The Worrier constantly fights off unknowns and seeks solutions to the million different hypotheticals of any given situation. Not a fan of surprises, The Worrier endeavors to tidy up all the uncertainties on their path.

The Worrier believes that mental hypervigilance will allow them to spot potential painful outcomes before they happen, and that they can use their thinking to shift course and avoid having to feel things like sadness, embarrassment, shame, fear or any kind of feeling that isn’t pleasant.

The Worrier’s mind turns to overthinking in situations where there’s ambiguity, like when demands or expectations shift, or when there’s a sudden change in their external environment that impacts them. The higher the real or perceived risk—whether it’s personal, professional nor interpersonal—the more intense their overthinking becomes.

The Worrier’s unique skill is imagining worst case scenarios—for example, it’s not uncommon for The Worrier to carry around the perpetual fear that they’ll lose their job or an important relationship. Though it’s an undermining way of thinking, to The Worrier it seems empowering— because it gives them a sense of control—even if it is a false sense of control (which it pretty much always is).

But The Worrier’s thought process is that if they can identify the absolute worst outcome, then they can find every way to control it and make it not so awful.

Because The Worrier likes to play it safe—they’ll hold back from making bold statements in a meeting or from starting an initiative that’s untested. And they’ll likely stay in a job or a relationship they dislike because the known negative experience is better than the unknown.

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NOW WHAT?

Is your mind already chewing on what all of this means?

Or maybe you’re second guessing your results…are you really another archetype??

And are you wondering how to apply the insights about your overthinking archetype to stop overthinking and start trusting yourself?

Don’t worry. I got you.

Here’s how you can begin to integrate this information:

1. Start to become more aware of your body.

Because your body is your greatest tell when it comes to overthinking, and it’s also your greatest ally. Using a bottom up approach (sending info from your body to your brain) is a powerful way to regulate your nervous system and to get you in touch with the inner resources that will help you stop the hamster wheel in your head.

When you find yourself overthinking, you can do something as simple as give your face and neck a quick massage, shake your arms and legs, give yourself a hug, go for a walk…or even sometimes it’s enough to sit or stand up taller to shift your thinking.

It won’t stop you overthinking forever, but it will push the reset button on your sweet, overworked brain.

2. Use your mantra.

When you find your body giving you all the overthinking tells, or you catch yourself ruminating on your core question, or you realize that your core fear is lurking under the surface…let that be your sign that it’s time to use your mantra.

Your archetype’s mantra is medicine that’s unique to your core fear. Saying it to yourself is a way of soothing the part of you who may feel scared and is trying to fix feeling scared by overthinking. (Which, by the way, isn’t helpful.)

I get it that it might feel awkward or fake to say your mantra to yourself at first. That’s ok. But see if you can look for the part of yourself who might be open to letting the words in, or even potentially believing your new mantra. That’s the part of you who will befriend you in moments when your overthinking is taking over.

3. Take action.

As the Worrier, the action I encourage you taking is to use your body to start telling your brain the message that you’re ok. Find a posture that conveys this and practice it every day for 1-2 minutes.

I understand that this might feel flimsy in the face of your mighty overthinking. It isn’t–it will have a positive impact!

But it IS only one part of the equation when it comes to shifting your experience.

Just as overthinking is just ONE form of self-sabotage that you’re probably doing.

Overthinking usually runs in the same crowd as things like not trusting your gut, not setting boundaries, and not believing that your insides get to matter. Sound familiar?

And when all of those troublemakers are hanging out with you, it’s hard to feel at home in your own skin. It’s hard to have a good experience of yourself, especially around other people.

Addressing the whole system of self-sabotaging behaviors takes an integrated and holistic approach that includes your body, brain, heart and nervous system.

For over two decades, I’ve been on a mission to give smart, sensitive, self-sabotaging people (like you) the practical tools they need to live in a way where their insides match their outsides and they are trustworthy to themselves.

Because like the “training” you got to NOT do that, changing your capacity to not just know better but do better is a matter of training.

So if you’re ready to have access to the entirety of the training you’d need to stop overthinking (and all the other behaviors on the self-sabotaging menu), I’ve made a signature program that encapsulates everything I’ve learned over the last 20+ years and that has helped hundreds of people like you stop sabotaging themselves and start trusting themselves.

It’s called Yours Truly.™ Click the video below to learn more!

(Pssst…if you’re worried you don’t have the capacity to do the full program right now but you do want a quick and effective mini course (for only $36!) that will help you get at the root of your overthinking check out Yours Truly: The Initiation!)

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