Over-thinking.
At some stage, even the most level-headed, confident people have moments of fraught over-thinking.
As creatives, we can be sensitive souls, especially when our actual souls are so openly on display in the form of our work, which can render us paralysed with worry and self-doubt. “What will they think?”
I am generally not an over-thinker. I am a quick action-taker. A gut-feeling decision-maker. I am quick to decide and stick to it. I move on and don’t dwell.
If I am prone to over-thinking, it’s at 2am when my pre-frontal cortex is having a nap and my amygdala has taken over.
On the whole, I’m happy about my decision-making style, though it has got me into light trouble. My quick-snap decisions can mean I rely on my gut feeling when actually I should have taken a moment (or a day) to review the situation and slowed my decision-making process down.
If you’re an over-thinker, I’ve got some tips to help:
- Nobody is paying that much attention to you. They are too busy worrying about themselves.
- That email wording you agonised over? They skim read it anyway. The mistake you made in front of a group, nobody noticed or even thought it was a mistake. The social media post you posted which you later regretted? It flew under most people’s radars thanks to the algorithm.
- Action breeds clarity. Just doing one thing will make your next decision much easier. The path will illuminate itself once you’ve taken the first step.
- Give yourself more credit. Don’t second guess yourself. Your opinion, your knowledge and your perspective are not commonplace and people will find your take on a subject interesting or thought-provoking.
- Dismiss your 2am worries and mental anguish (hard, I know). Wait until the morning when your catastrophic thoughts will have melted away, and a more reasonable thought process can happen.
- Wait a day. Don’t act on impulse. It can wait, and the world won’t fall apart. Time will help rearrange your thoughts in a more favourable, useful manner.
Overthinking can rob you of forward momentum, which is such a shame when you have so much to offer, to experience, to achieve and to enjoy from life and your creativity. The sky will not fall in, as Chicken Little leaned!