Overthinking is the enemy!! This one habit will pinch the flow of all you desire from coming to you any time soon. The good news is we can unlearn this habit and open up the channels to allow our dreams to manifest.
What is overthinking?
Overthinking is basically thinking in nonconstructive ways. When you go over and over the same thoughts, you blow things out of proportion and feelings of stress/anxiety arise. Ruminating over the past, worrying about the future, playing an event on repeat in your mind because you didn’t like how it went and are imagining ways you could have acted differently, are all examples.
When you are overthinking you are not creating. You are not seeing that you are the creator and are instead believing that other people/ your situation/ events/ etc are determining your life. Once you’ve given your power away, your dreams are stifled because your reality must reflect what you believe. You will need to stop overthinking to manifest what you desire.
I used to be a terrible over-thinker! It was so bad I didn’t think I’d ever be free from it. I could see the difference so easily between when I was overthinking and when I was in the flow. In the flow I felt joy and connection, and intuitively knew what to do; everything I did felt effortless and opportunities were everywhere. Overthinking felt like overwhelm, frustration, fear, and disconnect; I couldn’t see opportunity, road blocks seemed to be everywhere, and as hard as I tried I achieved very little.
Why do we do it?
Our brains have evolved over thousands of years in a way that would ensure our survival. Perceiving danger is an instinct that has help humans avoid dying off as a species. As we have evolved and realized our abilities and taken our power back, the need for this instinct is not as necessary today. The instinct is still there, however without actual threats it has become maladaptive.
Now, most of the dangers we perceive are ones we have created. Fear of being rejected or embarrassed, of failure or responsibility, of not being good enough or being disrespected. So many fears that we have created in our own heads. Overthinking has a field day with these fears!
How to know if you’re overthinking
The reason why you need to stop overthinking to manifest your goals in life is because when you are overthinking you are not emitting the frequency that will attract what you want. You can easily tell if you are overthinking by how you feel. For me, if I feel hints of anger, resentment, overwhelm, and am distracted from what I’m doing, I know for a fact that I’m overthinking. I am also lacking gratitude and joy, which is a huge indicator of not being in flow.
Your environment will reflect back to you (People Reflect What’s Inside Ourselves) what’s going on inside. If your interactions are not satisfactory, there are seemingly obstacles everywhere, and the day is hard to get through, you may be overthinking. Whoever you are speaking with and whatever you are working on doesn’t have your full energy invested, because you are absorbed in unhelpful thoughts.
When you are in flow
Being in flow (How to Be In the Flow) is the sweet spot! Everything clicks, you are optimistic, you are seeing the opportunity in everything, and the results are rapid. Joe Dispenza talks of brain/heart coherence. This is when you get aligned with the energy of your heart (through meditation, gratitude, faith, etc) and then create from that place. When our brains and hearts are aligned this way, the flow of energy is powerful.
There is not much conscious thinking involved when you are in flow. You are operating from infinite intelligence which comes through subconscious mind power. Joe Dispenza has a diagram that shows the analytical mind as being the barrier between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is where all your power to create lies (read Power of the Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy and check out my blog post How to Access Your Power).
Methods to stop overthinking
- Challenge your thoughts- next time your mind is repeating itself incessantly or you are focused on the future instead of the present moment, stop and assess what you are thinking. Do you really want to believe these thoughts? Does this thinking facilitate the feeling that you want to feel about your life? How can you flip this thought to mean something that feels better and puts your mind at ease? This takes practice and constant awareness. Don’t beat yourself up when you find yourself still running in circles. Change will come when you stick to it!
- Separate yourself from your thinking- realize that you are not your thoughts. You are a spiritual being having a human experience. Your thoughts are flowing to you from the collective consciousness and you get to decide which ones to identify with. Decide right now to stop identifying with thoughts that make you feel like crap. Realize they are just thoughts and detach yourself from their meaning. Again, this takes practice. Look for the progress and you will succeed in training your mind.
- Meditation- this is a great way to reconnect to the energy of your heart and enable the heart/mind coherence. Joe Dispenza teaches an amazing meditation which involves basically 4 parts.
- Part 1: focus on breathing and quieting the mind
- Part 2: focus on each part of your body, the space your body takes up, and the space around each part of your body
- Part 3: become “no one”, disconnecting from your body and entering the quantum field, which is the black empty space where all creation originates from
- Part 4: focus on feeling elevated emotions, especially gratitude, while seeing yourself experiencing life the way you desire
- Feeling word and/or chief aim card- it is important to remind yourself throughout the day of how you want to be in this life. I have been using the feeling word “bliss” to bring me back to my goal of living my life with this feeling. Bliss represents me doing what I love and loving what I do. The definite chief aim card was introduced by Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich, and Earl Nightingale in The Strangest Secret. Write your ultimate goal on a card and keep it with you to remind you when you start overthinking. Focus on the end and feeling those feelings now. Use this tool and stop overthinking to manifest what you want.
- Focus fully on what you’re doing now- part of flow is being fully immersed in your present moment. When you are fully absorbed in what you’re doing, you can’t overthink. You will know this because when you overthink you can’t focus on anything. Focus is an amazing skill to cultivate and will even bend time (5 Tools to Manipulate Time). Have fun! See the value in what you are doing. Decide that you love what you do and make that your daily affirmation.
- Simplify- don’t get too far ahead of yourself. This is a lesson I have learned just recently. I want to get to a certain point in achieving my goals, but focusing on three steps ahead causes me to overthink and not complete the step that I’m on. Each segment of the journey is imperative, and skipping one will cause your goal to stretch further away because you are missing a piece to the puzzle. Keep your plans simple. Focus on what is right in front of you, and as you go each step will be revealed.
- Facilitate faith- surrendering to faith is a great way to release from overthinking. Faith is a muscle and a habit. Faith is staying loyal to the vision and believing in the unseen reality over the physical one. When you are overthinking you have stopped believing that your dream is a done deal. When you decide on a vision and intend to bring it forth, it is done. Don’t let this physical reality make you forget where everything is coming from. It comes from your belief!
- Gratitude- I heard from someone on a YouTube video recently, that they wake up every morning and say “Today is going to be awesome” and go to bed every night and ask “What went well today?” These are powerful ways to facilitate feelings of gratitude. Appreciating your life will wash away all negative thinking, which is at the root of overthinking. If you can at least bookend your day with gratitude, then you are well on your way to living in freedom and peace!
Avoid slipping into old patterns
This past week I found myself slipping into old patterns of belief and behaviors. Its so easy to get caught up in this physical world and forget that I create my reality. I might start blaming my job or the customers for how I feel. Or maybe I will get into a state of waiting for everything to line up perfectly before I feel like I’m living the life of my dreams.
I don’t want to feel like I’m waiting to enjoy life. I don’t want to lose my gratitude and love for the journey. When these things happen, overthinking covers my being like a familiar chain, binding me to limitation and fear. I will need to get present, feel good about my life now, and focus on the step I’m on.
Everything always comes together perfectly!
