Why are you stuck in the same place doing the same things over and over? If you feel like you’re stalled out and never getting where you want to go, you might be scaring off success through overthinking. Think about these 10 ways overthinking is scaring success away:
Decisions Seem Hard
When you get caught up in trying to think through every possible outcome, it can become nearly impossible to make decisions. Here’s where overthinking stalls you out completely.
You’re Avoiding Decisions Altogether
Now take things a step further. What happens when decisions feel too impossible? You start avoiding making decisions and start telling people around you to decide things for you.
You’re Not Trusting Your Gut
It’s great to think through the options, but when you ignore your instincts, now you’ve moved into the world of second-guessing yourself, a symptom of overthinking.
Your Friends Have Heard it all Before
It’s normal to want to talk over a problem with those around you. But when your friends have started to hear the same stories more than once, you’re spending far too much time thinking about it.
You’re Not Getting Things Done on Time
Are you missing deadlines because you’re going back over things too much? Even worse, are you not even starting the project because you’re too worried about the outcome? This is overthinking disguised as procrastination.
You’re Caught in a Research Vortex
Spending too much time on the options? If you’ve found yourself doing excessive research beyond what others would need to make the decision, it’s time to back off on the thinking.
You’re Missing Conversations
Are you thinking while others are talking and missing out on whole chunks of conversation? You’re overthinking.
You Revisit History a Lot
Going over what happened in the past can sometimes be therapeutic. Doing it over and over to try to figure out how something went wrong or looking for alternate interpretations of events is overthinking.
You Don’t Sleep
When you’re overwhelmed by thoughts, your brain cannot possibly let you rest. If you’re up nights thinking about things, you’re in trouble.
You Get Stuck on “What if…”
Worrying about the outcome can kill forward progress, especially when you’re obsessing about what might happen next. Of course, some concern about outcomes is healthy. It’s when these thoughts hold you back, they become a trait of overthinking.
When you overthink, you’re no longer acting. Without action, you’re never going to find success. It really is just that simple. The trick is to recognize when you’re doing it, so you can nip overthinking in the bud. When you catch it, firmly tell yourself no. Then choose the next best action. Keep doing this, and you’ll quickly find yourself back on the road to success.
Recent Comments