Why you should stop overthinking things

Why you should stop overthinking thingsWhy you should stop overthinking thingsIts clear that worrying too much is bad for you, buttwo recent events showed just how badly things can play out when you overthink a situation. There are ways to choose the best, simplest path out of a bad situation, and you should anxiety is a terrible teacher.Where the United Airlines CEO went wrongIn the wake of theUnited Airlines dragging incident,CEOOscar Munoz caught heat for his varied responses to the situation.CNBC reportedthat he called the passengerdisruptive and belligerent in an email to employees, which was hugely unpopular.The cleanup required a lot of small pivots in interviews, as Munoz tried to figure out the right way to fix things.Later, for instance, Munoz acknowledged the public outcry and added, I share all of those sentiments, and one above all my deepest apologies for what happened. Like you, I continue to be disturbed by what happened on this flight and I deeply apologize to the cu stomer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this wayMunoz said in a statement. He also appearedon Good Morning America to further clear things up, saying thatthis will never happen again, and acknowledging that my initial words fell short of truly expressing the shame.So the fact that Munoz kept changing his tune worked against him, especially since airlines often operatein a rules-based, militaristic fashion. After all, the whole point of many rules is to make it easier to work as a team.As a result of Munozs flip-flopping response to the event, his rise up the corporate ranks has been halted.USA TODAY reported that Munoz will no longer become chairman of the companys board of directors,according to an SEC filing.Being honest and compassionate at first will save further troubleHow is this overthinking? Simple if youre wrong, apologize. If youre worried about accepting blame, sidestepping responsibility or otherwise trying to consider al l the angles, youve already lost. Choose the simplest and most honest path and youll save yourself a lot of worry.It took Uniteda few weeks to craft a response with10 policy changes- including that it willincrease customer compensation incentives for voluntary denied boarding up to $10,000 and that it will limit use of law enforcement to safety and security issues only.Somechanges will reportedly go into effect right away, while others will be rolled out through the remainder of the year.Our review shows that many things went wrong that day, but the headline is clear our policies got in the way of our values and procedures interfered in doing whats right Munoz saidin a statement.Pepsis commercial misstepIt was the advertisingflop heard around the entire world Pepsis protest-inspired ad featuring Kendall Jenner was called tone-deaf byVanity Fair and even led to a scathing second-by-second breakdown by the Washington Post.Pepsi removed the ad and issued an apology- to Kendall Jenner and to viewers.Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position, the statement said.Although Pepsi didnt seem to rush its statement, if the company hadntused such anarrow perspective as a premise for the commercial, it probably wouldnt have had to backpedal the way it did, or issue a formal statement.There are ways to dial things down when you get too anxious.How to preventworrying too muchSometimes your mind races with thoughts of where you could go wrong- like how something could slip through the cracks at work, or how tomorrow could shape up to be a bad day- but there are steps you can take to curbsimilar thoughts.Stop dwelling to let go of fearTry letting go of things you cant change.A 2013 study in theJournal of Abnormal Psyc hology found thatRumination is a well-established risk factor for the onset of major depression and anxiety symptomatology in both adolescents and adults. Remember helpful acronyms to defeat anxietyThere are many helpful acronyms that experts tell you to use when your anxiety has painted a picture of terror in your mind. One of our favorites FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Are you psyching yourself out by interpreting peoples behavior too much? Really stand back and look at the whole picture.Practice mindfulness to calm down at workTaking the time to be quiet can go a long way.A review of 19 studies in the Clinical Psychology Review found that results suggested that mindfulness-based and cognitive behavioural interventions may be effective in the reduction of both rumination and worryIf youre a train commuter, you might want to check out this short piece by the New York Times on how to practice mindfulness on the subway.Think of all the positive alternatives insteadLo lly Daskal, executive leadership coach, founder and CEO of Lead From Within, wrote about how to stop overthinking.In many cases, overthinking is caused by a single emotion fear. When you focus on all the negative things that might happen, its easy to become paralyzed. Visualize all the things that can go right and keep those thoughts present and up front, Daskal writes.Sobefore freaking out when things dont go as planned, try not to overthink the situation so you canrelieve some stress and communicate clearly.