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