Dont Over Think Just Do

when i overthink it’s like having

two warring beings on each shoulder

similar to a devil and an angel but

they’re not inherently

good or bad just opposites and these

opposites are

always pulling me two different ways

one is saying do this while the other is

saying don’t do that

this isn’t right that doesn’t make sense

no that’s stupid and soon enough

it starts to stop the cat fight a lot of

hissing and screeching that jumbles into

an incomprehensible mess that i

cannot understand that

in my experience is overthinking

my outside is calm but my inside

is a war now let me put this analogy

into a

scenario how many people have

overthought an interaction they were

going to have with someone

i know i have i remember an incident

that happened just this past january

actually when i studied abroad in london

my classmates and i had the opportunity

to visit four public relations agencies

as part of our immersive

curriculum experience at each agency

there was a q a portion where we could

ask about the inner workings of pr and

even make ourselves stand out

in the process at one agency

my favorite one in fact i so badly want

to make a good first impression on the

employees

that instead of using the time i had to

get my questions answered

i began to overthink cue the quarreling

cats

the question is dumb don’t ask that that

question was already axed you snooze you

lose sorry

that question question’s too basic think

of something more

intelligent and on and on these cats

wins

there are three ways you can respond to

stressful situations

which is exactly what this was

fight flight or freeze

so what did i do i froze

i became paralyzed and took no action at

all

i asked not one single question

i still wonder almost a year later as a

college graduate

still searching for a job in my field

what could have been what would have

happened if i just

made the connections in the pr firms

when they had the chance

and how many opportunities have i

possibly missed

because i didn’t

this is what overthinking does it

hinders you for reaching your true

potential

that’s because when we overthink our

brains go just a little haywire

a study done at the university of

pennsylvania found that people whose

brains use

non-essential parts while learning how

to play a game had a harder time

becoming proficient in it

that is they seem to have trouble

learning the task at hand because they

were overthinking it

now i’m not a science person by any

means but this is what the science tells

us

and if i can understand it then so can

you

so let me break it down bio engineer

daniel bassett

the study’s lead author explained that

the slow learners kept

two cognitive control centers the

prefrontal cortex

and the anterior cingulate cortex

actively longer than participants who

learn more quickly

these parts of the brain which are

normally used for

devising and carrying out plans high

level thinking and

problem solving are helpful for

tackling complex tasks but can be

hurdles

to completing very basic ones

in other words an overthinking brain

simplifies complicated tasks which is

very helpful

but over complicates simple ones which

is not very helpful

so some things as simple and elementary

as

striking up a conversation with someone

new or asking a question

becomes so much more difficult than they

need to be

all because you’re over about what to do

with that being said let me propose

another scenario

how many people have over thought a task

they had to do

again i definitely have and very

recently in fact

as in as i was preparing for this talk

recently

i wanted to talk about overthinking

because i myself

am an overthinker so i knew that this

topic would hit home

and therefore hopefully resonate better

with you all

but for the life of me i couldn’t think

of the

perfect time where i overthought

so the quran and cats came back where we

even start

don’t talk about that time that’s dumb

that wasn’t an instance of overthinking

try again

wait wait wait am i even an overthinker

so what did i do well my response was

the same

i froze i became paralyzed and took

no action at all it took me

weeks to decide on that london scenario

i was overthinking about

overthinking

i quite literally overthought this talk

to the point of not working on it for

weeks because i was stuck on one task

what this tells us is that overthinking

can slow us down

even to a halt harvard university

professor bonnie talbert is one of many

professionals who refer to this halt as

analysis paralysis she explains that

overthinkers find it hard to find

great or even good solutions to their

problems

and even when they conceive of a

potentially useful solution

they’re not even confident that it would

actually work

as a result they hardly ever have any

intention

or motivation to act on those solutions

now when we set goals for ourselves we

are

undoubtedly going to encounter hurdles

along the way to

accomplishing those goals so some

thought

needs to be put into our course of

action

however when we overthink that course of

action

we become our biggest hurdle

so stop over thinking

i know i know that’s easier said than

done i’m fully aware

so here are three small baby step

everyday actions that you can take until

these actions become a habit

or in other words until they are a

behavior pattern that becomes almost

involuntary number one

become aware of when you’re overthinking

and once you become aware

don’t think about what can go wrong but

what can go right

then number two realize and come to

terms with the fact that

even if something does go wrong it’s

okay

stop striving for perfection because it

does not

exist give yourself some leeway and cut

yourself some slack

and number three take a deep breath

take a step back from the situation and

try again later on

now these steps may sound a little

abstract

but that’s because they require a lot

more mental action rather than

physical action they have to because as

the science informs us

overthinking affects the mind so you

need to get your

mind out of the habit of overthinking

first and foremost

every time i begin to overthink i apply

these baby steps

that’s why even in the midst of a

pandemic

during such uncertain and trying times

i’m able to remain motivated i press

on i started a youtube channel and a

vlog

little old me despite every number in my

body telling me to stay in my comfort

zone despite

my overthinking brain telling me i

wasn’t good enough remotely ready to

have these platforms

i made them anyway and i haven’t looked

back

ever since by

implementing these steps into my life

i’ve never been more self-aware more

forgiving to myself

and more productive

every person has limitless potential

how can that potential ever be reached

if you overthink your next steps to the

point of not doing

anything at all

so go with your gut follow

your instincts and once you do that

trust yourself to not overthink

but do and see where your brilliant mind

can take you