Stop Thinking and Start Doing.
One of my son’s favorite books is The Little Engine that Could. You know it, right?
The little blue engine wills her way up the mountain by repeating her mantra:
I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.
I love this book, too.
I love it because I believe in the power of positive thinking. Of using ‘helpful thoughts’ to conquer our fears and speak more gently to ourselves.
But when does a little bit of helpful thinking become just way too much over-thinking?
When I went through my most recent (and perhaps most difficult) career transition, I remember thinking:
I’m smart. I’m capable. I know I can figure this out on my own.
Except that no amount of thinking on its own was going to solve this problem. I was stuck.
Last week I went live on Instagram for the first time.
I’ll admit it: I was nervous.
Nervous and overwhelmed by a ton of different thoughts:
What if I ramble too much?
What if I forget what to say?
What if no one shows up?
What if tons of people show up?
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of everything I was thinking.
I was thinking so much about IG Live last week that at one point I almost chickened out.
Canceled the whole thing.
But then I remembered something I often see in my coaching clients: an opportunity.
Specifically, an opportunity to broaden our understanding through trial and error.
To learn through experimentation and prototyping.
To stop thinking and start doing.
And so I decided to stop preparing and worrying, and instead just turn on the darn camera and give it a try.
Did I look like a deer in headlights? Yes. At least a lot of the time.
Did I make mistakes like not saying the right thing, or holding up a sign with backwards writing?
Absolutely.
Exhibit A.
But was it fun? OMG YES. Fun and inspiring and exhilarating. All of it.
And the best part? By getting out of my head and trying something different, I learned a ton.
Learning that’s helped me feel less stuck and more clear on what I want to accomplish.
So, with this new awareness in my pocket, this Wednesday at 8pm ET I’m going live again to talk about – you guessed it – overthinking.
Specifically I’m going to talk about:
• How to recognize when you’re overthinking things
• How overthinking is a signal that it’s time for you to proactively learn rather than passively react
• Plus, 2 new places to look when ‘thinking your way to a solution’ isn’t working anymore.
If you’re not yet following me on IG, be sure to click here – that way you can get notified when I go live.
And if you have a question about overthinking, comment below or hit Say Hello at the top right of this page, and I’ll respond during the broadcast.
Onward,
PS - if you missed last week’s Live and want to hear my tips for getting unstuck, check it out here! Bonus points: the first 5 seconds or so are where my ‘deer in headlights’ look really shines :)