"Are you an overthinker? Do you get mired in a cycle of future-tripping, shaming yourself for perceived missteps, and rerunning disaster scenarios in your head? Do your looping thoughts keep you from moving forward? In our anxious, perfectionistic culture, many ambitious and driven folks find themselves helplessly caught in their own tangled mental webs, unable to make a step forward in work and life."
"We don't have to be passengers in our own self-punitive hamster wheel. We have control over the thoughts we choose to believe and our attitude toward mistakes and challenges. How do we untangle ourselves in order to step out of the loop? Here's a straightforward guide to get started. A cautionary note: No real change occurs overnight. Transforming mental patterns requires time, effective strategy, and good practice. A little progress every day will get us to our goal."
"First, awareness is essential. In order to make a change in any mental or behavioral pattern, we need to become aware of it. I suggest starting by noticing when you become stuck in a looping wheel of thought, taking note of what prompted the cycle. Writing down your observations, either in a journal or on your phone, will help you keep track of your pattern."
"Once we become aware that we're in the cycle, we have the ability to interrupt it. A simple but very useful tool is to use your breath to interrupt the cycle and clear some of the mental "clutter." Take a moment to breathe in through your nose and allow the breath to exit through your mouth. Do this a few times and set an intention to let the clutter and the tension flow out of you."
Thought patterns can be managed and directed through intentional practice. Overthinking often appears as future-tripping, self-shaming, and replaying disaster scenarios that block progress in work and life. Change requires patience and consistent daily practice because mental patterns do not shift overnight. The path to change follows steps of awareness, interruption, challenge, self-compassion, and choice. Awareness begins by noticing triggers and recording observations. Interruption can use breath to clear mental clutter. Challenging unhelpful thoughts and applying self-compassion reduce self-punitive cycles. Repeated practice gradually transforms mental and behavioral patterns, enabling forward movement and reduced anxiety.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]