3 things you wont have if you think to much and what to do about it
We all love a bit of thinking time perhaps to reflect and learn from what has happened in the day and or build for the future.
But what happens when it takes over ?
What do you have ?
Doing too much thinking can put us into analysis paralysis — it will completely stop you doing the very thing you know you should be doing and want to be doing.
Decisions — take to long and or our non- existant
Taking action seems to be like getting blood out of a stone and
making progress or feeling of achievement can be limited.
I guess they all work together however research has shown that your mental health can be affected and as a result you are on a downward spiral.
And it has been shown, from a Yale study, that over thinking can lead to emotional distress that people emotional habits like over eating and alcohol.
What to do about it ?
- Recognise the tale tale signs For some, this may be you have stopped achieving what is on your to do list or you are going round in circles without a decision.
- Limit the time Recognise there is a difference between being creative and thinking to much (navel gazing). Keep asking your self what is the role of this thought pattern? is it helpful? Are you achieving what you need to? Allocate time to your activity.
- Have a trusted mentor, coach, friend who you have regular conversations with to ensure you are not on an endless cycle of thinking.
- Don t be overwhelmed by others and all the content you read. You have a powerful machine in your own head that will collate all your experiences and knowledge to give the right answers for you.
How to get started?
Only this morning I was listening to Benjamin P. Hardy share his amazing journey of hard work to reach his following and book deal. One of the many nuggets of learning was about the length of a blog between 2000–5000 words.
Holy moly given my goal of giving a blog daily for the 6 weeks of lent this year that seems impossible.
When we see a goal in its fullness like we want to run a marathon, loose weight, read 52 books this year we are overwhelmed and give up before we are started.
Work on developing through building blocks or steps
The best place to start is to break the whole into the sum of its parts and with a deeper and longer term goal which I call your 3 rd horizon ( horizon 1 is the hear and now and horizon 2 might be in a few months). This will help you reduce the opportunity for procrastination and stress.
For those of you who are NLP trained or aware you will be aware of the chunking up and chunking down. Here we are talking about chunking down.
So I like to keep myself healthy but if you had told me last June that I would have completed 150+ hours of yoga and swam 50+ miles I would have not even started. In fact I don’t think it in that way.
But instead I took it as a long term investment that has to be built up over time. So for me, given I have scoliosis, I want to be pain free as much as possible.
So when I wake in the morning and think I will do something different my subconsious pops up in my head and says
“you will hurt tomorrow if you dont”
I use a youtube channel called 5 Parks Yoga that has anything from 10 minutes to 1 hour plus yoga ‘classes’ (obviously you are responsible for checking your health before you start and your own health and safety) and it helps me in supporting my long term goal. Thank you
So what are your options?
What to do to get moving
Take a pen / keyboard and take one goal you are wanting to achieve.
- Write down your goal
- Consider the different options (without limitations) in small chunks or pieces as to how you can complete this and write it down in
- Select your favourite
- Define how these small chunks can be delivered?
- Commit to when you will / can you start
- Collate a list of what resources do I need. This could be a friend, running partner, business colleague, mentor, coach…
- Be clear as to what you will see, hear and feel when you have reached each of your ‘chunks’ / milestones.
I believe we think for a reason as whether consciously or unconsciously its our body’s way of getting through the plethora of data to achieve our goals and purpose.
So I challenge you to consider thinking in the right context and dont get consumed by it. As Nancy Kline says take ‘Time to Think’ just be careful not to get stuck.
What ‘right’ thinking can you do in the next three days? three weeks? and three months?
Lizzie Rhodes James is a Executive Coach, Team and Leadership Development Consultant who specialises in helping teams and individuals exceed their potential at work and in life. Having successfully transitioned from a successful Army career into the Corporate world, Lizzie brings an exceptional and distinctive blend of discipline, focus and agility into her practice. Lizzie is also passionate about health and wellness, and adds a depth of thinking to align body and mind, enhancing overall performance and encouraging clients to transcend their limits.
