I've noticed a troubling trend recently.

People seem to be making decisions without spending weeks agonising over every possible outcome. They're trusting their gut without using a spreadsheet. And they're living their lives without constantly comparing themselves to their favourite Dimstagram dimfluencer.

And I have to say:

This cavalier approach to life must stop!

If you're not using a SWOT analysis to manage every aspect of your life, I do wonder…

Are you ignoring all your thoughts and blindly trusting things will work out?

Here’s how to know if your overthinking isn’t up to scratch:

*** You still have mental bandwidth available. Can you remember what you had for breakfast? Concerning. That memory space should really be occupied by worrying about how your presentation next week might trigger World War 3 and cause the collapse of Western civilisation

*** You’re still make decisions without consulting Reddit. Doesn’t matter if it’s a decision about your holiday destination or what pair of socks to buy. You MUST dive into every possible Reddit thread first, read every contradictory opinion and emerge less sure than when you began. That’s just how the decision-making process works

*** You sleep more than four hours a night. Sleep is the enemy of proper overthinking. Those precious night time hours are the perfect moment to replay every social interaction you've had since kindergarten

*** You're getting things done. A true overthinker has 37 half-started projects, each abandoned just when action would’ve started a snowball effect. If you've completed any task in the past month without drafting 14 contingency plans first, this is far too impulsive for my liking

*** You stop overthinking when you’re three levels deep. Worried about how your email might be read? That's cute. But have you considered how the recipient's reaction could change if they read the email at 4pm instead of 3pm? If you sign off with "regards" vs "kind regards"? If Mercury is in retrograde? These factors matter!

So there you have it. Your complete guide to overthinking excellence.

Or perhaps - just perhaps? - there's another way.

Because here's the thing:

I'm not just poking fun at overthinking. I've lived it too.

For most of my 20s, I tried everything above and more. I chased perfect outcomes, dwelled on worst case scenarios and never made a decision unless I had to. And try as I might, no amount of meditation, journaling, exercising or positive thinking did anything to ease my overactive monkey mind.

If I hadn’t come across the Subtraction Method a couple of years ago, I think my brain would still be doing somersaults and I’d still be living most of my life in my head.

But with the Subtraction Method, I can look forward to the next few decades (touch wood) knowing that whatever is going on in the world, there’s a quiet and peaceful place I can always come back to in myself.

Good timing too now Baby Grundy is on the scene. It’s a relief to know I'm not passing on my old Olympic-level overthinking to my own flesh and blood.

But enough about that for now.

Back to business...

If you’d like to turn down the noise in your head, here’s where to go next:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com