Without resorting to unproductive distractions.
By Assertive Way
Key Takeaways
- Rumination is the enemy of confidence, action-taking, and productivity.
- Crush rumination by enlisting support to problem-solve, planning a solution, making yourself proud, and getting an exciting goal.
- For more confidence boosting strategies, check out the 10 habits of confident and assertive communicators here.
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Do you get stuck ruminating over how you should have reacted, what you could have said, or how limited you think you are? Rumination is the enemy of confidence, action-taking, and productivity.
How do you stop ruminating?
Although mindfulness and finding distractions are useful to deal with rumination, they are not for everyone.
Although mindfulness and finding distractions are useful to deal with rumination, they are not for everyone.
If you haven’t already learned and regularly practiced how to be in the present moment and let go of negative repetitive thoughts, then it’s hard to use them to limit your overthinking.
And distractions such as social media, Netflix, and TV may work for a short amount of time, but they also create a bad habit.
When you don’t deal with rumination, you waste your precious time and energy on limiting thoughts, you deplete your courage, and increase your non-productive stress.
The goal is to not only better cope with the burden of constantly reliving bad feelings and situations, but to also block it from stealing your zest for life.
Block it from stealing your zest for life.
Obsessive rumination is easier to stop when you shift your focus away from other people and into positive future-oriented activities that will improve your life and career, such as your goals, your plans, and your actions.
Here are the four ways I’ve used in my life to quickly crush rumination without mindfulness or distractions.
1. Enlist support to problem-solve.
Don’t go through hard times on your own. Recruit the right person to help you solve your problem, not just to tell you that there is no need to ruminate. When you enlist support, you take away a lot of the pressure from your shoulders.
2. Plan a solution.
If you find yourself ruminating about your mistakes or limitations, immediately make a plan to fix the problem, and then immediately execute your plan. When you get busy problem-solving you don’t ruminate over your mistakes and past because you are busy planning for a better future.
3. Make yourself proud.
Focus on what actions to handle the situation would make you proud of yourself. That way, you direct your attention to what you can control and have something to feel good about.
4. Get an exciting goal.
Get really clear on what exciting project you have in that moment. The positivity and progress towards a major goal will get you into the right state of mind.
Next time you get stuck in repetitive negative thoughts about what happened, get some paper, and start strategizing your better future with someone you trust. If you are in that state of mind, rumination will stay away.
And as you start moving towards your better future, the momentum and positive outlook will keep your mind clear from unproductive dwelling.
Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter “Nice With Limits” for tips and inspiration for confidence at work and to boost your career!
We take your email seriously and will never sell or share it.
Summary
Here are the four ways to crush rumination.
- Enlist support to problem-solve.
- Plan a solution.
- Make yourself proud.
- Get an exciting goal.
“People who are upset about something ruminate on it whenever they get a chance; they are constantly drawn back to their own unhappy tale as if it were a horror story left open on a table.” – Emile Chartier
What do you typically ruminate and overthink on? And what technique works for you to overcome it?