Facing the unknown is like standing before a yawning, misty chasm. Your mind races to figure out how to navigate waves of air and nothingness, riddled with potential hazards. In a desperate effort to keep control, you think of all the worst case scenarios and overthink the ways you might avoid them.
If overthinking wears you out, or disillusions you, you might not even step forward, but cling to the edge of your dreams, choosing comfort and safety over incalculable risk.
When creating your dream career, or entrepreneurial adventure, you have to find a way to get comfortable with the inevitable, unfathomable unknown.
Having been a chronic overthinker, I can attest to the fact that 90% of the thinking I did was wasted time, fueled by the fear of things going wrong.
Sometimes my fears were predictable in ways that I didn’t expect. After all, we create what we focus on. Underlying fears of not getting the client have resulted in not getting the client. Fears of running out of money created running out of money. Fearing running out of time, led to taking so long that I ran out of time and had to postpone an event, or advance a deadline.
Can you relate?
Fear and the swathes of overthinking that accompany it can take up days, weeks, months, even years.
The unknown becomes scarier when there is a feeling of pressure, such as needing the money within a limited amount of time, or thinking that getting the job, or client, would lead you closer to reaching another goal that you long to achieve.
The problem is that the combination of nervous energy, feeling anxious and overthinking gets you stuck in your head.
Have you ever had that feeling of being top heavy, your head almost bursting with the same thoughts circling around over and over again? Your brain fires off “what if” scenarios and you start to second guess your gut feelings and mistrust your instincts.
The only way to face the unknown is to feel strong, grounded and calm. When you are centered in the present, rooted like a tree, you are connected to your innate wisdom and intuition.
You know what is yours to do, and when to wait. You hear whispers of simple advice such as, “Trust” and “Believe”.
It’s important to develop skills in regulating your energy and nervous system, so you can stay calm, strong and grounded. The more you practice energy management, the better you get.
It is tempting to believe that you can just think your way through, but when you’re stressed or anxious, you can’t discern between fear-based thoughts and thoughts you can trust.
The key is to take some deep breaths and slow down. Or go for a walk to get out of your head. As you unwind, you’ll get in sync with a deeper knowing that can guide you through the unknown one small step at a time.
You’ll find that you don’t need to do so much thinking, because there’s a lot more that you know and trust about the unknown that you thought. Let yourself act on your inner knowing, rather than the results of overthinking.
Nicola Walker has been an inner freedom coach and hypnotherapist for over 20 years, and is the creator of The Ease Experiment. Nicola supports people to navigate transitions and follow their calling — consciously creating their dream career and life with ease and joy. Her transformational approach combines strengthening mindset, empowerment and inner guidance.
She is the author of the forthcoming book, Joy in the Middle of the Mess: An Evolutionary Adventure on the Quest for Success. One of her greatest joys is to walk and hike in the hills and along the beautiful California beaches, near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Subscribe to Nicola Walker Coaching’s blog via email
