You had a great interview except for one question where you felt your answer wasn’t succinct enough. Instead of thinking about how you could answer a similar question better next time, you replay the interview over and over in your head and start second-guessing more and more of your answers.
Maybe you’re a school teacher who had to deal with a parent issue and instead of putting it behind you, you ruminate on the conversation.
In this week’s episode, we are going to explore ruminating on the past, harm your future, and ups your anxiety.
How to Stop Ruminating
Activate your neural pathways about the good over the bad. Instead of homing in on what didn’t go right, think about what did go right. Get out of the negative neural loop. Recall when things worked, when you did well, and purposefully shift your thoughts.
Distract yourself from the thoughts in your head. When we are anxious, we tend to feed those thoughts. You feel yourself going down the rabbit hole, shift your energy somewhere else:
- Go for a walk with a friend.
- Get to work, start a new project.
- Get literal. Look around the room and start naming objects. What you’re doing is bring your mind into the present moment.
Write down what you could have done differently. Just putting pen to paper will get the ideas out of your brain and keep it from trying to problem-solve in the background.
Ask yourself some simple questions:
- How are these thoughts benefiting me?
- Is what I’m thinking about even in my control? Can I change it?
Recognize that yes, you do make mistakes and accept your human and not perfect.
Put on a timer. If you need time to worry, limit it! Put a timer on and give yourself 5 minutes to think about everything. Once the timer goes off, you need to switch off your mind.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Join Our Facebook Group Just Gen x — The Resting Mind
The Today Show with Hoda & Jenna
Articles + Podcasts:
Watch Your Mouth The Power of Language (podcast)
The 5Ps of Success (podcast)
Why are we so Afraid of Fear? (article)
These Two Words May Be Taking You Down (article)
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