From the space between send and reply, this is Overthinking the Awesome with David Cosgrove. Welcome. You're thinking too much. Good. So am I. Let's put that big brain of yours to work. Before we get started, I want to give a quick thanks to this episode's sponsor, Westwood Provisions, handmade candles out of Simsbury, Connecticut. When I'm recording or writing, the right atmosphere matters. These folks get that. Connect with Westwood Provisions on Instagram and Facebook. Tell them that the Overthinker sent you. So you know that moment at 3 AM when your mind decides to replay every conversation you've had in the last week? When you're analyzing what you said, what they meant, what you should have said, what might happen next week, next month, even next year? Yeah, me too. For years I thought something was wrong with me. While other people seemed to just do things, I was seven steps ahead, considering every possible outcome, every angle, every way it could go wrong. Or right. Or even sideways. I've read every self-help book. Be present. Let it go. Stop thinking so much. Yeah, that's great advice, but impossible execution. It's like telling somebody who's drowning to just swim better. Because here's the thing that they don't tell you. You can't stop a river by standing in front of it. But you can redirect it. Here's what nobody tells you about overthinking. It's not actually a flaw. I know, I know. Stay with me here. When is the last time you made a decision without second guessing it? When's the last time you just did something without running through 16 versions of how it might play out? If you're drawing a blank, welcome to the club. Membership is exhausting. The world tells us overthinking is the enemy, that it's anxiety's evil twin. That successful people just act while we're stuck in analysis paralysis. And you know what? Sometimes that's true. But sometimes, and this is the part nobody talks about, that same relentless mental energy is exactly what makes certain people extraordinary. Think about it. Steve Jobs overthought design until the iPhone changed the world. Beyonce overthinks performances until every note lands perfectly. Einstein overthought physics until he bent our understanding of reality. Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci They didn't stop thinking. They pointed their thinking somewhere magnificent. And this is where it all comes together. This isn't something what I call the awesome. I call it the awesome because it's simple. Almost stupidly, comically simple. When you feel that familiar hum of overthinking start, the tightening of your chest, the racing thoughts, the spiral warming up, hand sweating. You just don't try to stop it. You redirect it. If your brain insists on asking, what if everything goes wrong? You answer it with the same intensity. Okay. But what if everything goes ridiculously spectacularly right? It's the same energy, a different direction. This isn't toxic positivity. I'm not asking you to pretend problems don't exist. I'm asking you to use the same horsepower you use to imagine disasters, to imagine possibilities and greater outcomes. Because your brain is a search engine. Ask it, why am I such an idiot? And it'll find you 17 examples by breakfast time. Ask it, what's actually going well? And it'll find those answers too. You're not broken, you're just typing the wrong questions into a very powerful machine. That's what this podcast is about. Not silencing your mind, but steering it. Not fighting your thoughts, but upgrading them. Over the next few episodes, we'll get into the mechanics. How to catch the spiral before it starts, how to fire your inner critic and hire a better narrator, how to train your mental algorithm to serve you instead of sabotage you. But for now, I want you to sit with this one idea. What if your overthinking brain isn't broken? What if it's just brilliant and bored? This has been Overthinking the Awesome. I'm David Cosgrove. Stay safe out there and remember, your mind isn't too much. You're just learning how to play it.com. Thanks for listening.