Simplify Your Life and Stop Overthinking Every Decision

You’re making yourself miserable for no reason

To think too much is a disease. –Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Have you ever spent hours or days wondering if you made the right decision?

Do you over-analyze things to the point that you don’t take action?

Does the thought of making big decisions secretly fill you with terror?

If you struggle with overthinking know this: you’re not alone. If you're like me and struggle to decide between the filet mignon or pan-seared salmon at a restaurant, you know the frustration overthinking a cause. But it gets worse.

A study at Harvard found that overthinking can shorten your life. It will rob you of your peace. It will leave you feeling stuck. It will undermine your best intentions and dismantle your confidence.

It’s possible to break free from the self-imposed prison of overthinking. But you just have to commit to making a decision and taking action even if you’re wrong.

There, I said it. It’s time to get out of your head and into your life. Stop overthinking and start doing.

The High Cost of Overthinking

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.” –Napoleon Bonaparte

It’s easy to say “stop overthinking”, and it’s even easier to write. But when it comes down to it, you get paralyzed by overthinking because you’re afraid of making a wrong decision.

Of course, the bigger the decision, the more time and attention it deserves. If the decision you’re making is life or death, it’s a much bigger decision than deciding where to eat or what to wear.

The kind of overthinking I’m talking about here creeps into your life in simple, devious ways:

• Questioning a decision which leaves you in analysis paralysis so you can’t move forward
• Trying to read someone’s mind so that you can know what you’re going to say next, which prevents you from actually listening to them
• Reading into situations because you’re scared someone is hiding their intentions so you obsess over problems that aren’t there
• Trying to predict what will happen next so you won’t be caught off guard which will cause you more anxiety

One 2013 study found that ruminating (overthinking)over stressful life events leads to depression in adolescents and adults.

If that isn’t enough for you, Psychology Today reported findings that overthinking leads to emotional distress, which can lead to unhealthy coping strategies like overeating or alcohol abuse.

It’s obvious that overthinking kills happiness.

If you want to start living your life, find greater happiness, and be healthy, it’s time to put a stop to overthinking. Here are some strategies I’ve used that will help you do that immediately.

The Biggest Question to Ask Yourself

“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.” –Winston Churchill

It’s easier to make decisions when you know what you want in life.

If you don’t have a high-level vision for what you’re aiming for, it makes smaller decisions even harder.

You must ask yourself: What do I really want?

The root of overthinking is fear. When you have a clear, defined picture in your mind of what you want, you start weighing your options against that outcome.

If you’re deciding between going out on Saturday night or staying home and working on your business, the answer becomes very simple when you know that you’re more interested in financial freedom than being popular.

At my job, I work with the general public. It amazes me how many people drift through life with no particular place to go and no particular purpose to accomplish. You can join the masses, or break free from the pack and live life on your own terms.

But make no mistake, if you don’t decide what you really want, you’ll always be anxious, uncertain, and bitter.

Give Yourself Permission

“Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again.” –Michael Jordan

If you want to stop overthinking and get on with your life, give yourself permission to be wrong.

That’s right. You can only break free from overthinking when you permit yourself to make the wrong decision.

That’s scary. But the alternative is an endless loop of overthinking.

Think about some of the wrong decisions you’ve made in the past. Tell me, did things turn out ok? If your gut reaction is: No! things didn’t turn out ok, take it down another level.

Are you still alive?

Did you learn something from being wrong?

There are very few decisions you can make that can’t be fixed or reversed. The problem is, we’re so afraid of being wrong that we won’t do anything.

But it’s not the being wrong part that’s so scary, it’s what other people will think that lands you in analysis paralysis. What will your friends, spouse, parents, co-workers think if you make the wrong decision?

You will free yourself from the fear of other people’s opinions when you realize that other people don’t have life figured out either. Everybody is living by trial and error on some level.

I’m not advocating reckless decision making, but you can’t stop overthinking if you don’t commit and go.

Stop overthinking and give yourself permission to be wrong.

The Mindset You Need

“In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Most day-to-day decisions are fixable if you get them wrong.

That simple mindset, if applied, can help you break free from overthinking because it gives you the permission you need to make mistakes.

Yes, it might be messy, and yes you may have to apologize to someone who was negatively affected by the decision — but that’s life sometimes.

A big part of being a responsible human being means owning your mistakes and working to fix them.

The willingness to decide, commit, and adjust along the way is essential to living with any type of forward trajectory.

Consider, have you ever solved a problem by just thinking about it?

Even though you may, at times, make the wrong decision, it’s better to make a few mistakes and keep going than to constantly ruminate.

Powerful Habits to Stop Overthinking

Breaking free from overthinking requires interrupting the pattern of rumination. When you catch yourself overthinking, try one or more of these.

1. Write

Writing about the thing you’re overthinking is tremendously helpful. It takes all those thoughts that are swimming around in your head and puts them on paper in concrete form. Writing lets you see your thoughts in writing. It also forces you to clarify what you’re thinking about. This helps you draw better conclusions than if you’re just trying to work it all out in your head.

2. Ask

Asking for guidance can be helpful if done correctly. I say correctly because we all know that person who always talks about their problems and broadcasts their life over the internet. Don’t be that person. Before seeking input, it’s important to clarify exactly what you want. Who in your life could help advise you in that area?

3. Act

It’s time to act. You’ll never be one hundred percent certain. But guess what, you’ll also never know how it would have turned out if you’d decided differently. If your choice turns out not to be a great one, don’t beat yourself up, because you have no idea how it would have turned out if you’d made a different decision.

Takeaway

When you have a decision to make, whether it’s taking a new job or picking a restaurant for dinner, you eventually have to commit and act. Most decisions are fixable, so don’t allow the fear of being wrong to hinder you from moving forward. Your life is too important to continue spinning your wheels overthinking.