Do you tend to overthink?
Are you your worse critic?
Does your overthinking “speaks” so loud that it gets in your way?
When I saw the title of the podcast – “The Surprising Solution to Overthinking”, I didn’t think twice to listen to it! It was Andy Stanley’s interview with Jon Acuff on his book, “Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking”. He chose the title to depict how a soundtrack can change the entire emotional feel of a movie without changing the movie. Similarly, our thoughts can change how we feel without changing the circumstances we are facing.
Jon Acuff defines overthinking this way: when what you think gets in the way of what you want. When thoughts get in the way of what you desire, and it turns into bitterness and haunts you.
This overthinking habit tends to stop you taking action, leading to undesired results of not achieving your hopes and dreams. You can hear the same “soundtrack” when you encounter the same circumstance. For example, when you want to lose weight, your soundtrack constantly reminds you of how many times you’ve failed.
This is the Trojan Questions that Jon Acuff suggested in his book:
1. Is it true?
2. Is it helpful?
3. Is it kind?
These three simple questions help us to seek truth and clarity in our thoughts. Many times, our thoughts are assumptions of what other people think, or scripts that we have narrated from our childhood, e.g. I am bad with numbers or I am not bright. Next, we need to find out if these thoughts are helpful to what we want to achieve. Lastly, we have to be gentle to ourselves and not let our thoughts overwhelm us and keep us in an infinite loop of self-sabotage. I think the last question is the hardest to answer.
This is my invitation to you today – be aware of the soundtracks that are playing in the movie of your life. Let the soundtrack be a crescendo of courage and excitement as you reach for your hopes and dreams.