This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Soundtracks" by Jon Acuff. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Is your mind constantly racing? How do you reduce overthinking?
Overthinking tends to undermine your productivity and self-esteem, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Instead, Soundtracks by Jon Acuff says that you can stop overthinking before it happens to have a peaceful state of mind.
Here’s how to reduce overthinking and stop negativity.
Interrupt Negative Overthinking
To learn how to reduce overthinking, Acuff argues that you must first interrupt negative thoughts to prevent overthinking. Overthinking occurs when your negative thoughts are so persistent that they begin to distract and discourage you. Over time, overthinking leads you to believe that any action you take will result in failure, so you avoid going after your dreams.
For example, suppose that your lifelong dream is to become a first-rate sushi chef, but because you lack confidence in your skills, you’re convinced you’ll never get a foot in the door. Nevertheless, you apply to a few restaurants, and to your surprise, your top choice offers you a trainee position. In the days before your first shift, you can’t stop imagining the embarrassment when the staff realizes you have no idea what you’re doing. You get so anxious about it that you decide not to go in at all, and the opportunity passes you by.
Your Brain Is Wired for Overthinking
According to Acuff, it can be difficult to interrupt negative thoughts because human brains have a natural tendency toward negative overthinking. Acuff notes that your brain responds to minor negative events in a similar way to how it handles major traumas, deeply internalizing these experiences and their consequences. Your brain’s habit of latching on to negative memories makes it easier to remember failures than successes, which can lead you to form inaccurate negative beliefs about yourself.
(Shortform note: You may be more or less biologically inclined to overthink depending on your gender. According to a recent study, on average women are more given to overthinking than men. Scientists hypothesize that women may be more inclined to overthink due to higher average levels of frontal lobe activity and blood flow within the brain. These physiological differences also offer benefits including increased focus and intuition, alongside the drawbacks of overthinking and anxiety.)
As Acuff notes, once you’ve formed a negative belief about yourself, you’ll tend to interpret new experiences in a way that reinforces your prior negative belief, thanks to a phenomenon called confirmation bias. Because of confirmation bias, if you hold a negative belief about yourself, your brain will interpret even minor setbacks as evidence that the negative belief is true.
(Shortform note: While Acuff focuses on how confirmation bias can reinforce negative beliefs about yourself, confirmation bias can also work in your favor. Experts say that in the right conditions, confirmation bias can help bolster confidence. The key is starting with the right belief—if you start with a negative idea about yourself, new experiences will deepen your negativity, but if you start with a positive belief, you’ll interpret everything as evidence that your positive belief is true. While Acuff doesn’t consider this potentially beneficial side effect of confirmation bias, he does offer strategies for forming positive beliefs about yourself, which you can use to take advantage of confirmation bias.)
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Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Jon Acuff's "Soundtracks" at Shortform.
Here's what you'll find in our full Soundtracks summary:
- A guide to stop overthinking and start chasing your goals
- Why human brains are wired for overthinking
- How to repeat positive thoughts until they become patterns
