Over-Thinking

Continuing the recent theme of posts having to do loosely with mind games, today's post will have some random thoughts concerning "Over-Thinking" thrown at the slimy wall of my word processer and seeing what sticks.

"Over-Thinking". We all do it whether we realize it or not. We spend hours agonizing over a decision. All because, we think we need every piece of information before we can make the "right" decision.

My definition of "Over-Thinking" is spending an inordinate amount of time and mental energy considering numerous options before arriving at a conclusion which your "gut" may or may not agree.

On Wednesday nights, I watch this show on the CBS network called "Survivor". For those not familiar, they send a group of people to a deserted island where they must live and eat together in two groups, compete in challenges for rewards and immunity from being voted off. They form allegiance with each in an effort to not get voted off – basically a social game of desperation.

Where I am going with this is, the producers of the show do a great job letting these people ramble on about what their plans are and whose in their alliance and how they foresee the game playing out. In my opinion, they present a classic case of people of "over-thinking". I am sure the show only lets us see a small amount the time with which these people have their heads in the clouds trying to work out every conceivable angle so they can become known as the "sole" survivor.

My take away from this show is that people who brood over their decisions too long then tend to end up right back where they started. They are still trying to work out the right answer. Life is fluid. Life is dynamic. Change is inevitable.

Runners get caught up in the same scenario. They over think their diet, their training plans, or their racing strategy or even some combination of the three. And, there are probably others that I should list but haven't.

Getting all of the information, analyzing every viewpoint in theory is great. In life, the best we can hope for is some smaller percentage of this information.

That mental energy and time could be better spent during our training workout or in the race itself.

So the next time the options seem abundant in your head, take 5 minutes, breathe deeply, and make the decision. Then, move forward.

 

 

Sharing one thought at time,

 

The Cool Down Runner