How to Stop Overthinking Everything [1]

Like many self-help junkies, I like to read up on all the latest theories of growth, behavior, and happiness. Unlike most people though, I like to test them haphazardly on myself, my loved ones, and on innocent bystanders. I do this for 3 reasons:

1. I like tangible, real world applications
2. I don’t like to use my clients as guinea pigs
3. I still hold onto the belief that somewhere out there is a magical, concrete theory that would explain my past mistakes, adorably neurotic behavior (yes, that’s how I describe it) and would generally make sense of the world around me.

While #1 and #2 have been helpful, #3 has gotten me into a bit of trouble. See, the problem with trying to “find yourself” is that you do a lot of unnecessary pathologizing, diagnosing, and, to put it bluntly, a lot of thinking.

The truth is that thinking isn’t always a good thing.