Ways to stop yourself from overthinking

Many of us in our daily lives overthink. Whether it be about the smallest of thoughts, overthinking is ultimately bad for ones health and should be dealt. One needs to learn how to stop overthinking, not only to better ones health physically but mentally as well. Here are 10 simple ways a person can do this:

Awareness 

Before you can begin trying to change your bad habit of overthinking, you need to learn to be aware of it when it's happening. When you find yourself doubting yourself, feeling stressed or anxious, take a step back and observe the situation and your reaction to it. This moment of awareness is the beginning step to change. 

Have a positive mindset 

Don't think about what can go wrong, think about what can go right. Often, overthinking is caused by one single emotion: fear. When you focus on all the negative things that might happen, it's easy to become lost in thought. Rather focus by visualizing all the things that can go right and keep those thoughts present.

Distract yourself into happiness 

Often distraction can help you to stop overthinking. You can distract yourself with things like exercise, dancing, mediation, learning an instrument, or painting. 

A time orientation 

It's often easy to make something very small seem very big. As the saying goes "don't make mountains out of molehills". Next time something happens, take a step back and ask yourself: "will this matter in 5-years time?". If the answer is no, then you should not be giving it too much thought.

Stop waiting for perfection

It's a good thing to be ambitious, but waiting for perfection is unrealistic,  impractical and delusional. Instead of waiting for perfection and thinking "this is not good enough", know that progress is smarter than waiting for perfection.

Know that you can't predict the future

Nobody can predict the future. Know this. We are living in the now, enjoy it. If you are constantly worrying and pondering about the future, you are robbing yourself of time in the now. Live in the present, what happens, happens. 

Be grateful

Every new morning that you wake up is a blessing. Be grateful for what you have and do not worry about what you don't have or want to have. Waking up in the morning and writing down what you are grateful for can help you truly understand the meaning of your life.

Overthinking can happen to anyone. With a proper system in place to deal with these thoughts, one can easily turn negative anxious emotion into positive productive emotions.