I’ve always had so much respect for people who were good at making decisions, embodied confidence and just had their shit together, because those were the kind of things I could never do. Instead, I got used to the daily routine of overanalyzing every possible thing I said in a day or what other people told me. Questions ranging from “Oh my god, does she hate me and think I’m socially awkward?” to “I did this embarrassing thing, should I pack up my bags and move to a different country?” became a common ringtone in my mind. And for a while, I was very self-deprecating about it and wondered why I couldn’t be more confident and have the ability to stop overthinking things.
But over time I’ve begun to realize that the thing that I wanted to get rid of, overthinking every little thing, was the biggest superpower I could ever have if I used it correctly. And once I realized that being confident and being confident in yourself were two different things, it became easier to break down those walls and actually use my superpower to my advantage.
When someone is confident in themselves, they appreciate every good and bad thing they have to offer and learn to be okay with it all. They realize that there is a big difference between self-improvement and giving up everything to become someone they know they’re not. They realize that the things they once thought were so flawed end up being the things about themselves that are the most empowering.
Once you realize that being someone who overthinks really means you’re just someone who cares more than the average person and has so much love to give, then you become confident in who you are. You’re not someone who just worries. You’re someone who loves and you’re someone who wants the best for everyone and yourself, which is why you think so much. Changing that mentality by just a bit is what leads to overall confidence that shines through to everyone else.
So, how does this translate into a superpower? Well, think about: When you overanalyze everything, you’re basically trying to predict as many different outcomes as possible to avoid getting hurt or to avoid any sort of uncertainty. Obviously, you can’t predict every possible thing that could happen, but let’s be real, sometimes you can come pretty close (we’re pretty much fortune tellers – it’s pretty dang hard to surprise us).
And that can be a good thing! With the right mindset, you’re able to channel that energy from overthinking into something else that works to your advantage. It’s an exhausting thing to do, but it comes with its perks! If you’re a business owner, seeing where you could go wrong and having backup plans in place is so valuable to avoid downfalls in your operations. When you know how to look from different perspectives, you can have more empathy for people. And for each time you worry about what someone thinks about you, you’re really just hoping they’ll like you for you. It’s not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of someone who has a big heart.
So as ironic as this may sound, don’t worry about worrying. While you shouldn’t drain yourself when it comes to your mental health by overthinking things, learn to love that part of yourself. Learn that overthinking can actually be an amazing thing, and that with the right mindset, it can be your biggest superpower.