If you are like me, you have overthought a lot of times during you life. The prime example for me is doubting myself on tests. I will answer the questions in order and often I will have extra time and I will go back over the test to make sure I answered all the questions. I usually mark numbers where I wasn’t sure if I answered the question correctly and go back and look at it again and sometimes my answer changes. Often the final answer is what my “gut” tells me and sometimes that makes the answer change. But the final answer is not arrived without a lot of overthinking and doubt.

Here’s how you know you’re overthinking and not actually using your intuition.

Overthinking feels loud, chaotic, and urgent.It keeps asking “what if?” over and over again.

Intuition? It’s quiet.It doesn’t argue with you—it just knows.

If your thoughts feel like a spiral… it’s probably fear, not clarity.

Studies have shown that we as humans tend to go to a place of fear when faced with the unknown. We know better, but it is just easier to go there. We are our biggest critics and we know how to criticize ourselves the best.

It is so easy to spiral when the thoughts are in your head. You are debating yourself and adding a lot of unnecessary or invalid thoughts. It is easy to come up with reasons for this or that. But that leads to more spiraling and overthinking - and we know nothing good can come from that.

Sometimes we thing we need more time to think it over. But in reality, we don’t need more time—we need to make a decision.

Overthinking tricks you into believing you’re being productive…when really, you’re just delaying discomfort.

Clarity doesn’t come from thinking longer.It comes from choosing—and then adjusting.

But of course, the thought that comes to mind is “am I making the right decision?”

This is the question that stopped my overthinking spiral.

Instead of asking “what if this goes wrong?”I started asking:“What if I trust myself to handle whatever happens?”

That shift? It changes everything.

We have to trust ourself and the process. We have survived this far, we have made a lot of decisions. We have made changes and adjusted accordingly based on our decision. We can do this.

I used to think I was being strategic… but I was actually overthinking.

I would analyze every angle, anticipate every outcome,try to make the perfect decision.

But at some point, it stops being strategy—and starts being avoidance.

That shift changed how I make decisions now. I have to believe that the decision I make is the right one for me, at this time and moment. I cannot worry about what if this is the wrong decision. I have to remind myself it is the right decision for me at this time and moment and what may come I will deal with it.

Here’s the shift that helped me stop overthinking decisions.

I stopped asking, “What’s the right choice?”and started asking, “Which choice aligns with who I’m becoming?”

That question is a lot harder—but a lot more honest.

And it leads to very different decisions.

It’s different when you’re used to being the one with answers. Especially when you are in a position of leadership and authority. Sometimes you don’t have the answers.

People come to you for clarity, direction, decisions—so when you feel uncertain, it’s uncomfortable.

But not knowing doesn’t mean you’re off track.It might mean you’re actually growing. We are learning each day - it does not matter if you have been part of an organization for 1 day or more than 2 decades - things change, rules changes, you grow adapt and learn.

Thank you for joining me on this episode of Notes From Her Mind. Hope you will join me for the next episode.

As always Unfiltered Thoughts. Real Growth.

©Notes From Her Mind, 2026

This is a space for the conversations women have in their heads—but don’t always say out loud. From ambition and identity to relationships, boundaries, burnout, and becoming, each episode is a real-time reflection on what it means to navigate life as a woman who is thinking deeply, feeling fully, and evolving constantly.

Some days it’s clarity. Some days it’s chaos. All of it is honest.

If you’ve ever overthought a decision, questioned your worth, outgrown a version of yourself, or felt the tension between who you are and who you’re becoming—this is for you.

No scripts. No perfection. Just notes… from her mind.

Unfiltered thoughts. Real growth.

©Notes From Her Mind, 2026