Don’t let overthinking hold you back — change your focus
Overthinking used to cloud my perspective, but when I embraced the four steps I’m explaining here, my world transformed.
Changing habits takes time but if you stick with me and implement the steps you will steady progress.
I’m refocusing my brain from overthinking to the positive things in life.
Your brain is unconsciously helping you to intensify what you are thinking about.
What does that mean?
If you worry a lot, the brain moves more energy there and gives you more to worry about. Because you do it all the time, it thinks you like it.
It’s like when you buy a Toyota, and suddenly all you see are Toyotas on the road.
You shift your focus to one thing, and your brain will help you intensify it.
This is a good and a bad thing, depending on how you see the world 😉
Use Focus For a Successful Life
If you refocus on the positive things in life and growth, your brain will change and see the opportunities and positivity everywhere.
This way you can reprogram your mind to show you your path to success. You will see opportunities and success everywhere. It feels like they suddenly appear, but they were always here you just didn’t see them.
That’s the reason why mindset is important for a successful life.
As long as you don’t recognize the opportunities you will not use them to achieve success.
As soon as you shift your thoughts to a growth and positive mindset, your brain will focus on it and you will recognize the opportunities.
So now we know we should shift our focus to more positivity and growth. But you ask yourself: how do I do that?
Here is the answer:
Shift Your Mindset
There are a few daily habits you can add to your routines to focus on your growth.
Important to note is to not start implementing them all at once. It will overwhelm you really fast.
Life is busy, so start with 1 step at a time. 5 minutes every day consistently are more important than 15 minutes every few days or weeks.
Establishing habits takes more than 20 days, so be patient and don’t give up!
Gratitude Habit
Every evening before I go to sleep I write down 3 things I’m grateful for today. And I know you have 3 positive things in your life too.
You can be grateful for the internet, Medium, motivational posts, the sun, delicious breakfast, healthy family, happy friends, hot tea…
You can make it more difficult by thinking of something different every day.
It seems like a small habit, and it only takes 3 minutes, but you shift your focus to the positive things in your life.
We tend to remember the negative stuff and news, but there are so many great memories in our lives too. We tend to take them for granted.
Write Down Goals/Wishes
Every morning I write down my goals or wishes for my future.
It’s part of my morning routine. Refocusing my mind on my goals to not forget them and to stay motivated every day to work towards them.
Of course, they can also change with time. You are growing and so do your goals.
A few years ago every time I thought about my goals I blocked myself by not believing in myself and by thinking that goals are 100% fixed and I cannot change them.
This is not true! Life and yourself are changing, so are your goals.
With my improved confidence in myself and my increased knowledge, I set higher goals now.
Write down your goals for now. Re-think them every few months or every year.
Visualize Your Future Self
I had a hard time with this.
I just couldn’t visualize myself having the things I wanted and being successful.
But now it’s part of my morning routine, and it gives me a lot of positive energy and motivation every time.
What helped me to visualize my written goals was googling pictures, and looking for inspiration on Pinterest.
Take aside 10 minutes a day to close your eyes and visualize you achieving your goals.
Affirmations
I know we don’t like to talk to ourselves. It looks and sounds stupid.
But: nobody can see or hear you. This is for you. For you only.
Find affirmations online that resonate with you, that help you overcome the obstacles you have, write them down and then tell them to yourself every day in front of the mirror.
It might feel weird at the beginning but you get used to it.
Be aware to not tell yourself things you don’t believe are true.
If you say: “I’m rich” but you aren’t yet then your brain doesn’t accept it.
Affirmations are here to reprogram your brain to a success mindset. They are not wishes. They are statements to help you overcome negative thoughts.
Here are my daily affirmations:
- “I’m smart”
- “I’m strong”
- “I’m gonna be rich”
- “I’m loved”
- “I trust the universe. The universe doesn’t make mistakes”
- “Money is a tool”
- “Giving up is not an option”
- “I’m gonna achieve everything I set my mind to”
Your affirmations can be totally different, depending on what topic you want to focus on and what your goals are.
Some just don’t resonate with you, and that’s okay. You should get motivated by them, and not weirded out.
Conclusion
Re-focusing your brain is not gonna happen overnight.
But working on overcoming overthinking and worrying is worth the work.
Keep in mind to take small steps and not add all of the above-mentioned tools at once.
This is a work in progress. Be patient with yourself and your mind.
How I was able to study, part-time work, and lead a student organization at the same time and you can too:
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