“Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in your life.” - Tony Robbins
What is overthinking?
The simple definition of overthinking is, “to think about something or little things too much or for too long.” Its human nature to think things while making a decision or evaluating situations, but it becomes overthinking when you can’t get it out of your head.
“There are people who have levels of overthinking that are just pathological.” says clinical psychologist and a psychology professor in ‘Notre Dame’ called Catherine Pittman.
Overthinking can be of many forms:
Deliberating endlessly, while making a decision and then continuously questioning the decision and overthinking about it, trying to predict the future, trying to read the minds, trying to read the small details about every little thing, etc.
People who overthink, consistently run commentaries in their head, thinking and holding onto their past, criticizing what they said and did yesterday, overthinking and terrified about how bad they look, insecure about their appearance, their body and fretting about a terrible future might await them.
‘What if’s’ and ‘shoulds’ control and dominate their thinking, as if an invisible jury is judging on their lives. They don’t sleep well, as they keep ruminating and worrying all night.
They keep asking big questions: Why did that happen? What does it mean? Why is it happening with me? And many more questions. But they never find an answer.
If you consistently focus on overthinking and make it a habit, it becomes a loop, and the more we do it, the more we fall into the loop and the harder it is to stop.
“So often people confuse overthinking as problem-solving, but what ends up happening is we just sort of go in a loop,” says Odessky.
At any point in life, we can convert our thoughts and change our perception from something bright and sunny to dark and stormy. For example, let’s take a first date.
One minute, we may be thinking, "Oh My God I’m so excited about this guy, it’s going to be so beautiful, and we will plan a future together". A moment later, the thoughts morph into “I wonder why he hasn’t called me yet. Did he even like me?”
And finally because of overthinking our mind floods with attacks like “he probably was just a jerk anyway. No one will ever be interested in you. Why do even try?”
Studies have been shown that overthinking increases your stress level, reduces your creativity, clouds your judgment and controls your power of decision making.
How to Overcome Overthinking?
1. Change, What You Tell Yourself
What you repeatedly say to yourself and how you describe yourself, is what you become. Everything stems from our identity.
The question is, what you tell to yourself, does it empower you or hold you back. If you get thoughts like, “I am an overthinker, I always worry about little things, I am not good at making a decision”, all these thoughts do you more harm than good.
If this is what you say to yourself, you need to stop instantly because it’s tearing away your power and authority.
Instead, you should make a conscious effort to stop yourselves, whenever you catch yourselves voicing those limiting beliefs.
You should immediately replace those negative thoughts with positive ones: “I am in charge of my emotions”, “I am the best”, “and I am a decision-maker”. This is how you change our self-perception and push yourself forward.
2. Let Go of Your Past
Many people often overthink about their past. When they do so, they put their energy on “what if” and “I should have..." But instead, that energy is removing them from their present life.
The past cannot be changed and it is already done, there is no need to think about what is already done.
You should accept your past and focus on what lesson it taught you. When you take the past for what it was, you free yourself from its weight. You will then free yourself, from the mistakes of your past that stop you from taking actions in present. Just accept and let go.
3. Practice Being Present
When overthinking, just stop and say: “No. I am not going to have these thoughts. I am not going to give in.”
Bring your attention to the present. Breathe. Focus. Close your eyes. Where are you? What do you feel? What are you stressing about?
Write. Open your journal and write about what you feel. Writing what we feel helps a lot in removing stress. Meditate- it helps to control your mind and increase self-awareness.
Being present isn’t easy, it requires practice but whenever you notice your mind thinking about the past or future, try to bring it back to this very moment.
4. Move, Unplug, Spend Some Time in Nature
Psychological science revealed that the brain becomes calmer and sharper after a person spends time close to nature, walking in green puts the brain in a meditative state.
Even a 10-minute walk can have a calming effect on the mind.
Whenever you feel negative thoughts are building up in your head and you are overthinking about them, practice:
1. A walk in nature
2. Exercise- It instantly boosts your mood and reduces stress. Sweating your negative thoughts helps you to think clearly.
3. Unplugging from all the digital devices for a few hours.
“Silence and loneliness are oftentimes the answers to avoiding overthinking.”
Written by - Harshita Negi
Edited by - Ivanova
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