how to stop overthinking

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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onto today’s topic: how to stop overthinking 🤔 

i’m a pretty decisive person, so i don’t overthink much.

that doesn’t mean i don’t overthink at all.

there’s a difference between thinking through a decision, and pointlessly mulling over it until it impacts your mental health negatively. overthinking falls into the latter category, and it isn’t healthy.

i don’t have the solution to completely stop overthinking — existential crises and spiralling while thinking about the future is inevitable. 😵‍💫 the frequency of these spirals, however, can indeed be controlled.

a common coping mechanism i’ve observed is making yourself so busy that you simply don’t have the time to dwell on anything. this isn’t a good idea — it’s important to reflect on decisions, learn from mistakes, and think. overthinking is when those 3 aspects become obsessive and warp into self-hatred and insecurity.

let yourself live, but don’t beat yourself up over what has been done or “what ifs.”

but, that’s easier said than done. 😬 

my best strategy has always been to be self-aware. think about the actual realistic worst case scenario. you’ll quickly realize that everything truly is fine. the key word here is realistic.

want to go up to someone and ask to hang out? do it. what’s the worst they’ll do realistically? say no? there’s nothing to overthink about that. it’s that simple: they’ll say yes or no.

overthinking takes away from the joys of life. be relentlessly bold. let your actions be lessons, not points of loathing or insecurity. life is too unpredictable for you to think through all the possible outcomes, so just embrace uncertainty. 🫂 

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