Overwhelmed by Overthinking? Try these simple tools

Are you an overthinker? Do you sometimes spiral into a cycle of repetitive thoughts that you feel like you’ll never escape from?
Do you sometimes feel like the cycle of thoughts is leading you nowhere?

Overthinking, fear and lack of control often go hand in hand.

When we’re faced with a decision or change, our instinct is often to hold on to what we know.
We crave control.

By stepping back or pulling out of a situation, you think you’re taking control.
But you’re also closing the door to growth, expansion, and opportunity.

It’s easy to pull away from challenging situations or the unknown. You start to overthink and the uncertainty feels uncomfortable, and sometimes even unbearable.

Living with uncertainty is living outside of your comfort zone.

Living outside of your comfort zone is scary.
But staying within your comfort zone doesn’t just keep you safe, it also keeps you small.

When you’re faced with a challenging situation, your mind will run loops, fishing for excuses and crafting stories to justify your hesitation.
Your mind will try to find a ‘good enough excuse’ to pull out and retreat back into the safety zone. And by withdrawing you’re protecting yourself from the risk of failure and judgement.

Thoughts and excuses are often rooted in fear.
You’re overthinking. You’re trying to control an outcome, when what you really need, is to lean into trust.


The next time you’re caught in a cycle of overthinking,
ask yourself — what’s the worst that could happen?

Nine times out of ten, it won’t happen. And if it does? You will recover.
You’ll call a friend, lean on your support system, go back to what you know, reset.
Life rarely leaves you with nothing.


And if someone “proves you wrong?” Let it be part of your story.
Let it be the chapter where you tried and failed, redirected your path slightly and grew wiser because of it.

Each time you walk down a path and realise it wasn’t the right way, you gain more clarity. You step off that path, and take a different route which only draws you closer to where you’re truly meant to be.


When was the last time you were overcome by worry and uncertainty?
What happened?

You made it through.

Maybe it didn’t unfold exactly how you planned, but you came out the other side with new resilience, new understanding.


And what about the times you felt the fear, and did it anyway?
What great experiences and memories came out of that?
It might have landed you a new job, a new home, found you the love of your life or took you on an amazing adventure.


Fear might feel like a great excuse to pull back into the safety zone, but it’s often just a moment for you to pause, acknowledge that you’re doing something new and scary, and then move forward with self-belief and the knowing that everything will unfold exactly as it is supposed to.

When you’re overthinking, answer these journal prompts…

• Why am I overthinking this?

• How does it make me feel emotionally and why?

• Is this rooted in something deeper? A fear, self-doubt, or experience from the past?

• What’s the worst that could happen?

• What’s the best that could happen and what might I learn from it?

• Has this helped shift my perspective?

• In what ways do I make myself proud?

Simple actions & tools to break the cycle of overthinking…

• Write it all down — what are your fears and your worries? What is the worst-case and best-case scenario?

• List the amazing things you have achieved in your life when you felt the fear and did it anyway?

• Listen to a motivating podcast to shift your energy and interrupt your thoughts. You might come back with a new perspective.

• Move your body to move stagnant energy — go for a walk, stand up and shake your entire body, practice yoga, do 3 rounds of sun salutations. Energy needs motion.

• Move through 9 rounds of box breathing (inhale for 5, hold for 5, exhale for 5, hold for 5).

• Take 3 deep breaths and follow with body tapping (EFT) to ground and regulate.

• Get lost in a fictional book and give your mind a break from analysis.

• Ground yourself — take your shoes off and place your feet on the earth. When you connect with the earth, you will feel yourself drop out of the busy mind and into your body. You reconnect with this moment rather than worrying about the past of future.

You don’t need to have it all figured out.
You just need to release control and take the first step outside of your comfort zone.