Overthinking prevents action and costs progress. While overthinking, you’re not doing the things that will make all the difference. Instead, you’re wallowing in fear, ruminating on the past, over analyzing what’s in front of you, unable to move forward. Overthinking has no place in business success. You want just the right amount of consideration before taking intentional action once you’ve made up your mind. After all, no one really knows what’s going to happen.
These 5 ChatGPT prompts will help you overcome overthinking once and for all. Copy, paste and edit them in ChatGPT, and keep the same chat window open so the context carries through.
Stop overthinking: ChatGPT prompts to overcome fear and doubt
Imagine the worst case scenario
Thinking at length about all the possible outcomes of every decision is how overthinking works. And it’s totally unnecessary. If those bad things came to pass, you’d simply figure them out at the time. You’d take more action, you’d ask for help. Speculating about what might happen has little value, because your predictions are probably way out. Rather than fearfully going over every scenario, ask ChatGPT to describe the worst one. Know that if that came to fruition, you’d be absolutely fine, and carry on with your work.
“I often overthink in my business, which is [describe your business]. When I worry and overthink it’s often about the topics of [describe what topics you overthink]. To help me realize that even the worst-case scenario wouldn’t be so bad, I want you to describe that worst-case scenario. Give me three paragraphs of everything going horribly wrong, then ask me to describe what I would do if that happened.”
Get some perspective
Looking inward causes overthinking. It’s when you’re analyzing your thoughts, words and actions, questioning whether you’re up to the job, concerned with how you look and how you come across. All the focus is on yourself. To overcome overthinking, switch your perspective. Look outward. Look around at the blue sky or the bright lights, the other people going about their day, and remember how small a part you play in this giant cosmos.
“When I overthink it’s because I’m inflating the importance of myself and my business and not keeping perspective. Can you give me 5 amusing reasons why my business and problems are actually very small compared to the grand scale of the universe and the rest of the population on earth?”
Be content with your pace
Could you be overthinking the speed of your execution? If you back yourself to deliver and you’re confident in your product, you might be wondering why you’re not growing as fast as you think you deserve. The lack of rapid growth could be causing you to overthink your ability. Why aren’t customers finding us faster? Why aren’t people banging down our door? Why aren’t I a star? Here’s the prompt for perspective.
“Give me some examples of impressive projects that are now world-renowned, that took a long time to create and launch. Describe the small steps that the creators were taking every day that built up to their goal.”
Stop caring about opinions
You exist as a different person in the mind of everyone you meet. You cannot stop others forming opinions of you, it’s inevitable. And what’s more, it doesn’t matter. Overthinkers overthink these opinions. They wonder what other people think of something they did. They overhear one opinion and think about it for weeks. None of it matters. Use this prompt to poke fun at the situation.
“Sometimes I overthink because I’m thinking about what other people might think of me, specifically [include a specific group of people whose opinion of you matters]. Act as a stand up comedian to explain why it doesn’t actually matter what these people think of me. Make me see how silly it is to not move forward based on what other people think about me or what I’m doing.”
Take action instead
Don’t think, do. Take the leaps, make the calls, barrel on forward like there’s no tomorrow. Because someday there won’t be a tomorrow, and you’ll have wasted yesterday overthinking. Instead of going over every possible outcome, commit to making one of them happen. Turn thoughts into intention and see what you can do. This prompt will help you get there.
“Motivate me to stop overthinking and taking action towards my big goal of [describe your big goal]. You will play the role of a motivational coach, and ask me about my plans. When I respond, you will cheer me on and ask another question. We will keep going until I say stop. Begin by introducing yourself and asking me a question about how I’m going to move forward.”
Stop overthinking with ChatGPT and these powerful prompts
Overthinker, be gone. Banish that unhelpful behaviour and replace it with an open, easy-going and action-oriented way of being. Use these prompts to imagine the worst-case scenario and realize it’s not that bad, get some perspective on where you are right now, and be content with your path and how fast it’s progressing. Finally, stop caring about what other people think and take intentional action instead. Five powerful interjections to set you on the path to success.
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