Do You Overthink? Here’s How to Train Your Brain to Think Smarter

Most of us are brilliant at the things we do regularly. Some skills become so second-nature that we barely register we’re doing them until suddenly, under pressure, everything feels harder.

Think about learning to walk.
A toddler doesn’t pop up and stride around the room. They wobble, fall, balance, try again, and slowly their brain and body sync up. Eventually, walking becomes automatic.

But here’s the twist: even when we’ve mastered a skill, stress can disrupt the flow.
In sport and performance, this moment of overthinking is often called choking.

The Overthinking Spiral

Picture this.

You’re about to deliver a live training you’ve prepped for. Your slides are ready, you know your material inside-out, and you’ve done the run-throughs.

Then you go live…
And your mind starts racing.
You second-guess yourself.
You stumble, hesitate, overthink every word and the harder you try to correct it, the worse it gets.

That’s classic paralysis by analysis.

But the good news? You can absolutely train your mind out of it.

Here are three simple tools to help you think smarter under pressure.

1. Strip It Back: One Focus Point

With my gymnasts, I teach them to focus on just one thought before performing a skill something simple and grounding.
For some it’s “Stick”, for others it’s “Strong” or “Calm”.

It works because the brain can’t hold hundreds of thoughts under pressure.
Give it one clear cue, and it follows.

Try a word like:

• Confident

• Composed

• Relax

It shifts your attention to how you want to show up, instead of what you’re afraid of.

2. Remove the Negatives

We all do this before something important:

“Don’t mess it up.”
“Don’t look nervous.”
“Don’t say something stupid.”

But the brain filters out the words don’t, stop, and can’t.
It just hears the command:

Mess up.
Look nervous.
Say something stupid.

Quick test:
Don’t think about chocolate.
What popped into your mind?

Exactly.

Shift your inner dialogue to what you do want to happen and the brain will follow that instruction instead.

3. Dump the Thoughts.... Literally

If your head feels noisy, grab a notebook and do a mind dump.

Write down everything swirling around: the doubts, the what-ifs, the pressure. Don’t edit. Don’t judge.

After a few minutes of mindfulness or deep breathing, go back and:

• Cross out the lies

• Replace them with intentional statements

• Visualise the version of you who handles the moment with ease

You’ll be shocked at how much lighter your mind feels.

By simplifying your focus, removing negative self-talk, and clearing the mental clutter, you train your brain to think clearly when it matters most.