How to Stop Overthinking

a post by Darius Foroux for Forge: Beat yesterday. A new Medium publication about personal development. [brought to us by Stephen’s Lighthouse]


Photo by 胡 卓亨 on Unsplash

How many hours per day do you think?

“I never thought about that,” you’re probably saying. So let me get this straight: You’re thinking all the time, and yet you never consider how much time you spend thinking. That sounds like an addiction to me. I know, because I’m addicted to thinking, too.

Overthinking is a common problem, but when it gets out of hand it can lead to sleep disruption, “analysis paralysis,” and even threaten mental health. It’s also a difficult one to diagnose, let alone cure.

When I eat too much, I can say, “I’m overeating. I need to eat less.” When I work too much, I can say, “I’m getting burned out. I need to stop working.” When I drink too much, I can say, “I need to stop. I need a bottle of water.” But when I think too much, it’s not enough to just say “I’m overthinking.” I need a different approach to unclog my brain.

Continue reading

---

Loving Yourself When You're Addicted to Self-Improvement

a post by Leslie Ralph for the Tiny Buddha blog

“Whatever purifies you is the right path.” ~Rumi 

I'm tired of being good. It's time to be deliciously free.

How I wish I could say that without rushing in to assure you that I promise I’ll still be good.

The truth is, I worry. Less than I used to, but still, I do.

I’ve probably had every kind of worry you could imagine. There’s the kind about things that haven’t happened yet, things that didn’t but very nearly could have, things that are highly unlikely if not impossible, things that are commonplace; I’ve worried about the things I want and the things I don’t, the purpose and the impermanence of life.

Continue reading

---

Millennials Are at Higher Risk for Mental Health Issues. This May Be Why

a post by Philip Perry for the Big Think blog

Millennials are experiencing higher levels of anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide than generations past. Many reasons have been offered but none definitive, until now. A new study finds that this generation carries much higher levels of perfectionism, and that these elevated expectations may be to blame. UK researchers came to these conclusions, which were published in the journal Psychological Bulletin.

Since the 1980s, governments and their adjacent societies in the US, UK, and Canada, have focused on individual improvement, both in the economic and social sphere. Since then, people in these countries have been working on themselves, forever striving for self-improvement, particularly in the forms of higher educational and career attainment, and better social standing. But what cost comes with putting all that emphasis on individual achievement?

According to Thomas Curran, from the University of Bath and Andrew Hill, of York St. John University, the results are being seen with this latest generation, the Millennials (ages 18-35). This generation feels overburdened with a perfectionist streak unknown to their parents or grandparents.

Continue reading

---

How to resist self-improvement

On 23 February 2017 the RSA held an event for an hour on the above topic.

‘The problem with the self-help ethos is that it privatises or individualises social problems. If there are no jobs it’s not due to your lack of positive thinking that you can’t get a job!’
The pace of modern life is accelerating, and the self-help shelves are groaning with advice on how to keep up – and stay positive in the process. But the demands of life in the fast lane come at a price: anxiety, fatigue and depression are at an all-time high, and our social interactions have become increasingly self-serving and opportunistic.

Even as profound social and political events unfold around us, we are repeatedly distracted by introspection and self-improvement. Why are we so obsessed with personal change and growth, and how can we channel this tendency into something more outward-looking?

Leading Danish philosopher and psychologist Svend Brinkmann argues that we must not be afraid to reject the self-help mantra. The secret to a happier life lies not in finding your inner self, but in coming to terms with yourself in order to coexist peacefully with others.

The event was live-streamed at the time and is now available as a video on YouTube. I highly recommend that you take a quiet hour out of your busy life and listen.

And then move on to this much shorter piece (just over 11 minutes) which presents a different but complementary view.

The Dark Side of Self Improvement
Suzanne Eder
TEDxWilmington

---