Episode 49: Breaking Free from Analysis Paralysis: A Deep Dive into Episode 14
Description:
In this episode, I want to share with you what overthinking has looked like in my own life, why it shows up, and most importantly, how I’ve started breaking free from it. My hope is that by the end of our time together, you’ll not only recognize your own patterns of overthinking, but also feel empowered to take steps toward loosening its grip on your life.
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Renata
Transcript:
Welcome back to Cycle Breaker and Change Maker. I’m Renata Ortega, and today we’re diving into something that I know so many of us struggle with—overthinking.
Now, if you listened to Episode 14, you’ll remember I talked about catastrophizing, which is when our brains instantly leap to the worst possible outcome. Well, I like to think of overthinking as catastrophizing’s equally unhelpful sibling. They’re both rooted in trauma, they both come from a nervous system that is desperate for control, and they both keep us stuck instead of helping us move forward.
In this episode, I want to share with you what overthinking has looked like in my own life, why it shows up, and most importantly, how I’ve started breaking free from it. My hope is that by the end of our time together, you’ll not only recognize your own patterns of overthinking, but also feel empowered to take steps toward loosening its grip on your life.
When we talk about overthinking, it often gets minimized. People throw it around casually, like—
“Oh, I overthink everything!”
But for those of us who live in it, it’s not casual. It’s exhausting.
For me, overthinking looked different than I expected. I used to see it in other people—friends who would spend hours deciding what outfit to wear, or people who couldn’t respond to a simple message without spiraling into “what if I say the wrong thing?” And honestly, I thought, “That’s not me.”
But then life got heavier. My responsibilities grew, and my old coping strategies just weren’t cutting it anymore. Suddenly, decisions that once felt easy—things I used to handle under pressure with clarity and speed—felt overwhelming. Instead of making a choice, I would run through every possible scenario in my head.
I’d replay conversations I’d already had, obsessing over what I could have said differently. I’d freeze on simple things, like picking pizza toppings, because somehow my brain decided that this tiny choice was life-or-death.
That’s the trap of overthinking. It masquerades as careful consideration. It feels like preparation. But it’s actually analysis paralysis. It keeps us stuck in loops, drains our energy, and convinces us that we’re “doing something” when really we’re doing nothing at all.
So why do we overthink? Why does our brain keep us spinning in circles?
For me, the answer goes back to trauma. Growing up in an environment where safety wasn’t guaranteed, my nervous system learned that the best way to survive was to prepare for everything. If I could anticipate every possibility, maybe I could prevent the worst from happening.
Overthinking gave me the illusion of control. It felt like protection. But here’s the hard truth I had to face: that control was fake. All it did was keep me stuck and rob me of peace.
And I want to pause here to remind you—if you’re someone who overthinks, this does not mean you’re weak or flawed. Overthinking is a survival response. At one point in your life, it kept you safe. But just because it helped you survive then doesn’t mean it has to control your life now.
I’ll never forget the moment I realized just how much overthinking was controlling me.
It was a day full of small decisions—nothing earth-shattering. But by the end of it, I felt so mentally exhausted that I said out loud, “I cannot make another decision today.”
And that stopped me in my tracks. Because the truth was, the decisions weren’t harder than usual. What drained me was the way I was thinking about them. I had been dissecting every option, analyzing every outcome, second-guessing myself at every turn.
That was the day I realized: this isn’t clarity. This is chaos disguised as control.
So how do you break free from overthinking? Let me share the steps I’ve taken in my own journey.
Step One: Noticing the Pattern.
The very first thing I had to do was admit what was happening. I wasn’t just “carefully considering my choices.” I was looping. I was draining myself. I was avoiding action. Once I acknowledged it, I could start to change it.
Step Two: Naming It.
When I gave it a name—overthinking, analysis paralysis, rumination—it stopped feeling so overwhelming. Instead of being swallowed up by it, I could step back and say, “Ah, I see what this is. This is a thinking pattern, not who I am.” Naming it created distance, and that distance gave me power.
Step Three: Doing It Anyway.
This is the hardest part. It meant making decisions even when I didn’t feel ready. It meant choosing without certainty, and trusting that whatever happened, I could handle it. Sometimes the choice worked out. Sometimes it didn’t. But either way, I learned. And I grew stronger every time I moved forward instead of staying stuck.
Along the way, I started asking myself new questions to help me triage decisions:
● Is this choice truly life-or-death?
● Will it have massive financial consequences?
● Or am I giving it way more weight than it deserves because I’m scared?
If the answer was no, then I reminded myself: it doesn’t need this much energy. I can choose, and I can move on.
That mindset shift saved me. It gave me back my confidence. It reminded me that I am in the driver’s seat, not my fear, not my trauma, and definitely not my overthinking.
So here’s what I want you to take from Episode 13:
Overthinking is not who you are. It is a survival strategy your nervous system learned a long time ago. It served a purpose once, but it doesn’t serve you anymore.
You can break free. You can notice the pattern. You can name it. And you can start taking small steps toward action, even when it feels uncomfortable.
And the more you do it, the more you’ll build confidence in your ability to choose, to decide, and to live without overthinking every step.
If I can do it—after years of being paralyzed by decisions big and small—I know you can too.
As we close, I want to leave you with this question: What’s one decision you’ve been stuck overthinking lately? And what’s one small step you can take today, even if it’s not perfect, to move forward anyway?
You don’t have to get it “right.” You just have to get unstuck.
Thank you for spending this time with me today. If this episode resonated with you, I’d love for you to reflect on it in your journal, or even share it with someone else who might be caught in the cycle of overthinking. And remember—every small choice you make in freedom is one step closer to breaking the cycle.
Until next time, I’m Renata Ortega, and this has been Cycle Breaker and Change Maker.