The Dream Chasing Guide for Overthinkers

You have a dream. You have a big, wonderful dream. In fact, your ability to dream is the one thing you don’t doubt out of a hundred other things you question about yourself and your abilities. You’ve had big dreams in the past, but they always fizzled out or didn’t reach their full potential because of all the time you had to take to think through everything. Or perhaps you gave them up because you were consumed by all of the “what if”s.

For the overthinkers out there with big dreams, this post is for you!

This post originally appeared on Anna’s 1st blog, Annamotion.

The Power of “Over Thinking”

I am an overthinker. At least I’ve been negatively told that a million times and have started to tell myself that. “Anna, you think too much”,  “you don’t have to think about it”,”stop overthinking”, “just take action already”, “you don’t have to think through everything.” But what if this thing called “overthinking” isn’t actually all negative?

I believe overthinkers actually possess a gift.

Who else can analyze a situation like you do? Who else can think through all the possible outcomes like you do? Who else can carefully consider each option, weighing their pros and cons like you do? Who else has the natural ability to stop and think before taking action like you do?

My friend, I wouldn’t call it “overthinking”; I would call your gift “strategic and tactical analysis.”

Whoa! Look at you, hotshot! You’ve got mad skills in strategic and tactical analysis!

Let’s pause to take a closer look at that for a moment.

In this interview question and answer from ModernAnalyst.com, they define strategic analysis in business as the “ability to understand the environment they operate within, recognize developing patterns and trends within the industry, anticipate issues that may arise within the current operating environment, predict outcomes of planned initiatives and how they might impact the company’s direction, and develop sound fallback plans to mitigate the risk of a miscalculation.”

And they define tactical analysis as “how the company or manager plans to get the job done or achieve the particular strategic objective. Tactical thinking and planning considers the resources available (time, money, people) along with the risks or challenges that may be encountered, and determines the most efficient way to use those resources to achieve strategic goals while delivering quality results.”

Now these are in regards to strategic and tactical analysis within a company, but doesn’t some of that sound familiar to you? “Anticipate issues that may arise”, “predict outcomes…and how they might impact…direction”, “considers the resources available…along with the risks or challenges that may be encountered”, and “determines the most efficient way to…achieve…goals.”

Dude, that’s YOU!

Maybe you should switch careers.

But anyways, I say all this to point out the value in an ability to think through a situation thoroughly.

Now that you’re feeling good about yourself, let’s talk about the negative side.

Woe to the OVERthinking

I believe many times people see our good use of our strategic and tactical analysis and wrongly label it “overthinking.”

However, I believe there is such a true thing as overthinking.

There is value in thinking things through, but it can become a negative when we spend too much time thinking that we miss out on the doing. There is value in looking at possible outcomes, but it can become a negative when we begin to worry about the possible outcomes. There is value in thinking on what is needed to succeed and where it could potentially go wrong, but it can become a negative when we dwell on it and begin to doubt ourselves and our abilities.

With all of that said, here are some solid tips for the dream chasing overthinker:

1. When you’re feeling discouraged, remember your gift.

There will be times that you feel discouraged by the critical words of others or your own self talk telling you that you’re just overthinking, but remember what I said about the gift you possess: you are a master of strategic and tactical analysis. When you’re experiencing the weaknesses, don’t forget the strength you also possess.

2. Don’t let the “what if” scenarios turn to worries.

You’re good at thinking through what would happen if you take certain actons; there’s value in that. It can prevent you from taking unnecessary wrong turns. But don’t let the “what if”s turn into worries that weigh you down and stop you from chasing your dream. Sometimes a potential scenario can be legitimate, but sometimes you’ve just gotta take the risk. Dream chasing is full of many risks. Learn to take some. The right ones. The “worth it” ones.

3. Do not doubt yourself.

There’s a difference between “accurately knowing your own strengths and weaknesses” and “doubting your own abilities”. One is built on truth, the other is built on fear, lies, worries, and doubt. Um, did you catch that? One is truth; the other is a filthy LIE! So learn the difference. Learn and understand who you are and grow in your abilities, but don’t let fear and stinkin’ lies hold you back from reaching your potential. Don’t let doubt drag you down from chasing your dream.

4. Take action before you’re ready.

Once again, there’s a balance to this. Learn to know the difference between being smart–thinking through the right course of action and spending way too much time thinking about it. The truth is you’ll never be fully ready. No matter how many days or years you spend analyzing the situation, your resources, the timing, the possible outcomes, etc., etc!, you can never for sure know what will happen because you’re not God!

Life is too unpredictable. There are an infinite number of variables that can mess up your calculations. A tornado, a sudden death in the family, the loss of a job, a friend who needs your help immediately, you get the flu, someone else beats you to your dream. There are so many things we cannot predict. It’s a waste of time to try to prepare for every possible scenario. Life is short. You could literally die at any moment. It happens to people every day. I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I say this to help you understand that there is a time to take action before you’re ready. Yes, I totally believe (for the majority of situations) you should think things through before you take action because actions do have consequences. I think thinking is the smart thing to do. BUT there’s a time to think and there’s a time where you’ve thought enough and it’s time to take action.

5. When you’re feeling discouraged, remember your gift.

There will be times that you feel discouraged by the critical words of others or your own self talk telling you that you’re just overthinking, but remember what I said about the gift you possess: you are a master of strategic and tactical analysis. When you’re experiencing the weaknesses, don’t forget the strength you also possess.

Yes, I did just make #5 the exact same as #1 because I think it is so critically important for “overthinkers” to understand! Overthinkers are usually the ones to overthink their actions, their lives, and their own abilities. We doubt ourselves quite a lot, don’t we? So I wanted to end this post with a double reminder that YOU, my friend, have a GIFT. So go use it well! And chase that dream!

---

Any overthinkers in the room? *raises hand* What other tips have helped you chase your dreams?

Save