This is all about keeping calm in moments of distress and seeing these situations with total clarity.
Don’t respond to stressful scenarios right away. Take a moment to yourself, lower your heartbeat, and then react.
Ganbaru
Cultivate perseverance and resilience. Focusing on persistence rather than perfect outcomes can help you manage overthinking by concentrating on effort over results.
Hara Hachi Bu
This principle of eating until you are 80% full can be applied to thoughts. Avoid overindulgence in thoughts; stop when you've thought things through enough.
Ikebana (Flower Arrangement)
This mindful activity can help you focus on the present moment and create a sense of calm, reducing overthinking.
Ikigai (生きがい)
Essentially translates to “your reason for being.”
The perfect middle ground between what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.
Think about what you would do for free and mix that with something that pays well.
Kaizen (改善)
Making steady, incremental improvements every day.
Otherwise known as continuous improvement or the concept of being 1% better every day.
Pay attention to the small details and set small goals that will add up over time.
Kanban
Use visual management tool to organize tasks and thoughts. Visually tracking your responsibilities reduces mental clutter and overthinking.
Kintsugi
The art of repairing broken pottery with gold highlights the beauty in flaws and imperfections. Apply this mindset to yourself and your thoughts, recognizing that imperfection is a natural part of life.
Ma (Negative Space)
Appreciate the space between things. Allow yourself mental breaks and periods of stillness to prevent overthinking from becoming overwhelming.
Mushin
Practice the state of 'no mind' or 'empty mind'. This Zen concept involves letting go of thoughts and emotions to achieve a state of mental clarity and focus.
Omotenashi (おもてなし)
Serving others with genuine respect and kindness.
Realise that you don’t know the full story of anyone. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated, nothing less.
Let others off the bus first, open the door for an elderly person or pregnant woman, smile at a stranger, etc.
Oubaitori (桜梅桃李)
Focusing on your unique path and progress.
Not comparing yourself to others and realising that progress and careers are not linear.
Don’t let social media fool you that you need to haveachieved X or Y by a certain time. Life will unravel for you.
Satori
Seek moments of sudden enlightenment or insight. By focusing on moments of clarity and understanding, you can shift your mind away from overthinking and towards greater awareness.
Shinrin-yoku (Forest Bathing)
Spend time in nature to relax and clear your mind. The tranquility of the forest can help reduce stress and overthinking.
Shoganai
Embrace the concept of "it cannot be helped". Accepting that some things are beyond your control helps let go of overthinking about what you cannot change.
Shoshin (初心)
Approaching life with curiosity and openness.
Seeing everyday as an opportunity to learn something new. This will keep you ahead of 99% of people.
With established processes, ask yourself, could this be improved in any way?
Wabi-Sabi (侘寂)
Finding beauty in life's flaws and briefness.
Accepting that some of the most beautiful parts of people and life are the imperfections that they have.
Stop holding onto this idea of perfection and embrace the mistakes you will make along the way.
Zazen (Seated Meditation)
Practice sitting meditation to calm your mind and focus on present moment, reducing the tendency to overthink.