Jumpstart Your Dream Life

Overthinking is Damaging Your Well-Being

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Imagine that it’s close to bedtime.

You’ve finished a long day of work, ate dinner, and watched TV. You get into bed and relax by doing some reading.

After a while, you realize it’s getting late and decide to call it a night. You reach over and turn off the light. It’s pitch dark now.

You know you should be falling asleep. And yet there you are, staring at the ceiling. Your mind is racing with all sorts of thoughts.

You think back to something you said and wonder if things came out wrong. You reflect on a past action that resulted in negative consequences. Then, you start to worry about all the things that could possibly go wrong.

With each passing thought, you feel yourself sinking into a low mood.

If this sounds like you, you may be suffering from overthinking.

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Now Is the Time to Start Fresh

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In 1918, a 15-year-old named Violet Harris decided to keep a diary. To prevent the spread of Spanish Flu, all schools, churches, and public venues in Seattle were closed until further notice. Her response to not having to go to school was that of pure joy: “Good idea? I’ll say it is!”

Despite the lockdown, the disease spread. Vi, as her family called her, heard news of her friend Rena when she went to return her umbrella. Rena’s father met Vi and informed her that both Rena’s mother and Rena were sick with the flu.

Eventually, they both recovered. Sometime later, Rena called Vi on the phone. When Vi asked her what it felt like to have the flu, Rena said, “Don’t get it.”

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5 Ways You Can Increase Your Intelligence, According to Science

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We often assume intelligence is fixed from birth.

If you’re born with it, you have it. And if you aren’t? That’s too bad. End of story.

Previously, neuroscientists believed that our brains were “fixed”. No matter what someone did, there was nothing they could do to change their brains. If anything, our brain functions would become worse over time.

However, more recent research shows otherwise.

But before we get to that, let’s answer the question: what is intelligence?

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5 Everyday Facts About Life That Are Unfair (Which We Need to Accept)

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Fairness is subjective.

When things are going smoothly, everything seems fair. You’re riding high on the clouds, soaking in all the wonderful things life has to offer. But once you hit turbulence and rough storms, you start to feel everything turn against you. It all just feels so…unfair.

The thing is that life operates on its own terms, not yours. And while you might not like those terms, that’s the way things are. Rather than refusing to accept their existence, it’s better to acknowledge them and keep moving forward.

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A Beginning is a Chance to Start Fresh

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I love beginnings.

Beginnings of what, you wonder? Of anything, really. The first day of school. The first day of a holiday. The first time trying something new.

When you first start out, there are all these different stimuli that hit you right away. You look around in wonder, soaking in everything. It’s as if the sun is just rising.

When you begin, all the doors are open. Infinite possibilities lie ahead. Your future is a blank slate, yet to be written.

Nervousness mixes in with excitement. You feel unfamiliarity, uncertainty, maybe even fear. These emotions combine to create a rush, a thrill from being someplace new.

We usually assume that experts are superior to novices, since they know better. And that’s usually true. But in some unexpected ways, a beginner can have hidden advantages over an expert.

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Bad Things Happen When You Ignore Warning Signs

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In January 2002, a lone man predicted a natural disaster that would impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

Local expert Dieudonne Wafulah had been studying Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano in Congo, for 15 years without pay. He tracked the activity of Nyiragongo and another nearby, smaller volcano for signs of change. Although his equipment had been stolen and vandalized over the years, he persisted in his work.

Then, he saw it. Based on the patterns Wafulah witnessed, Mount Nyiragongo was about to blow. There had been a series of tremors in the earth some months before. Black smoke rose from the mountain. The lava pool inside the crater had shifted and was getting higher.

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Slow Down and Take a Deep Breath

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We normally think perfection is the final stage in a process. But it’s not. There’s another step that comes after: speed.

When you first learn a skill or create something, you struggle. You go through trial and error, trying to figure out what went wrong. The going is slow.

Then, you start seeing small glimmers of success. You receive positive feedback. You begin to feel more confident as you get closer to where you want to be.

Finally, you have it. The ideal prototype. Your technique nailed down. A system in place. Now that the structure is in order, the next step is to go faster, and faster… and faster.

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10 Things That Will Matter a Lot More in 10 Years

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Can you imagine your life in 10 years’ time?

It’s hard, isn’t it? There are so many variables, so many unknowns, it’s nearly impossible to predict what’s in store. Chance events happen, and you end up in situations that no one could foresee.

But then you look at people ahead of you for reference. They’re a decade or two older than you. You notice how their lives have panned out.

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Before You Judge, Seek to Understand

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Have you ever looked at something and thought, “That’s crazy!”?

Maybe someone paid exorbitant amounts of money to buy a jacket when you could have gotten something similar for a fraction of the price. Or a company launched a product that seemed so strange, so unlike anything you had seen before, that you wondered what they were thinking. To you, it seemed illogical, maybe even stupid.

But to them, it made perfect sense.

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8 Subtle Signs You’re Settling for Comfort Instead of Embracing the Unknown

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Does it ever feel like you’re waiting?

Waiting for something to happen. Waiting for the fog to clear, so you can see what lies ahead. Waiting for the moment the pieces come together, culminating in the perfection you spent your entire life waiting for.

If you’re still waiting, here’s news: you’re wasting your time.

Waiting is dangerous. It gives the false illusion that if you’re patient enough, time will reward you with everything you hoped for. It causes you to sit there and let things fall into place rather than doing something yourself.

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