Over thinking ruins you. It ruins the situation. And it twists things around. It makes you worry. Plus it just makes everything worst than it actually is.”
– Karen Salmanso
Can Overthinking be controlled?
Yes, it is possible to control overthinking. While totally eliminating overthinking may not be possible, there are a number of methods and strategies that people can use to control it and lessen its negative effects.
These strategies include improving the understanding of one’s thought patterns, engaging in mindfulness exercises, setting boundaries, confronting unfavourable thoughts, practising relaxation techniques, getting assistance, and putting an emphasis on problem-solving. People may overcome their natural tendency to overthink and achieve a greater feeling of balance and calm in their life with persistent effort and a mix of these strategies.
Before discussing what are the root causes of overthinking & how to stop overthinking etc, we should know first what is Overthinking. It is one of the vulnerable patterns of behaviour faced by most individuals nowadays.
What is Overthinking?
Overthinking is the act of focusing too much on one single concept, circumstance, or worry. It involves continuously separating, replaying, and analyzing experiences in one’s head, which frequently increases anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.
Thought and insight are normal and important processes, but excessive thinking goes beyond healthy analysis. It involves getting engaged in a cycle of ideas that can make it difficult to make decisions, weaken mental clarity, and have an adverse impact on general well-being.
Overthinkers often lose sight of the present moment and the wider picture as they concentrate on the details and may over-anticipate possible outcomes.
It is the human tendency when analysing any adverse situation or before taking any important decision in life, to think deeply & frequently which tends to the behaviour pattern of overthinking. Due to this, we have probably sleepless nights. It happens to all of us at certain times in our lives. I have personally faced so many times in my life. As a result of this, we cannot be able to take the right decision in our lives rather we become stressed and felt anxious.
In the fast-changing environment & population, human expectations and demands are increasing abnormally day by day. The increasing trend of rate race in the present society compels every individual to Overthink which results in Stress & anxiety. Nobody is ready to live in the present moment rather they remain always either in their past or future zone becomes the most cause of overthinking.
So in simple “ Thinking anything too much or for too long time is called Overthinking”.
What is the root cause of Overthinking?
Overthinking is caused due to various reasons like Fear of Uncertainty, Lack of self-confidence etc. It may vary from person to person according to their situation, willpower, emotional quotient, psychological state, behavioural pattern and mindset.
Here are some major root causes of overthinking.
1. Lack of Self-Confidence:-
Due to a lack of self-confidence/willpower, we have less ability to face any adverse situation or to take any important decision leads to overthinking. Due to this, we depend more on others’ opinions/decisions.
2. Fear of uncertainty:-
By having more fear of the uncertainty of the future or outcomes of any situation, we overthink to an extreme level. we may try to predict the future and control situations through overanalysis.
3. Trying to make everything perfect:-
When we have the tendency to make anything perfect leads to overthinking. Fear of rejection or mistakes compels the person to analyse the situation or work can trigger overthinking.
4. Negative Self-Talk:-
Negative self-talk creates doubtfulness about the self-ability of the person which compels them to overthink.
5. Living in the Past & Future:-
Thinking about any failures and rejections in past, and predicting & correlating the same situations with the future leads to overthinking long. It particularly depends on the thinking pattern of an individual.
6. Highly emotional/sensitive behaviour.
People who are highly sensitive & emotional in nature will overthink any adverse things that happened to them due to the environment or the behaviour of other people.
7. Overloaded Information:-
In today’s information age, large volumes of information are available through different digital platforms that sweep over the mind. Overthinkers might try to filter & process the information according to their requirement resulting in excessive analysis.
How to stop overthinking?
Understanding the root causes of overthinking is most important to find the solution for managing and reducing the impact of overthinking. So according to the causes of Overthinking, a solution to stop overthinking can be adopted. we will discuss here the most adopted ways to stop overthinking.
#1 Don’t take Life Seriously.
When any negative thoughts or adverse situations come tell yourself that “Cancel” “Cancel” and “How Wonderfull”. if we will practice this then we can be able to manage the negative thoughts utmost. Life could be a simulation. Do your Best & Leave the Rest. Your Life is precious, it is the Gift of God to you, so enjoy every moment of your life fullest. Life is not to break us, it is to make us. I firmly believed that every adversity brings with it the seed.
#2 Always live in the present moment.
Give your full attention to the present moment. what you see see it, what you listen listen it, what you do do it. In the present moment, there are never any problems. Life is just the way it is. I can say the Present moment is the PRESENT (i.e., GIFT) for your life. So, bring your focus from past mistakes or regrets and future worries to the present moment.
#3 Stop Comparing Yourself with Others.
You are the unique and only one in this universe. Nobody is the same as any other body. So, do not compare yourself with others. The only worthwhile comparison is you Yesterday versus you Today. Try to enhance your value every day & become the better version of yourself. It will not only give you full of relaxation & positivity but enhance your productivity also. Shift your Self Talk from ” I Am Not Enough” to ” I Am More Than Enough”
#4 Observe Your Thought Patterns.
The secret ingredient of an extraordinary life is nothing but thoughts. Your thoughts are the steering wheel of your life. As per research, 60000 thoughts come into the human mind in a day. Like the tides come & go in the sea each day, our thoughts come and go in our minds. So, to get rid of overthinking, observe your thought pattern. Generally negative thoughts are coming more when we have stress and conflict as a result we are overthinking. So, catch your thought pattern and whenever you get negative thoughts just shift it to corresponding positive thoughts.
#5 Shift Your Focus From Problems to Solutions
The problem is not the problem, the way you think about the problem is the problem. As we know like every lock has its key on this earth Similarly every problem has its solution. Only our perception and mindset towards a problem is important to get the solution.
“If there is no solution to the problem then don’t waste time worrying about it. If there is a solution to the problem then don’t waste time worrying about it.”
― Dalai Lama XIV
#6 Engage More With Your Passion & Habits.
Engage yourself in the habits & activities which give you pleasure & relaxation. Do it especially when you are in stress and anxious. I used to read the book & listen to music when in stress & anxious and become relaxed & feel good.
# 7 Limit Your Consumption of Information.
Always limit your consumption of information from different sources of digital platforms. By this, you will receive premium data as per your requirement which will help you to take the right decision and find the right solutions. Also, by limiting the information consumption, you can minimise the daily screen time which will help to get positive mental & physical health results.
# 8 Do Self Talk Regularly.
Generally, 99% of the harm is caused in your head by you & your thoughts. Looking in a mirror, you will see your best friend or your worst enemy.
“The only thing standing between you & success is yourself.”
Take charge of your body and self-talk yourself on a daily basis to get optimum results in life. By self-talk, we can observe the situation and think from our own perspective and can be able to destroy negative thoughts & became more positive. Always talk with yourself that ” I am more than enough” & ” I am the Best” which will provide you with high momentum and positivity. So, always create & tell yourself positive and amazing stories about you so that it will empower you.
I have experienced this so many times in my life, whenever I find any problem or take any important decision I self talk with myself at first and listen to what solution is coming & then I talk with the universe and get satisfactory answers.
# 9 Practice Mindful Meditation.
Mindfulness involves being fully in the present moment and observing the thoughts coming to us without any judgement. Practice Mindful Meditation for at least 30 mins daily so that you can be aware of your daily thought patterns and also break the cycle of overthinking.
What is the Personality of an Overthinker?
The personality of an overthinker is often attributed by think over deeply about any subject matter or question for a long period of time, analysing, and inhabiting thoughts & decisions in their daily life. Here we found out some commonly observed personalities of an overthinker.
1. Introvert:- Overthinkers are generally talking less about any topic. They are always thinking more about any subject/question deeply and also pondering on any thought.
2. Over analysing:- Overthinkers are highly analytical individuals. They analyse any situation or decision considering the different prospects, factors, and choices to find out a potential outcome. They are more studious and collect more information through research before taking any decision.
3. Lack of Self-Confidence:- They have been shown as having a lack of self-confidence and self-doubts due to which in any adverse situation or in the due course of decision making they are found with Fear. Feeling more insecure in their life.
4. No clear Goal:- Overthinkers have no clear Goal in their life due to a lack of self-confidence, and feeling insecure. They are changing their decisions regularly. They are taking more time to take any decision after analysing the situation deeply.
5. Future Centric:- Overthinkers are heavily focusing on their future life. We can say they most of the time live in their Future and Past. They remain in Fear & insecurity by imagining their future which most of the time does not happen. Due to this future-centric personality, they are anxious & stressed.
6. Complaining & Comparing Attitude:-Overthinkers are not taking charge of themselves. They have the mindset that they are not enough & others are enough. They are feeling inferior to others. Since they are not solution-focused, so always complain either to the external environment or others.
7. Highly Sensitive & Emotional:- They are highly sensitive to any situation or any behaviours of others. Due to this they are overanalysing the situations emotionally and overthinking before taking their decision.
8. Slow Decision Maker:-Overthinker cannot take any decision easily. They consume more time to research information, analyse the collected information & then take the final decision.
9. Perfectionism:- Overthinkers have the personality of Perfectionism. They always try to do any work with perfection from all angles otherwise they will not finalise it. Sometimes it is making them laggers.
How do you break the overthinking cycles?
For every problem, there is a solution in this universe. So, breaking the cycle of overthinking is also possible through our self-awareness & consciousness about our thought patterns. If we find out the root cause of overthinking on a regular basis then it becomes easier to break the cycle. we can also adopt the following practices to break the overthinking cycles.
1. Generally the overthinking cycle is the frequent negative thoughts coming to our mind. So we have to be aware and create positive thoughts related to the subject and do imagination & visualisation to relate the positive thought over negative ones. The main point is that we can imagine negative thoughts so many times that becomes a cycle but we cannot imagine positive thoughts less time. We have to practice more to develop the ability to imagine positive thoughts more time than negative ones.
2. Sit Silently at any place without distraction, close your eyes and imagine as the negative situations are breaking down and negative thoughts are coming out in the form of black smoke. and then relax.
3. Develop your self-awareness about your negative thoughts & positive thoughts coming. It is most important to break the overthinking cycle. It is not a one-night process you have to practice it consistently to develop this awareness.
4. By practising solitude, we can develop the power of positive self-talk and self-awareness which will definitely help to break the overthinking cycle.
5. Apply the W.I.N ( What is Important Now) formula to every situation or work in your life to prioritise the present moment & positivity. It is one of the best-proven formulas to stop procrastination & break the overthinking cycle.
My Personal Experience with Overthinking:-
I was an overthinker. I was thinking about any subject or adverse situation for more time, sometimes even for 2 to 3 days. It became my habit. due to which I got various negative benefits like procrastination in all work, not easily taking decisions, became more stressed. Also, due to this habit, I suffered health issues such as Digestive health disorders and frequent headaches. Also after consulting a health practitioner, it was found that digestive health disorder is a psychosomatic issue. So, overthinking and becoming stressed disturbs Digestive Health.
Then I changed my thought pattern and improved my awareness of Thoughts coming to mind, When any adverse situation came, I first questioned myself 2 questions 1. What worst will happen from this adverse situation & 2. What is Important Now?[ WIN formula]. Then what answers I was getting from these 2 questions accordingly, I was taking my decision. With this method, I could improve my quick decision-making process. Earlier I remained more in my past & future life, But after watching spiritual, life-changing videos, and reading books of eminent personalities, I started practising to live in the present moment. Even I promised myself that to get a healthy, active & happy life, the only solution is to remain in Present Moment. I got success, and now, I am always living in the present moment as a result, my digestive health is amazing, and I am feeling more positivity, and happiness in life than earlier. Along with practising remaining in the present moment, I practised consistently meditation, chanting mantras, pranayam, taking a balanced diet, creating a strong belief in mind that ” I am More than Enough” etc as a result I could stop the habit of overthinking & overanalysing any situations.
I was inspired by a real story I heard somewhere that at one place an old man of 100 years of age had never stressed or felt sad even a single day in his entire life. So, on the day of his 100th Birthday celebration, one reporter asked the old man how he could spend his entire life of a century without any stress & sadness. In his reply, Oldman said that he lived his entire life with one mantra ” Living on Every Day”, never thought about tomorrow. It was a really great inspiring story on living in the present moment.
Conclusion:
In life the adverse situation that comes to us is not suffering rather our thoughts about the situation give us suffering. Remember that breaking the cycle of overthinking takes time and effort. Be patient with yourself and celebrate even small victories along the way. Consistently practising above proven strategies can lead to greater self-control over your thought patterns and a more peaceful state of mind.
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