Overthinking is Not the Problem
The most common advice for over-thinkers tends to be: “just think less.”
Anyone that has ever described themselves as an over-thinker can tell you that is the most reductive and redundant advice you could give.
Paradoxically, for most people who struggle with “overthinking,” their problem is usually that they are not thinking enough. They spend all their time worrying: “Oh, what could go wrong? Maybe they don’t like me anymore, maybe this will go wrong, maybe that will happen.”
Thinking Deeper to Solve Your Problems
What you need to do is to think deeper:
“Why do I care if this goes wrong? Why do I care if they don’t like me anymore?”
Oh, I care about what this person thinks because I don’t want to look bad in front of a person of authority at work.
So why do I care about that?
“So I can have job security.”
So really, my problem is actually that I need job security.
The solution isn’t to sit there worrying about what could have gone wrong and who you could have pissed off. The solution is to become more educated, more skilled, gain experience — things that lead you to higher-paying, more secure positions.
You can take every problem deeper:
Why do you want job security? To have money to sustain yourself? Is it possible to lower your overhead costs? What is the best investment strategy with your current capital?
Conclusion: Embrace Deeper Thinking, Not Less Thinking
Being an “overthinker” is a misleading diagnosis. The true root of the problem lies in errant thinking, thinking in the wrong direction, and somewhat under-thinking.
If you truly thought about every one of your problems deeply, you would come to the conclusion that worrying is in most cases unproductive.
This is because if something is out of your control, thinking about it doesn’t change the outcome. If it is in your control, a methodical approach coupled with logical solutions and propositions would be more appropriate. Things are either in or out of your control, and either way, worrying does nothing.
In this situation the proposition is to confront the mental problem head on by thinking about the root cause of your worry, rather than the typical method of avoidance that is commonly taught.
Overthinking is not “overthinking”; it’s thinking about the wrong things, worrying about the wrong things. So for people struggling, embrace deeper thinking to address the root causes of your concerns.
