Have you found yourself overthinking everything? If you’re a perfectionist, chances are you’ve spent time overthinking.
Perfectionism not only holds you back – it can be costly. Decisions don’t get made, progress is halted, and fear and worry about not being able to meet an unrealistic expectation, leads to paralysis. You ultimately end up doing nothing.
The good news is that you have full control over the decisions you make. The only person you have to convince is yourself.
As Seth Godin said, “You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself.”
Here are 3 steps to keep your overthinking in check.
#1 – Be kind to yourself.
What would you tell a friend who was overthinking everything and shared their feelings with you? I’m sure you wouldn’t put them down, jump into the endless pit of never ending doubt with them or tell them they’ll never be good enough. No! If you did, your friend just might start overthinking your friendship. My guess is you’d encourage your friend, tell them how amazing they are (and believe it) and hear them out. You might talk through their struggles and help come up with a solution. So speak to yourself as you would your friend. Put a picture of your friend in front of you and talk to them. Then move their picture, look in the mirror and say the exact kind and encouraging words to yourself!
#2 – Stop Comparing Yourself to Others.
You are the only you on the planet. There’s no one else exactly like you. No one who thinks exactly like you, has the same ideas as you, or the same approach as you. You are uniquely you. Someone might be doing something similar to you but they’ll never do it with your special touch. I’ve worked with many dietitians. They all help patients using the same scientific, evidenced-based practice but their approach is different. We all have our own stories, experiences, and way to connect with others.
And definitely stop comparing yourself to someone who’s been doing something for much longer than you. That’s not a fair game. No one would willingly join that game. You’ve overcome your own set of challenges that have given you the knowledge you need to move forward and be the best version of yourself. Everything you’ve overcome are tools that can help others. So don’t short change yourself by comparing yourself to others.
#3 – Just Get Started.
It’s scary to get started. It’s scary to do something not knowing the outcome because we’re programmed to be outcome focused. Corporate America is hyper focused on outcomes. School is outcome focused too. You go to college and study for the test. You get the grade and then move on. You know that if you study, put in the hard work, you’ll get a better grade than if you didn’t. But not everything in life can have a predictable outcome. Some businesses start with a goal in mind and FAR exceed their goal.
It’s easy to focus on the negative. The what-ifs that always end with something horrible. But for every what-if, there’s also an amazing, incredible, beyond anything you could imagine outcome. So go for it. What do you have to lose? If you do nothing, you lose everything. Most importantly, you lose the dream of doing something amazing.
So just get started. Show up. Be the perfectly imperfect self that you are. Every minute you spend overthinking is another minute you spend doing nothing.
If you want to learn more on how to overcome self-doubt which goes hand in hand with overthinking, check out my free training on strategies to work through the self-doubt that’s holding you back. You can download the free training here.
