“It’s All in Your Breath Man”
Thursday 3 September 2020Growth Quadrants
Sunday 13 September 2020Are you an overthinker or an overdoer?
The overthinker is someone who stresses constantly about how they are going to break up a set of pull-ups.
The same person will spend 20 minutes in bed debating whether showing up to training is a good or bad decision today.
The overthinker will head to the grocery store and walk for hours up and down the aisles wondering whether they are lactose intolerant and if the gluten free pasta is better than their usual go-to.
The overdoer on the other hand doesn’t think much at all – they go hot out the gates with no game plan for a workout and 3 minutes later can be found stooped over and gasping for air.
Generally, they ignore the fact that their body has taken a beating the last week and show up to train their usual 6 sessions regardless.
Huge day at work? – The overdoer still picks the kids up from school, gets their session in, cooks dinner, spends another 2 hours on their laptops working before falling asleep in front of the TV.
We can all identify the overthinker and the overdoer in each of us. However, we generally find that we tend to lean in one direction or the other.
For example: when I first arrived in Atherton, I was overthinking everything – training, coaching, finances and my future– the lot! It was a paralysis by analysis and I was paranoid all the time.
Then the pendulum swung as I began to settle in. I went from minimal training to 2 sessions a day – zero scaling in sight… Until I got injured.
This was not the healthiest approach. The best path to forge ahead would have been somewhere between the two.
But how do we strike the balance?
The first thing is to be really honest with yourself: which way do you lean, where are you overdoing or overthinking, and where is this not serving you?
Once we’ve identified this, a general rule of thumb in remedying this is to do the opposite of what you think.
If you’re an overthinker, then it’s probably time to start moving and give your brain a break from your internal critic; and if you’re an overdoer, you probably just need time to reflect and take a breath before you dive headfirst into your next project.
Then find the middle. That’s your sweet spot.
So check yourself – are you an overthinker or an overdoer?
– Serge Houhlias –
