Why I Stopped Overthinking

How to be happy by keeping everything simple

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Let’s be honest, I’ve always been a champion overthinker. A gold medalist in the mental marathon of “what ifs.” Remember that myth about only using 10% of our brains? Yeah, I clung to that one like a life raft, convinced more thinking meant a better life. Spoiler alert: it totally backfired.

Here’s the thing: all that overthinking was slowly turning my life into a never-ending loop of analysis paralysis. Every decision, from grocery shopping to workouts, became an epic mental battle. Take buying a house, for example. Don’t even get me started. For an entire year, my brain became a constant loop of mortgage rates versus square footage, dissecting neighborhoods until the fun of house hunting evaporated. Every listing online turned into a rabbit hole of potential problems, leaving me frozen in indecision.

But then, something shifted. Maybe it was the third year in a tiny apartment, or maybe I just got tired of the mental gymnastics. Whatever it was, I decided to take a leap of faith and ditch the overthinking habit. Let me tell you, it’s been a game-changer.

Now, instead of spending 20 minutes agonizing over cereal brands, I trust my gut and grab a box that looks good. Breakfast is a joy again, not a mental hurdle. Same goes for the gym. Gone are the…