How I Managed to Quit Overthinking

Overthinking honestly ruins you. It creates problems that didn't even exist in the first place.

Over thinkers can make any situation worse, no matter how exciting/depressing it was before. It makes you more stressed, unpleasant, and also makes you question everything that happens in your life. It takes you away from the present moment and makes you worry about the future.

I'll be honest, you just can't suddenly stop overthinking. If you're naturally a person who overthinks situations a lot and if they mostly tend to be negative, it stays with you like a toxic habit. But you know that you desperately need to do something to let go of that devil and be alive in the present moment rather than freaking out about the future that you don't even know exists.

The number one way to stop overthinking is to remind yourself that future is not in your hands. You have to constantly push yourself and remind yourself that the only time that we have control over is now. I know that we all already know that. But still, constantly saying this fact to yourself again and again helps a lot.

I'll share one of my incidences of what can overthinking do to you.

I was about to get into a direct medical program that I didn't even want to get into in the first place. I did so just in order to please my family. When I got selected as a finalist, I had my entire life planned out in my head. I knew where I was going to work while in college. I had also calculated my entire cost of living - from food costs to the fuel expenses. I had this perfect picture in my mind which to a certain degree measured the hell that I was putting myself into. But in the end, it didn't work out. The next 10 years of my life which were planned a second ago were now totally changed. The amount of effort that I had put into 'planning' my future was destroyed by just an email saying that I was rejected from the program. (you can read more about it in another blog post here) If I hadn't had the misconception of being a super smart student capable of conquering anything that's on my path, I would probably have put the energy into something more productive - like watching youtube videos.

In this situation, all overthinking did to me was make me more depressed and agonize over the fact that I won't get an opportunity to do what I have always wanted to do. It made me feel incapable of chasing my dreams. It also made me feel undeserving as I wasn't fighting for my dreams; I was ready to give up my life for my family's happiness, and I knew that wasn't the right thing to do.

After I got my decision is when I decided to just stop thinking too much. I had learnt my lesson. I wasted weeks agonizing over my future that wasn't even happening anymore! I had the scenario in my head, and that's where it died out. All you have to do is remind yourself that future isn't going to work according to you. Life happens and things change. You just have to adapt to what's coming and brace yourself. It might be better than what you imagined for yourself, or it maybe worse; but always try to look on the brighter side. You don't want to unnecessarily suffer from something you aren't even going through. Whenever your mind drifts towards over-thinking any particular situation, just remind yourself that it's pointless. Use that energy into something more productive. It's not easy to quit, but just try. That's the key.

Also, always extract the positive out of any situation. Even though it's tragic, try to find something good. If you'll focus more on the brighter side, your mind will be filled with more positive thoughts and you'll always have nicer things to reflect upon.