28 February 2022

I have noticed that sometimes we do not take action about something because we are too busy overthinking it beforehand.
We often spend so long weighing up the pros and cons, analysing risks, or succumbing to internal fears that something may go wrong before we try it, that we often miss an opportune moment to try something. It is now a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as if we try it, it is now not the opportune moment anymore to do it, so it is more likely then to go wrong, thereby reaffirming our mistaken belief that we should not have tried to do it in the first place anyway – it is circular again!
We also overthink something sometimes because we allow other people around us, themselves too scared to try something new, to get into our heads and then convince us that we will probably just fail at what we are trying to do and so should therefore not even try to do it. They may even think genuinely that they are just trying to save us from potentially suffering a disappointment, but they usually (unconsciously) are actually just ‘projecting’ onto us their own fears. So, in this way, the scared people are leading the brave people, instead of it being the other way around!
I am not saying that you should not always think about something before you do it, far from it, you should always think about something before doing it; but you should always be prepared to take calculated risks, because that is how you grow and move forward, as you learn from your experiences and usually learn the most sometimes from the things that go wrong, not the things that go right. Also, usually a fear just comes from not understanding something properly.
But do not just take risks for the sake of it, or take risks you don’t have to. It is also better to take lots of little risks, instead of taking one big risk which, as people like to say, is putting all your eggs in one basket. You also need to be decisive (not impulsive) and it is better to try to succeed with just one small thing, than not succeed with trying to do one big thing.
People like to say that you can never predict the future, as there are always unintended consequences that are foreseen, as you never know how many things may turn out when you start them. But that is precisely just what you have to do sometimes. As I heard someone say once, prediction is very difficult, especially if it is about the future!
You just have to leap into the dark or into the unknown and take a chance, despite the risks that you or others fear. You also have to be prepared that you may need to challenge the status quo sometimes, go beyond your capabilities and push yourself to do something new, which you may have hoped or expected not to have to do. Do not be an apologist and just try to replace your fear with confidence. Sometimes you can even make yourself too busy to be frightened.
Also, if you are different in your outlook, you need to know that you may sometimes be isolated or alienated by the majority of people (who are the ‘scared’ people). Be aware that you may often also need to be willing to suffer for your beliefs. It is always good to be different and not be like everybody else, because that is what will ultimately make you more unique and hopefully successful, but this then means you doing things that you find scary. If you think about it, if it was not scary, everybody else would do it!
Finally, do not be afraid to be yourself. Do not try to imitate other people because, as I heard someone once say, it is better to be a bad version of yourself than a good copy of someone else. Also, if you believe in a form of judgement day at the end of your life, you will then be asked why you were not the best that you could be, not why you were not another person.
So, this week, do not overthink something for self-preservation’s sake, or take too much time going through all the scenarios in your mind beforehand, so that you are then paralysed into inaction because you now fear what may go wrong; and remember, you may not have the time to overthink something sometimes anyway!




