Soundtracks

Your thoughts either move you forward or hold you back.

Overthinking leads to inaction. When your thoughts overwhelm you, they hold you back from realizing your dreams. Overthinking wastes your time, impedes your creativity and makes you less productive. You may believe you cannot control your thoughts, yet by listening to them too much, you allow them to influence your career, your personal relationships and your future.

When you overthink, thoughts repeat or spin in your brain – longer than you expect, longer than you want. These thoughts often exaggerate things you said or did that you’d rather forget. These negative thoughts – “broken soundtracks” – play uninvited in your head and generate doubt and insecurity that leads to lost opportunities.

“Even if we are very deliberate in other areas of our lives, we tend to treat our thought life as something we have no control over.”

Over time, your brain repeats these broken soundtracks, and they reset your memories.?You believe what your brain tells you?and find evidence to support those beliefs.

You can learn to control your brain and to?ignore your broken soundtracks. Combat overthinking by replacing your broken soundtracks with new ones and repeat your new ones until they play automatically in your head.

Influence your ideas with action.

Negative words adversely affect your actions, your health?and your happiness.?Likewise, when you prep yourself with uplifting words, they boost your well-being. Positive thoughts guide your actions, which, in turn, guide your thoughts. To break the negative cycle of broken soundtracks, choose new, positive ones. Use the power of your thoughts to instill hope and create opportunities.

“What you think influences what you do, which influences the results you get.”

When reflecting on your current thought patterns, ask whether they reflect these qualities:

• True – Many people come to believe the story their thoughts tell without testing for credibility. A familiar refrain – that others perform a task better than you do, for example – hinders your ability to move forward with your career?or interests.?Broken soundtracks harm the culture and spirit of an organization if people fail to question the veracity of those?messages.
• Helpful – A broken soundtrack might be true – that you did have a certain unpleasant conversation, for example. When analyzing your thoughts about this conversation, however, consider: Do they fuel your progress or cause indecision?
• Kind – Kind thoughts do not judge you. Google, for example, found that when team members treated their peers without judgment, these teams had higher levels of performance and innovation.

When something does not go well for you, or you make a mistake, instead of berating yourself, try saying a non-judgmental “oh well,” and simply move on.

You cannot turn off your thoughts; turn them down instead.

Treating your thoughts as on or off – you either think or you don’t – sets you up for failure. Instead, aim to turn down the volume on your broken soundtracks. Consider these techniques to successfully reset your perspective:

• Exercise, which releases endorphins that boost your mood.
• Make lists to sort out your tasks and help you prioritize.
• Complete a task or two, however minor, to give yourself a sense of accomplishment.
• Distract yourself with a hobby, such as doing a jigsaw puzzle, knitting, reading a book or listening to a podcast.
• Take a walk in the woods.
• Breathe.

Talking with friends can help break any unhealthy thought cycles and turn down the volume on negativity. Friends help you see the truth and provide a healthier viewpoint. They likely have a few broken soundtracks they cycle through themselves, so in return, they will welcome your positive insights.

Replace your “broken soundtracks” with the songs you want to hear.

You will always hear the thoughts that cycle through your mind. Remember that you choose the playlist.?If you don’t have new soundtracks ready to play, look around you. Borrow from others.?Grab a pen and paper and listen for a phrase that strikes an encouraging chord with you. Write it down.

When you hear simple words, such as “Nothing good is ever easy,” record them; they may inspire you when you lose faith in yourself during your next difficult situation or work project.?When trying something new, instead of automatically downplaying your abilities, recall the time someone said, “No one is good at things they’ve never done before.” Borrow uplifting phrases, so when you retire your broken soundtracks, you have replacements at the ready.

“You don’t think your way out of overthinking. You act your way out. You retire broken soundtracks. You replace them with new ones. You repeat those, so often they become as automatic as the old ones. Those are all actions.”

As you collect your new soundtracks, see where they fit using the “win > soundtrack > action” template:?

• Identify ways you want to succeed –?the wins you want in your life –?such as having more confidence in sales meetings or taking a run outside, even in the cold.
• Retire your broken soundtracks and ask yourself what new soundtracks resonate?with you, and will?give you the impetus to succeed. For your sales meeting, for example, remind yourself that, like other members in the group, you have valid contributions to offer. For your run, focus on how good you always feel afterward.
• Take action. Conduct preliminary research for the sales meeting to solidify your understanding and your position. For your run, perhaps allow yourself to run inside on the treadmill.

Keep a notebook and write down your new soundtracks. Owning a collection of new soundtracks to replace your broken ones gives you the lift you need to take action.

Use the power of opposites to change the direction of your thoughts.

Certain words in your thought patterns signify a broken soundtrack: “everything, nothing, forever.” You think, for example, that “nothing you can do will help,” when facing a challenging situation, or “none of your skills transfer” in today’s dynamic economy.?Similarly, you might first react to change with criticism rather than with an open mind.?Organizations, too, fall prey to these negative narratives.

When you hear broken soundtracks that deal in these absolutes, turn them upside down. Change goes hand-in-hand with life today, and flipping the narrative offers you a route to take action. Choose alternatives:

• Curiosity over criticism.
• “What if I succeed?” over “What if I fail?”
• “I wonder how that could work here” over “That will never work here.”

Tiffany from South Carolina, for example, learned to flip the broken soundtrack that had haunted her since high school: that she would never do well with math. Taking a job in payroll taught her an important lesson that allowed her to succeed:?She learned she actually enjoyed – and excelled at – everyday math, just not algebra or geometry.?Find your broken soundtrack’s opposite and flip it to create a soundtrack that encourages you.

Recite motivational soundtracks aloud for 30 days and notice how that changes your outlook.

Overthinkers repeatedly play broken soundtracks in their heads, whether those soundtracks prove true or not. Most find it easier to think negative thoughts, as they have done for years, rather than implant new, positive ones. To override broken soundtracks, replace them with new ones and repeat them, so your new soundtracks play automatically.

Zig Ziglar, the renowned motivational speaker, suggests you start with a simple method: For 30 days, morning and night, repeat positive affirmations in front of a mirror,?and reflect on the effect?this repetition has on you. You might find traffic no longer has the power to ruin your morning,or you no longer let a simple mistake linger in your head for days. At first, these affirmations may feel contrived; yet repeating them for a month will improve your outlook and sprinkle optimism into your automatic reactions to daily occurrences.

“Good days start with good thoughts.”

When Tom Ziglar – Zig’s 16-year-old son – applied for a job, he used positive affirmations to counter his lack of experience and landed the gig. Tom learned from his father to focus on responding, not reacting, to his circumstances.

For example, periodic airport delays pose challenges, and you may react with frustration. But they also create opportunities.?When, for instance, you respond to the delay by catching up on work priorities, you create a win. Choosing optimism as your day begins prevents your thoughts from spiraling in reaction to problems and allows you to focus on finding solutions.

Gather your true, helpful and kind soundtracks to create a chorus that sings during times you might overthink.

In a research study designed to test Ziglar’s 30-day positive affirmation proposal, 10,000 people agreed to read a series of 10 positive affirmations aloud in front of a mirror, morning and night. The participants repeated these phrases in the morning to launch them with optimism into their day, and in the evening to quiet errant thoughts and consider their day a success. The declarations addressed areas in which overthinking tends to hinder people’s ability to act. For example:

• “Momentum is messy,” addresses perfectionism.
• “I’ve got a gift worth giving,” focuses on personal identity.
• “I am the CEO of me, and I am the best boss,” centers on responsibility.

The study found?that when people repeated these positive affirmations, they decreased their overthinking, boosted their productivity and overall satisfaction,?and increased their likelihood of achieving their goals.?Companies, too, benefit when they implement new soundtracks in the workplace culture that increase creativity, productivity and performance.

Renounce your pocket jury – the internal judge who tries to thwart?your progress – by gathering evidence.

When you repeat broken soundtracks, you see situations around you that support them. Your pocket jury further amplifies negative thoughts?by raising doubts about any new soundtracks you introduce. But when you repeat your new positive affirmations, they follow the same pattern. You find evidence in your daily activities to support them, and positivity begins to dominate your thoughts.

For example, when you make a mistake, your pocket jury likens it to all the other mistakes you made in the past in hopes of bringing you down. However, if your new soundtrack emphasizes how things tend to work out for you, you see not the mistake but the opportunity that may arise from it. A canceled meeting, for example, turns into a chance to catch up on missed work. A delayed schedule on your weekend provides time to enjoy with your family. Not everything that occurs has a positive side, but, in most cases, when you look for evidence, you can find reasons to support your optimism.

“You have to gather some evidence of what you want to be true in your life. This is not a passive experience. Proof won’t find you; you have to find it.”

Quell the negative noise by taking action against your pocket jury. Ask if the evidence around you supports its claims and emphasize the truth. If you have listened to a broken soundtrack for years without proof, strike it down and, with conscious effort, replace it.

Translate your new soundtracks into a symbol that helps you embrace positivity.

A library director?from Nebraska, for example, keeps a rock on her desk to remind herself of the time she went on a harder hike than she thought she could handle. A pair of writers from Utah post bright encouragement stickers on their rejection letters to keep their focus on their future success. These participants understand that, like Nike’s swoosh or Livestrong’s neon yellow bracelet, symbols carry strong messages.

“Overthinking steals time, creativity, and productivity by making you listen to broken soundtracks. Do you know what happens when you listen to new ones? You give your dreams more time, creativity, and productivity. ”

To find your symbol, chose something personal, such as a favorite photo or an upbeat note from a friend. Remember that what works for others may not work for you. Keep your symbol visible to serve as a daily reminder –?more like a tattoo you see every day than a shirt hanging in your closet. Consider other options when searching for your symbol, such as a favorite mug that reminds you of a memorable trip, a compass to remind you to?keep?moving forward or a race bib that gives you the inspiration to do more.