Ask Zanaé: "I realized it isnt healthy or smart to stress myself out so much..."

Ask Zanaé: ."

Hi, im working on myself and trying to be a better me. I’ve always had the constant tendency to over think and over analyze everything! so much so that this summer i almost went crazy, well i got really depressed. im still young and i realized it isnt healthy or smart to stress myself out so much so my new mindset is to be more free and lighthearted. its hard to stick to though, what’s somethings I can do to stay on the right track to happiness?

Hey!

First, let me say I am extremely proud of you for working to better yourself! I am so glad that you are taking those steps in the right direction. Being an over-thinker can be quite the challenge especially with the pressure of being perfect placed on us nowadays. But remember perfection is impossible!
At the age of 19, 21, 25 and even 30 NOTHING is worth stressing yourself over to the point of losing control, absolutely nothing!
As an over thinker myself I understand the struggle of the overachiever, but if it cost you your mental health it needs to go immediately.

Here are my tips on how to stay on the right track to happiness:

Learn yourself, be aware when you feel yourself starting to become anxious and losing control. Once you are here, take a moment to relax and alter your thoughts.

Ex: "I will never get a 4.0 I just know I can't get it,  I don't even know why I try"
Now let's replace it with: "I will do my best to receive a 4.0 and even if I do not I know I did my best"

Whew! I am significantly less stressed with the latter, how about you? Speak nicely to yourself, encourage yourself, and even if you fall short slightly always do your best and be firm in knowing you did your best!

Alter your mindset, as you stated you want to be more free and lighthearted and that's a great way to be in this life!
Overthinking is caused by fear and self-doubt if we change our mindset from thinking about what could possibly go wrong to all that could go right, we are on our way to a free and lightweight mind!

Ex: "If I fail this test, I will never graduate and never accomplish my goals"
Now let's replace it with: "I will try my best on this test and if I happen to fail I will be sure to do better on the next one"

Failure is inevitable and that's okay because without it we would not be who we are today!

Give yourself a break, please do not burn yourself out stressing the what ifs and why nots! Literally this a recipe for your self-destruction. When you put a timer on the work and all the thinking you are allowing yourself time to be free.

Things to Consider:

• Meditation 
• Yoga
• Journaling
• Constant exercise
• Talking with friends 

Debriefing is the key to happiness, if you do not set boundaries on the work you will find yourself working overtime and burning out more than necessary.

Ask yourself this, Will this matter in 5 months, a year or even next month? If the answer is no absolutely not why are you stressing it now? It's easy to get caught in the moment and stress ourselves to the max for something that most likely will have no effect on our lives in the long run.
This is a major key to becoming more happy, identifying what is worth spending time on and what is not.
I challenge you to this, next time you find yourself stressing out ask yourself is this really worth my time and my happiness?

Be in the present moment, life keeps going on and if you are stuck in place you will never get to where you need to be. Leave the past in the past and be present at all times.
Try not to focus too much on what happened back then and what will happen in the future. Take life one day at a time, and accept life comes with many things we have no control over! And that is okay because, in the end, they will all add up!

Again I am super proud of you for choosing to work on yourself! I wish you nothing but the best in your journey to happiness!