for the perfect moment….when we’re fully confident and completely ready…to set the ball rolling on our long-term goals. ‘Someday when I’m really sure about what I want, I’ll do this and that’ we promise ourselves. But as we all know, ‘some’ day and ‘one’ day never really arrive, do they?
The best way to overcome the habit of overthinking is to move from the problem-finding phase into the problem-solving phase. When we only focus on the things that went wrong in our past, we tend to discover many other things that didn’t turn out right either. Eventually, we end up rehashing the same thoughts over and over again in our minds like a stuck record. This prevents us from focusing on the solution to the problem. Tune into your thoughts on a daily basis to figure out if you’ve allowed yourself to be sucked into a spiral of repetitive thinking. You can’t fix something unless you first recognise that something needs fixing.
Be more proactive
Once you’ve noticed that you’ve been thinking the same thought for the past few days or weeks, make a conscious effort to become more proactive. Ask yourself if there’s any step you can take, however small, to solve the problem. If there is, grit your teeth and do it. However, not all things are in our control always. If you’ve done everything within your power to make things better, simply trust that things will turn out alright in the long run and move on.
Fortunately, our mind is always waiting for instructions from us. Since we allow ourselves to get into the habit of overthinking in the first place, we hold within us the power to pull ourselves out of it too.
