Nick Trenton

If we hope to successfully tackle overthinking, we need to take a step back rather than trying to work through the problem from inside our own rumination.

It’s not the load, but how you carry it.”

With the right techniques, we can reframe our perspective and change our behavior, stopping us from overthinking and putting our brains to good use instead

There comes a point in many people’s lives when they feel quite keenly that they have absolutely no idea who they are.

Our brain is an extraordinarily helpful tool, but when we overthink, we only undermine its power

less is more, always work backwards, and most things don’t matter.

The third step is to identify these tasks and actions. You can get an idea of useful tasks by looking to other successful people, but beware: you may find success doing the exact opposite! Once you’ve identified useful actions, make as many of them habitual/automatic as possible by building them into routines.

What are the biggest distractions that disrupt my workflow?
What are the best ways I can cut down on major expenses to save more money?
Which possessions of mine are the most expendable?
Which activities do I enjoy least and can be eliminated from my routine?

Who are the people in my life that bring me the most joy and stability?
What are the biggest stressors in my life and what can I do about them?
What are the best habits I can incorporate which have the most net positive effect on my life (reading, healthier eating, etc.)?

A good way to summarize the Pareto principle is that life isn’t fair. Things almost never work out in egalitarian ways. In an ideal world, every employee would contribute in similar ways to their organization, we’d be rewarded based on the quantity of our efforts, and things would generally have relatively the same value. But the truth is you don’t get returns based on how much input you provide, the playing field across industries isn’t level but dominated by a few elite performers, and most of what we spend our time on isn’t valuable or productive.