5 Keys to Stop Overthinking
Have you ever wished that you could stop overthinking things?
Would you ever want your heart to stop beating? No. Do you want your lungs to stop breathing? No. Your heart is made to beat, your lungs are made to breathe, so why do you want your brain to stop thinking? The one thing that your brain is meant to do is think.
So the issue is not that you’re overthinking. The issue is what you’re thinking about. You’re not overthinking the positive, you’re overthinking the negative which means that you’re focusing on the wrong thing.
Here are 5 keys to shift your focus:
1. Develop self-awareness.
People tend to think about the negative until it gets to a boiling point and becomes too much. Begin to become self-aware of the things that make you feel like crap before it builds up to anxiety or depression.
2. Stop trying to be perfect.
You will never be perfect. We live in the age of Instagram where every photo that you see is photoshopped, and people are only putting up the highlights of their lives. Stop comparing your life to somebody’s edited version. Your perfection is in your imperfection.
3. Stop trying to control everything.
Let the world do what it’s going to do. We all have some form of a control problem, but we don’t realize that the only thing we can control is ourselves. 48% of what we do is on autopilot, so you’re not even fully in control of yourself! That is very stressful for most people. You have to be able to accept the unknown, knowing that that’s what life is. You’ll realize that when you accept not having control, life gets so much easier.
4. Put your life into perspective.
Anytime you’re having a bad day, think about this; today 25,000 people will die of starvation and you’re complaining about the wifi going out. When you realize that, it puts you in a better place, and when you’re in a better place you can go out and serve the world better. You have a lot to be grateful for.
5. Have a plan.
You won’t stop overthinking today or tomorrow. So when you catch yourself going down that path of negativity again, devise a plan BEFORE you get there. Whether that’s exercising, spending more time in nature, or visiting your family.
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