Overthinking | Worrying?

Many of the individuals I work with are often trapped in the mode of overthinking and worrying. While there are contextual considerations to each individual, one thing in common is overthinking/worrying tends to paralyze one with their thoughts and worries, and as a consequence, they struggle to make decisions or take necessary action.

I used to overthink and worry a lot but I realised at some point that overthinking and worrying took away my appreciation of the present moment. Something was always amiss. I did not realise that when I kept thinking about tomorrow or a future event, I lost the opportunity to fully live today. I have come to understand that the most effective way to make a positive impact on the future I envision is to confront it directly. (Overthinking or worrying, as I reflected, did not help much 😉).

What I know for sure is when I stopped overthinking and worrying, clarity started to present itself.

When we engage in rumination and persistent worrying, it can lead to a negative cycle of thoughts and feelings that may result in depression and anxiety.

Today, I would like to share some ideas based on face features and how you might be able to better manage this. To fully appreciate these ideas, you might want to read my previous write-up on our dominant zones (💡 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗨𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 https://lnkd.in/gXCXpuvZ).

If you are 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝟭 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 (with a prominent forehead, expansive/large forehead area or receding hairlines), you are likely overthinking and worrying because of your

• need for information
• desire for completeness of the information ("The information I have is never enough!")
• tendency to "think in your head" (you get caught in your thoughts and others might find you drifting away frequently).

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼?

⏱️ Set a cut-off time/date for information, research or any other findings you need.

🎬 Understand that it is near impossible to have "complete" information before you make any decisions.

⏳ Set aside a 30 min "thinking/worry time" on a daily basis. (this is similar to "parking" ideas/questions we need to address in a meeting/brainstorming).

If you are 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝟮 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 (with prominent middle zone and features such as

your nose, brows or cheekbones), you are likely overthinking and worrying

because of your

• highly practical nature, your thinking tends to focus on comparing options (which is the best value, which option works best, what is the impact of a possible decision, and does the decision solve the problem you face)
• desire for an ideal ( this is especially true for individuals with very delicate noses). You might overthink the most ideal option.
• desire to be in control/in charge (for individuals with high cheekbones, high nose bridge/bump on the bridge of the nose)

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼?

🚧 Understand that you are making the decision at your level best. Being a highly practical person, it helps to know that you have come out with practical action or options based on what's available and accessible.

😀 Know that "indecision is impractical", and "indecision leads to a loss in time and delays in seeing results". (Zone 2 dominant individuals need to see things in action and getting to the action of doing always clears the path! Practical people tend to "wake up" once they know that what they do is impractical (e.g. overthinking or worrying). Personally, this worked wonders for me.

⏱️ Set a cut-off time/date for the process of comparison and considering options.

⏳ Set aside a 30 min "thinking/worry time" on a daily basis.

If you are 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝟯 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 (with a prominent chin, jaws or mouth), you are likely overthinking and worrying because of your

• emotional needs (especially if you have tightly pressed lips or a very large/full mouth, or a pointed chin)
• strong will ( strong/square/turn-up/receding chin)
• need to fight for what you believe in (strong jaws)

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼?

✒️ Hone your skills in using data and insights to make decisions. In that way, you will have a more balanced view of the decision or action you need to take.

🔖  Learn to acknowledge your intuition and use that to facilitate the process of evaluating a situation.

👌 For Zone 3 dominant individuals, anxiety and worry could arise due to challenged beliefs, it will be good to validate your beliefs and learn to express them.

⏳ Set aside a 30 min "thinking/worry time" on a daily basis.

You will notice that I have suggested 'setting aside a 30 min "thinking/worry time" on a daily basis' repeatedly. This is because it works very well for all zones.

It can be very comforting to know that there is a specific time of day when we can return to thinking about our concerns. Give the attention it needs. But nothing more than that.

There are other ways or approaches that will help curb our minds from overthinking/worrying (e.g. breathing techniques, meditation, mindfulness practices and etc.)

No matter what you decide to do, I hope this write-up gives you some ideas to wean off a pattern of overthinking/worrying. Most importantly, be informed and acquire self-care knowledge and make a decision to bring well-being into your daily routine.