What is stopping people from getting the results they want?
Well, for one I’d say a pretty common and self-imposed roadblock is thinking too much.
In fact, one of the best tips for getting things done that I have learned so far is simply to stop thinking and start doing.
I think this problem of overthinking things is nothing that I’m alone with in the personal development community. I think it may be one of the problems that draw people to books and websites on self-help and one of the things that still keep them from achieving what they want even after they have picked up on a lot of helpful advice.
Because after having read five books you think and plan and think a little more. You get lost in thinking. At least that’s what I did. If you’re an overthinker then getting your hands on personal development information becomes just another way to creatively procrastinate. But now you can label it as making progress and get an emotional kick out of it.
Now, I’m not saying that educating yourself or thinking is something bad. But overdoing it won’t help you either.
Here are a couple of good reasons why.
1. Thinking can’t replace action.
I sometimes think there is some kind of wish when overthinking that thinking will somehow replace action. A wish that if you just think enough you can find some easy way out or get what you want without having to actually do something.
Without taking action you’ll most likely not get what you want. Thinking is however seldom as scary or uncertain as taking the leap into the unknown and taking action.
So it can become a place where you hide from taking action and then rationalize to yourself in different ways how all this thinking will help you. Even though you know deep down that what you really want and need is to take action and get going.
If you’re having trouble taking action then you may also want to check out Do You Make These 5 Mistakes When You Try to Take Action? and How to Take More Action: 9 Powerful Tips.
2. You may overcomplicate things.
Are things hard and difficult? Yeah, they might be. But you may also want consider that it’s you that are making them even harder.
By overthinking things you make them more and more complicated in your mind. You can turn something fairly simple into a really complicated and big mess. And so it goes from something you can do with some discomfort and persistence into an epic battle where you keep moving inch by painstaking inch.
A problem here is that when what you are doing is difficult and complicated then you and others think that it must be important. And so you feel important. You derive a sense of importance from making things into big struggles.
Such a thing can form into an identity where you are struggling and keeping on moving forward while you imagine other people lying at home in the sofa lazily watching some TV. It can strengthen you. It can make you feel negatively about other people. It may feel good in a sort of way to feel like an outsider or some kind of misunderstood underdog that’s up against so much. So it has its upsides.
However, you may also want to consider not making things to so hard for yourself. You don’t have to be a rebel that’s going against the world. You can just accept what you choose to do. And that other people choose to do other things.
Upsides such as a feeling of importance or of being the underdog may make it hard to give up the notion that what you are doing may not be that difficult and complicated. But I have found that when I do that then I become more relaxed and things tend to be easier to accomplish.
You can to some degree control how difficult something will be. Much of your struggle is up there in your head. Just try letting go of the notion of how awfully difficult something is and see what happens. You may be relieved. And surprised at how you have been making your life more complicated than it needs to be.
3. You’ll perform worse.
If you overthink things you may overcomplicate them. And so you become nervous and start to second guess yourself all the time. It also becomes harder to focus on doing something when you have a have a habit of thinking a lot. You may often slip into possible future scenarios in your mind instead just focusing on what you are doing right now.
All of this can cripple your performance and produce results that are worse than they could have been.
How to stop thinking so much
So, I used to be a big overthinker. Still am. From time to time. But I have made progress. Here are three things I use to cultivate a habit of not overthinking things.
Be aware of the problem.
The most important thing is to be aware that you tend to overthink. And to keep being aware of that in your everyday life. You can for instance do that with post-it notes that say “Don’t overthink things. Act!” or something along those lines.
By just being aware of your habit you can often pick up on when you are doing it, stop yourself and do something more helpful instead. Over time it also becomes easier to step out of the loop of thoughts and not get stuck back in it a half an hour later.
Set deadlines for decisions.
Instead of thinking about something for days, tell yourself that you have - for example - 30 minutes to think. Then you will make a decision.
Be present.
Focus on what’s in front of you instead of flying off to the past or Tomorrowland for long periods of time. A tennis player will for instance not think much while playing. She just trusts in her own subconscious and stays with flow. Her body will – after years of practise – know what to do automatically.
The same goes for many things in everyday life. You don’t have to think a lot about everything. You can just stay present and let the right actions naturally arise.
This may sound a bit wonky, but if you just do things while being present you may discover that the results are often better than if you put in a lot of thought. Like the tennis player, you know what the right thing to do is and how to do it well from years of experience and practise. You just have to let go of all that thinking that can cripple you. And have trust in your capabilities.
For tips on how to be present have a look at 8 Ways to Return to the Present Moment.
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If content is king in blogging, action and consequently experience is king in personal development.
When it comes to decide if you should adopt a new way of living in the end the only way to know if it is going to work is to go all out using it for a set period of time. If the change is supposed to bring serious change into your life you probably want to practice all out for 3 - 9 months to see how real and long term its effects are.
Its far to easy to do things for a couple of weeks and then decide its not working and start reading again.
Hi Henrik,
I completely agree with everything you’ve mentioned in this article and I appreciate the suggestions you’ve offered. Sometimes planning, mapping, and organizing can get in the way of the end goal which is ultimately, to take action. I don’t know how many times overthinking has only made things worse for me, both professionally and personally. My productivity mantra recently has been “Just do it.”
It’s like you peeked into my overanalytical mind! I’ve spent many hours reading about a new hobby or idea without ever actually trying it. Lame, right?
Setting deadlines with concrete action points is probably the best strategy for me. Embracing small steps also helps.
In my life, action has always benefited me more than overthinking things. So, I’m trying to embrace failures as successful experiments in not thinking too much.
I agree. Even if we do manage to gather all the information and process it, usually we can implement one or two points of it only. Then we start looking for information all over again
Great article Henrik! I especially like you’re point about how over thinking generally complicates things. While I think it is possible to have an attitude of simplification in your thinking, which allows you to think about ways to make things easier and easier, that is much more difficult to achieve.
This is me. I overthink my life and I have been crippled. I have wanted to start my own business for a while now, but have looked for reasons why I shouldn’t…what if I can’t make enough money to pay my bills, and can’t find another job in my business if I fail, and I go totally broke?…or, I can’t do anything yet until my home sells and I can move back home and get on with my life…etc. I am finally learining to take steps towards what I want.
I love this blog and it always keeps me mentally in check.
Thank you very much for the support.
Brilliant post, Henrik! My mantra that snaps me back into action whenever my mind wanders while I’m working is “Make it work.” These tree little words encompass many core concepts: (1) No obstacle is too great to overcome; (2) It has to get done so do whatever it takes to get it done; (3) There are many different ways to get to the same desired result — none are perfect — so just get moving and get there; (3) It doesn’t need to be perfect — it just needs to be “good enough”; and, most importantly, (4) it needs to get done on time!
I’ve learned to trust my instincts much more (just like your tennis player example), and it’s made a world of difference. In fact, I wrote about why our instincts are rather weak if we have had a particularly challenging child and about how to overcome that in my article “Fan Your Inner Flame Till It Burns Bright” at http://shanelyang.com/2008/05/10/fan-your-inner-flame-till-it-burns-bright/
So, now I have a better sense of when I’ve thought enough about a problem and what initial steps/actions I need to take just to get the additional information I need to have any further fruitful thoughts about the issue at hand. Again, great post!
This is so timely for me, as i have been trying to “figure things out” on work/life/goals
A friend told me that sometimes we just have to let purpose come to us. So i realize i have to “let go” of those things i cannot control, like other people’s behaviors, and i need to be responsible for myself and TAKE responsibABILITY for my actions.
thanks
I think we are all at some time or another, victims of over-thinking. Problems and road-blocks can seem so intimidating sometimes, that we tend to feel that thinking about it keeps us from having to “act” on it. But at the end of the day, the challenge is still there, waiting for us to make a move. I agree with many of the points you made. It’s important to focus, give yourself a timeframe within which you can make your decision, and not allow fear to keep you from doing something that will benefit you. Thank you for sharing.
Kei
http://therevealedoasis.blogspot.com
Thinking rather than simply doing is just like waiting for the “right time” to buy a personal computer or laptop. If you wait for the right specs or right price, you will wait forever, as things are getting faster and cheaper continuously. There are particular times, such as transient high memory prices, when you should wait. But, in general, the utility value that you get from using the tool is far greater than the money saved by waiting. Perhaps the most frequent wait rather than do scenario is “i’ll write that novel when I ‘have enough time’”, which of course never comes.
The other problem with waiting is that you start to miss the opportunities and variances in the path that you have chosen. If you wait, you don’t make the mistakes that provide great opportunities to change your path to something that aligns more closely to what you intended to get out of it.
What a delighful post!
It amazes how many on this internet thing, who “want to be in Business” spend all their time Buying Junk, never reading; Attending Teleseminars; Listeneing to Sizzle calls…
And DO NOTHING!
I have rushed into ventures for 5.5 decades, messed up a couple of times, SO WHAT.
85% of Intuition will take you to next level, If you ACT ON IT NOW.
Thanks,
Chuck
Henrik,
I really enjoy your article and this site. I will bookmark it! Positivity is definitely key, after all, the law of attraction encourages like to attract like. The more positive we think the more positive will come our way. As for quieting the mind, that’s another story since I feel like it is always running a mile a minute. Meditation does help though. Anyways, I appreciate the knowledge you share on this site as I too am an advocate for self improvement. I have recently started my own site, www.theyoumovement.com because of this desire to not only improve myself and others but also the world. Check it out if you have the time.
Barbara
Great article. I am a huge over thinker and it continually gets me in trouble in terms of completing things that I’ve started (because my ideas tangent and tangent until the end result is so far removed from where I am that I can never finish!).
I also appreciate a personal development writer who isn’t trying to perpetuate the vicious circle often seen in personal help manuals. I’ve read my fair share and you get to the end of it and feel like you need a lot more work, rather then feeling confident and “fixed”! So thanks.
I’m SO guilty of overthinking. Thanks for this reminder to move forward and take action.
I am in the process of limiting my thinking time by creating concrete guidelines for myself (I did this for my blog to keep things simple and focused). It is great to have a bit of guidance to keep my thoughts on track and productive so I can make my list of tasks and GO!
Thinking is an amazing topic. Its one THE topics of zen thought, if not the major one, and Chinese have a many words that dont work in the way of thinking that our Western ways of language do. The word
“Mouchen” means mindless or that happens of itself
this is an important word that symbolizes that of all thinks, because whether we believe it to be so, we are always acting spontaneously. Even though we become flustered with endless arrary of words, we can get lost in action as well. Perhaps finding that which captures our attention and fully maintaining our ability to get mindlessly caught in action.
You are so right. Analysis paralysis seems to be a common sickness amongst the “over-studied” cases like me.
My wife on the other hand, blissfully does what she thinks is right and very much more often than not, she is!
Stop thinking, and one day, you too can become President of the USA !
I can’t tell you how much this post hits home. I’ve experienced it myself. I’ve taken an aspect of my life that needs improvement and then I’ve read as many books as I can on the subject. It eventually occurs to me that along with seeing contradictions in advice and so many methods for improvement I am not taking action. Great advice and much needed for many.
Rick
Another great article, Henrik! I especially like under “be aware of the problem” is that you said overthinking is a habit. We often think of habits as things we do that are physically bad for us, like smoking, overeating, etc. But habits are also the ways that we think - or overthink. Once we realize what our mental habits are, and are aware of the problem as you say, we can begin to make the necessary changes. Thanks!
Overthinking is my downfall, but I’m getting better at moving into action.
Thanks for treating this topic.
Great article and Great Advice!! Thank you!!
I’d argue that overthinking is better than underthinking. As an earlier commenter suggested, we could use a little more overthinking in the executive branch of US government.
Doug
I agree that over-thinking is a problem, and there are definitely times where one must act right away. I also have too often seen the reverse where individuals or groups do not take a few moments to consider the ramifications and can make huge messes.
Insightful post. I really agree with the part about being present. Sometimes, its as if we get too caught up in chasing the future or escaping the past that we don’t see the opportunities that lie right before our eyes.
Great post Henrik!
Im guilty of overthinking A LOT..it’s hard to move from over analyzing to doing it..But, it’s a pretty important move.
Thanks for the post!
Great post. There has to be balance with everything though.
People who think too much are in the same predicament than people who think too little.
Balance is the key to life.
I am an overthinker… I really REALLY get into something…
Like i can look at something… ANYTHING… example, piggy bank, i will sit there and deeply think about EVERYTHING… to how im going to spend the money.. to when its full should i buy a bigger piggy bank? or should i bank it? where should i put my piggy bank? do i even really want a piggy bank?… I HATE IT!… its driving me insane.. all i do is THINK!! .. even at work… constantly… i even miss days at work cos i cant get up cos i just want to keep thinking.. and getting stuff done.. or it will bug the crap out of me in my head… DRIVES ME INSANE… i think about EVERYTHING… then try and find the root to how i thought of it?..
or even like my body creams or face washes.. i threw MOST of my makeup and all my creams, so i could try and fit it into a little bag… cos if i EVER decided to go travel, everything would be packed… like i threw basically all my stuff out!!, to my teddy bears, computer, etc.. i dont own much now… even clothes.. ive only got a few.. i needed to throw them away.. cos i think too much about it.. i feel like if i dont own anything, i wont have to think about anything… so now im living with “not much” at all..
this may sound confusing or even extremely boring..
i need help.. i cant stop thinking.. it hurts my head… it makes me wanna cry ALL THE TIME…
Me too …an overthinker..I am a student.I usually think
big.I might be just started a new course or started learning about something new in our IT field.Most of the time my books will be kept open ,but my mind wanders seeing future such as I would in this position after mastering this theory…Likewise I think too optimistically and the time would have passed away without even completing a few pages of study.
This post has made me interesting and is making me to change.Good post…
Brilliant!!! Thanks for an amazing article.
Calculate once is good.
Calculate again is not that bad but
Calculate again and again is just wasting of time.