Strategies to Beat Overthinking - Rewire Your Brain

Dear friends,

In my quest to optimise life for time control and freedom, I often fall into the trap of overthinking. It's like having an ineffective to-do list for my thoughts, where I keep adding items without ever addressing them effectively. Should I leave medicine forever? Should I become a GP instead? Should I make YouTube videos again?

• What if I did this?
• Should I have done that?
• Could I be doing something else?

It gets tiring after a while and I’ve exhausted myself with these thoughts over the past two years. Overthinking is mental clutter, filling our minds with endless what-ifs, could-haves, and should-haves. It's a cycle of thoughts that don't serve us but consume our mental energy, leaving us drained and unable to focus on what truly matters.

Here's the thing: the human brain isn’t designed to hold onto every thought. Our brains are designed to process, decide, and let go. When we overthink, we're essentially asking our brains to multitask on an emotional level, which only leads to decreased clarity and increased stress.

So, how do we break free from this cycle?

1. Acknowledge and Accept: Recognise when you're overthinking. Accept that it's happening without judging yourself.
2. Limit Your Options: Just like trimming a to-do list to three essential tasks, limit your mental debates. Focus on what's actionable and let go of what you can't control.
3. Set Boundaries: Allocate specific times to ponder over important decisions, but don't let these thoughts spill over into every moment of your day.
4. Don’t look back: After you make a decision using the information you had available at the time, don’t look back. Hindsight will always be 20:20 and you’ll end up overanalysing your decisions again.
5. Practice Mindfulness: Engage in activities that require your full attention. This could be anything from meditation, reading, or physical activity. The key is to be present in the moment and do something that works for you.

Remember, overthinking is just our brain's way of trying to solve a puzzle that doesn't really exist. It's like being stuck in a roundabout, going in circles. The key is to realise when it's time to take the exit. Focus on what's in front of you, deal with it, and move on. Life's too short to spend it overanalysing every detail. Keep it simple and enjoy the ride.

Quote 🧠

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." — Confucius

As always be safe, and be happy.

Warm regards - Yath 🤟🏾

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