How to Overcome Overthinking
One day, my boys begged me to take them bowling, so I did. I don’t consider myself to be a good bowler but I know how to bowl because it was a part of my physical education curriculum in junior high and high school. I remember being taught the mechanics of the perfect swing at 13 years old. So I get my ball in hand and stand at the dots on the floor. As I lift the ball up to my face I repeat the mechanics in my head, “and left, two, three release,” all while envisioning the backswing of my arm, and the left swipe of my right foot at the end. I’m ready. This time I repeat the mechanics while actually taking the steps, “and left, two, three, release!”
GUTTER BALL!
This kept happening over and over again. In fact, I only bowled a 68. It wasn’t until the last game that I began to hitting lucky strikes and leveling spares, because we were running out of time to play. I didn’t have time to overthink the process. Instead, I just went with the flow and the pins began to fall.
Overthinking is spending more time contemplating something than is necessary or productive. Instead of just being or doing, overthinkers hinder the natural flow, usually by focusing on the mechanics. The millisecond it takes to think about the next move can totally throw off your trajectory. People do this all the time, and in many different applications, even in their relationship with God. God has designed us to be masters of our own minds, but overthinkers routinely bow to the power of the mind. Thus allowing the process to hinder progress.
The best advice to give anyone who overthinks everything is to JUST DO IT! Knowing what to do is not the same as doing it. No one gets extra points in life for knowing anything, because knowledge is powerless unless it is applied. You have to do what you know, in order to get results. So, just do it! For some, it is the fear of failing that prevents them from making a move, but they must understand that failure is part of success. So, just do it. Do it and gauge your results. Do it and make the necessary adjustments. Do it and see how it turns out, and you may even surprise yourself. The more you do it, the better you become. Any athlete will tell you, the more you do a thing the less you have to think about it. It’s called muscle memory. So instead of just knowing the perfect swing, your body automatically produces the perfect swing. JUST DO IT!
© 2015 Derek J. Murphy Enterprises, and I AM KINGDOM Publishing, All Rights Reserved
If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to share it with your family, friends and social media to help spread this encouragement. Thank you for reading!
