Overthinking almost everything

[Pablo]

Kinda like IQ. For every overthinker, there is an underthinker.

Wife and I overthink many many things. It's not good for the heart and brain health (AND strains the relationship) at some point.

Stress is a killer, balance is good. You have to be smart, but you can't afford to worry.

I saw a t-shirt yesterday on a buddy in my fitness class.

"My Best Quality is My Humility"

 

[DCDG]

Kinda like IQ. For every overthinker, there is an underthinker.

Wife and I overthink many many things. It's not good for the heart and brain health (AND strains the relationship) at some point.

Stress is a killer, balance is good. You have to be smart, but you can't afford to worry.

I saw a t-shirt yesterday on a buddy in my fitness class.

"My Best Quality is My Humility"

When one can accept humility they realize they’re only human. Lots of macho people roaming humanity thinking they’re something way above being human

 

[ATex7239]

I’m a planner but not an over-thinker. I try to strike a healthy balance between these two ideas.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
-Benjamin Franklin

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
-Mark Twain

 

[ATex7239]

Kinda like IQ. For every overthinker, there is an underthinker.

Wife and I overthink many many things. It's not good for the heart and brain health (AND strains the relationship) at some point.

Stress is a killer, balance is good. You have to be smart, but you can't afford to worry.

I saw a t-shirt yesterday on a buddy in my fitness class.

"My Best Quality is My Humility"

Best advice for overthinking I have ever heard is don’t drowned in a cup of water.

I’m a clown. Love to joke around. It adds levity to the seriousness of life’s struggles.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I’m a planner but not an over-thinker. I try to strike a healthy balance between these two ideas.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
-Benjamin Franklin

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
-Mark Twain

"Everybody has a plan until you get hit."
Mike Tyson

 

[Donald]

Best advice for overthinking I have ever heard is don’t drowned in a cup of water.

I’m a clown. Love to joke around. It adds levity to the seriousness of life’s struggles.

A guy with a new truck with a dial shifter set the dial wrong and gave it some gas. Over a wooden 4x6, a concrete curb and some chain along a walkway and down about 8 feet into a small river. He apparently screamed that he could not swim. The water was between 2' and 3' deep. By all accounts he did not drown. His truck was in not so good shape when it was lifted out

 

[Toy4x4]

I do this quite a bit, but I think I've gotten better. A couple friends razz me saying I'll spend a month figuring out the best Q-Tip or #2 pencil!
I get lost in reviews, but if something stands out, the process is much shorter. Eg: My pressure washer broke a couple weeks ago, so "the process" began. The AVA GO+ popped up as an option, I looked at the warranty (3-5x the length of others) and options, saw I had a good chunk of cash back on my CC to pay off most of it, so I bought it. I do try and apply the "buy once, cry once" idea, too, as I don't like buying things that will break in a short amount of time. Not that I over-buy either. Don't need Snap-On tools for what I do.

 

[I<3oil]

Proper planning prevents piss poor results

piss poor performance*

The 6 P's

 

[doitmyself]

It seems to be a common attribute of many attracted to this forum. I benefited from taking cognitive behavioral therapy.

 

[TooManyWheels]

A guy with a new truck with a dial shifter set the dial wrong and gave it some gas. Over a wooden 4x6, a concrete curb and some chain along a walkway and down about 8 feet into a small river. He apparently screamed that he could not swim. The water was between 2' and 3' deep. By all accounts he did not drown. His truck was in not so good shape when it was lifted out

After reading about a Waymo driving a passenger into water I've been obsessing about the likelyhood of it happening to me. Drowning is my most feared way of dieing.

But this is counterbalanced by not seeing myself ever getting into a Waymo.

 

[TooManyWheels]

This was in a NYT article by David Epstein.

I often overthink things.

Biggest question - Are your areas of thought the most important regarding what is important to your life?

Russel Ackoff's most quoted thought was about how it was more important to do the right things wrong (which would eventually lead to corrections) than to do the wrong things right (going in the wrong direction never leads to a right outcome).

And then there's Peter Drucker - People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.

What are you gaining from your thinking?

 

[SupremePossum]

This is why I love Costco

Need Ketchup? Yep there is 1 giant container of it, zero brand choice

 

[greenjp]

I definitely have certain things that I'll be very particular about and possibly over-research. But in general I don't. A colleague who I respect tremendously once told me "What you're really good at is making decisions about things that don't matter" which sounds funny but was really a high compliment, as the real strength there is in understanding when something matters and when it doesn't.

I love the line from Guns and Roses' Mr. Brownstone - I don't worry about nothing, no, 'cause worrying's a waste of my time.

jeff

 

[wavinwayne]

I overthink/over-analyze past life mistakes which I don't think is healthy, but I rarely overthink purchases. I'll search for a few quality candidates for whatever item I'm looking to purchase, then just pick one and move on. I seek excellence instead of perfection.

 

[IndyIan]

Yep, I like to overthink and "maximize" things as well. Sometimes things can work out very well, but often its just a waste of effort.
Oddly enough for being on BITOG, is that I don't overthink oil too much anymore. Turns out you can run quite a few engines and equipment on 15W40, tractor fluid, whatever two stroke oil is on the shelf, and some gear oil.
I ran out of bar oil for the chain saw, but 15W40 and some 25 year old Bar's goopy thick "seal repair" oil additive works pretty much the same?
I do spend a bit too much time looking for deals and the best product when buying inexpensive stuff, so I'm trying to limit my "deep research" to things that really are important.

 

[SupremePossum]

I overthink/over-analyze past life mistakes which I don't think is healthy, but I rarely overthink purchases. I'll search for a few quality candidates for whatever item I'm looking to purchase, then just pick one and move on. I seek excellence instead of perfection.

I do this too

Something will go wrong in my house and I'll regret the purchase. But what am I going to do, turn around and sell it because if a minor issue? Really makes no sense but its hard to just "stop" thinking

 

[Huskyguy68]

It can be good to put some thoughtful thinking into whatever you do, as long as not excessive and undecisive.
I had read a very good book back in the early 90s that was sold by the millions.
Dont Sweat the Small Stuff...by Richard Carlson.
At some point the author died, but his wife continues on with his work, his words of wisdom. Google it and you find her, she has free podcasts to listen on the website.

Also. Another website i read off is The Daily Motivator. . Check it out, very great life advice.

Consider doing yoga and or meditation to calm your mind.
Also, music you listen to can help.
Remember that old saying, Music Soothes the Savage Beast?
I find it to be very true.
Put on headphones/ear buds and listen to classical music, jazz, new age music.or just instrumental music.
Do something mindless such as gardening, walking the dog, a lite hobby, do a jig saw puzzle.
Do it and dont think of other things, let your mind focus at the task at hand. Be present.

 

[Sedin26]

I will occasionally overthink things and over research before a purchase. However, usually it’s just a “reasonable” amount of research and I am then decisive about pulling the trigger. Sometimes it’s not possible to know everything I want to know and then I simply have to pick something.

I’m lucky in that once I make a decision I rarely look back. If I make a mistake then it’s a sunk cost and I move on. My wife has much more trouble with this and the time after every purchase is difficult for her.

 

[Donald]

I don't worry much/ too deeply about purchases.

The exception is housing. Having lost significant monies in housing, and later missing the housing price boon, I apply a lot of overthinking on housing purchases.

Bottom line- most lower cost purchases are easy to recover from. High dollar purchases can provide huge dividends to invest time doing research and analysis.

The wrong choice of a wife can be a very high cost to recover from. Worse choice than if you were to buy a Pinto or Yugo.

 

[burbguy82]

a good plan executed today, is better than 100 perfect plan executed next week.