Four lies that keep you trapped in overthinking

A mini field guide you can depend on for daily happiness and performance

I’ve had people continually tell me that I over-analyse; I think too much.

I would be inclined to agree.

Years of being too ‘in my thoughts’ created excessive anxiety, insecurity, and many missed opportunities. I’ve lost time, energy and friendships because of it.

I can still over-analyse today, but my experience is vastly different than ten years ago.

What helped me the most was not employing any specific ‘technique.’

Rather, it was in realising and letting go of these four lies.

This (seriously) made all the difference:

LIE #1: The more I think, the closer I get to a solution.

It may seem that our thoughts provide a powerful tool for finding solutions to problems.

In reality, actively thinking is surprisingly ineffective and often makes us feel worse.

Why?

Because when we worry, we feel the emotion of worry. We feed a loop of negative thinking when we feel low. We then perform poorly. You know this — you’ve been there. We stunt ourselves.

You might notice that we rarely receive an insight or clear solution in our minds unless we are relaxed.

Let go of the need to think intensely, and you will receive all the wisdom you need.

LIE #2: The present moment has nothing for me.

Many of us prefer to stay in our heads, ruminating like a ping pong ball in a blender, because it appears the present moment is empty.

It seems like the real excitement and progress happens in our thoughts. So we live there.

But here, we are unconscious and dead to what is happening around us. We know the effects because those around us complain that we’re missing out on life — and we are.

We ignore the beauty, lucidity and simplicity of the right now. The present gives us all the information in real-time we need. There are no…