5 Easy Steps On How To Overcome Overthinking

“The sharpest minds often ruin their lives by overthinking the next step, while the dull win the race with eyes closed.” Bethany Brookbank, “Write like no one is reading”

Have you ever stopped yourself cold and had the feeling of analysis paralysis? Well, I have, and I know the feeling well. Analyze it; overthinking can lead to paralyzing your actions that turn into the lack of productivity, that's what overthinking creates.

For me, it all started when I would get cold sweats of the thought of just making a simple decision. “Should I call?” No, maybe I shouldn’t, it’s not the right time, or they will not understand me, I was torturing myself with negative self-talk. I realized that my over-thinking was taking over my existence. I have to share with you how I came out of that rut and escaped unharmed. I have the power and the momentum to continue with my actions.

Here are the five steps on how to overcome overthinking:

1. Recognize Negative Thoughts
2. Take Action
3. Keep The Momentum
4. Be Honest
5. Allow


Step 1: Recognize Negative Thoughts

Start by feeding yourself with positive thoughts, and when a feeling of fear or doubt sneaks in, immediately realize it and stop it in its tracks. Say, “no that thought is not supporting me,” and immediately think about something better. Tell yourself that this thought is not productive. It doesn’t matter what it is, what matters is that you can recognize it. It will give you a sense of power and allow you to be in control.


Step 2: Take Action

Call, write the article, make the decision and stick to it. Taking action is vital in this process, do the necessary things to keep going. When you work at it, you will feel empowered. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, “ “Do the thing and you will have the power.”


Step 3: Keep The Momentum

Learn new things, read books, listen to motivational videos and reprogram your mind to focus on the right things and not give the power to fear and negativity. Become active and influential. Everyone is different, keep your momentum with what feels right for you.


Step 4: Honesty

Be honest with yourself and your feelings, surround yourself with like-minded individuals. Be honest about how you are feeling, for instance; you will never go wrong when you treat yourself right. The sense of freedom transforms you into having the positive feeling of doing what you set your mind to do, that will keep you from overthinking.


Step 5: Allow

Change is hard, don’t get stuck in your routine and negative ways. You can't have change unless you change. Allow yourself to be opened to positive change, for instance, allowing the positive vibration and letting it guide you. Let yourself explore new possibilities, journeys, and experiences.

In summary, by taking action you take control, and at the end of your journey, you will see that it wasn’t as big or intimidating as you thought. Are you ready to take control of your life? Start today by recognizing that you do overthink, and practice doing less of it daily.  Contact me today for a transformational chat. Have a fantastic day.


Coach Barb
Certified Career Coach

How do you deal with overthinking?

How To Have The Right Attitude In The Workplace

"A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results." Wade Boggs

Making decisions at work are inevitable, and along with that comes actions. The difference in how things turn out is just the attitude in which you took those actions. Everyone creates opinions, work in teams and accept responsibility. However, how many times do we experience negativity and rudeness in the workplace? More than we should.

What has helped me in the past is my ability to start my day with a solid morning routine. That helps me start my day prepared and with clarity for whatever comes my way. It’s unfortunate that I have dealt with relentless negativity in the workplace, but I have used those experiences to learn and grow.

Below I will share with you what you can do to create a positive environment so that when you need to take action, you make them with the right attitude.

To have the right attitude, you must possess the qualities below:

Quality #1
Be A Good Listener
When you are involved in a conversation always seek to understand, don’t attempt to respond. It is a valuable lesson that everyone should learn and practice. It goes a long way to be a great communicator in any industry. Listen.

Quality #2
Be Enthusiastic
Show enthusiasm in everything that you do. If you decided to work where you are working make the best of it, treat your customers with excitement it will show that you are happy to service them. And, treat your coworkers with respect and show enthusiasm with your actions towards them.

Quality #3
Be Kind
Did you know that if you are kind to others, you will automatically feel better? Also, be kind to yourself, do the necessary tasks first, take appropriate breaks to keep going with proper energy, this will help with approaching events with the right attitude.

Quality #4
Be Conscious
How are you speaking to yourself and others? What you decide to feed your mind is what you are going to see as your actions. Start listening to personal development audio books and podcasts, nourish your mind with quality information. Get into the habit of treating yourself good so that you will treat others even better. Start by being conscious about everything you do and how you are doing it.

Quality #5
Be Responsible
Stop complaining and stop criticizing. When you take responsibility for your actions and learn how to avoid gossip, you will feel better. Remember that positivity always wins.

In summary, is your attitude a stepping stone to your next opportunity or is it a stumbling block to your subsequent failure? You will conquer more with a positive attitude, and keep solving problems along the way. Contact me for a Transformational Career Coaching Session. Have a fantastic day.


Until next week,
Coach Barb
Certified Career Coach



What steps do you take to have the right attitude?

How To Become More Productive With Better Habits

“I will form good habits and become their slave. And how will I accomplish this difficult feat? Through these scrolls it will be done, for each scroll contains a principle which will drive a bad habit from my life and replace it with one which will bring me closer to success.” Og Mandino

Sometimes what you are doing is automatic and part of your daily routine. But, is it productive? I’m talking about your habits. We tend to create patterns at work that we don’t even notice that it’s affecting our environment. If you are struggling to get things done or even feel hesitant to participate in new projects, you might have a couple of habits that need replacing.

I had a couple of bad habits at work, and one of them was to over plan. I would plan my calls, my visits, my week, my days to perfection. But, then I would realize how much time I wasted preparing. I couldn’t keep it simple; I had to overthink (another bad habit) and over plan. I did manage to overcome those two habits, and I replaced them with practices that shorten my time and be able to be more productive.

Below I will share with you what I did and how I did it. In addition to those two lousy workplace habits, I came up with a couple more that might be giving you problems at work.

Bad Workplace Habits

• Excessive Organizing
• Overplanning
• Resisting Change
• Gossiping
• Procrastinating 
• Overthinking
• Tardiness

The key to changing a bad habit is to be aware that you have an ingrained habit that is unwanted and destructive. Once you pinpoint a problem, you are ready to tackle the problem. Then you can implement the steps below to help you overcome one habit at a time.

Acknowledge- Identify the habit that needs replacement, for example, you are a habitual latecomer, identify that you are always running late and ask yourself, what can I do differently to start being on time? Make a list of what you need to do.

Decide- Next you need to decide to start incorporating your new habits. For instance, I will leave the house 15 minutes earlier, or I will make sure to be on time from lunch every day. Once you decide, then it’s time to take action.

Replace- Once you decide now it’s time to take action. Replace leaving the house at your usual time and leave 15 minutes earlier every day.

Visualize- Take the time to do a practice run in your mind the night before. It might mean to change a couple more habits at home, like going to bed earlier. But, by picturing it in your mind's eye first, you will find it easier to accomplish.

You can incorporate this exercise with any of your bad habits, the goal is not to get rid of your bad habit, but by replacing it with a new habit. Become a master of taking control of your life and surroundings.

For the changes to have a significant impact on your life and at work, you must be committed to being disciplined in changing and practicing the new habit to get the best results.

In summary, it is no easy task to replace a bad habit, but with awareness, discipline, and desire you can do this. For a transformational Career Coaching Call, contact me today.

Until Next Week,
Coach Barb
Certified Career Coach

Do you find it difficult to replace a bad habit with a good habit?

How To Overcome Toxic Behaviors In The Workplace

"There's been a quantum leap technologically in our age, but unless there's another quantum leap in human relations, unless we learn to live in a new way towards one another, there will be a catastrophe." Albert Einstein

Recent studies have shown that behavior is much a factor as technical abilities. It’s not easy to bring together different personalities to a well-functioning organization, so the best way to manage employees is to identify and rectify toxic behaviors sooner than later.

I have worked with a good share of different people in my career, and I have to tell you that I have been fortunate to have worked with great colleagues. Some that I currently have significant relationships with, however on the other side of that same coin I have encountered difficult personalities that have been bad experiences. The good thing about having to deal with difficult, toxic individuals is the lesson learned.

As the observer and the affected employee, below I will share with you how to identify and deal with toxic employees and or colleagues.

Is your organization affected? Take a look at the most common toxic behaviors:

• Aggressiveness
• Resistance to change
• Rudeness
• Passive aggressive 

Having an employee with any of the above characteristics can affect your organizations' morale, quality, and the bottom line.

Ways to overcome a potential problem:

• Detect a problem early
• Create workshops and coaching sessions about toxic behaviors, have a plan
• If problems persist, evaluate, confront and eliminate the toxic individual

Always have an open door policy about complaints in the workplace. Notice if more than one individual complains about the same person, take notice and create an action plan immediately.

In summary, it’s imperative to identify toxic behavior before it ruins your organization. Don’t be afraid to make corrections early. For a Career Coaching session contact me today.

Until next week,
Coach Barb
Certified Career Coach

How do you handle toxic behavior in your organization?