I saw a random video on YouTube recently. A guy was interviewing a young person about how they survive in New York as a foreigner. The young person was doing well, and reminded the interviewer that it’s important to get out of your own head and things can be OK. Here’s my version of this.
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Although getting out of your own head might seem easier from a young person’s perspective (considering the many options ahead), this resonated with me, and fortunately, I had the opportunity to get out of my own head the past couple of days, too.
Maybe you need to get out of your head, too? Do you overthink your current situation?
What do we mean by get out of your head?
People, including myself, spend so much time rushing and stressing about things that they tend not to look at the bigger picture, or they tend not to consider the many options available to them. Our thoughts remain trapped and just keep circling around in our heads.
Problems, bills, people, responsibilities, loss, failures, setbacks.. There’s a whole buffet of reasons why some of us might feel stressed for long periods of time.
Getting out of our own minds is a habit that we can all benefit from. For some of us, that might mean enjoying a hobby that allows us to focus on something we enjoy, or a simple pursuit that stops us thinking about other complications.
This type of mental or emotional escaping is us getting free from our negative or stressful thoughts and imagination.
We are all in the same boat
I’m guilty of this overthinking and being stuck in my own head sometimes, and more so recently. I expect many of you out there are too? Thanks for reading this, by the way.
As a fairly content introvert on his days off, I like to spend a lot of time on the PC at home. I’m sure I’m not the only one. So many of us enjoy being online, and for better or worse, we feel somehow connected to or part of social media.
Too Much Scrolling
However, we spend so much time scrolling through social media that we tend to imagine that it’s all real. For some of us, we run the risk of feeling like we don’t measure up, we haven’t succeeded, or we haven’t found the right purpose. There are so many people reaching out for validation, thumbs-ups, likes, subscribes, and, for me, even comments.
Too Much Thinking
This kind of blog encourages me to do something rather natural for myself, which is reflect on life, aging, and other things that might resonate with others and encourage people to feel supported and free to talk.
But deep thinking for anyone easily encourages a tendency to overthink, which can spiral into either being too optimistic and hopeful, or going the other way and becoming too negative, and potentially giving up.
Are you an overthinker?
Is this post starting to resonate with you? Can you see yourself needing to update your thinking or find a way to clear your head somehow?
- Maybe work is getting you down?
- Are people or relationships wearing you out?
- Do you struggle to please others while forgetting to balance things for yourself?
- Do you feel like you need a new hobby?
- Maybe you crave a new purpose or direction?
- Do you simply want to feel lighter about the future?
We are all going through ups and downs. The list above is a general list of potential problems. Please feel free to comment on your own personal situation or struggle, and let everyone know how you or they might benefit from getting out of our own head.
My Boss’s Invitation
Once a year, my farming boss kindly invites me to Tochigi Prefecture in Japan for a one-night stay in a business hotel. He sometimes goes there for family reasons, and invited me to have a ‘reset’ and take a break from work. This was my third visit in three years, and this time, I accepted his invitation immediately – realising that I definitely needed to get out of my own head from overthinking too much.
I never particularly valued traveling much before, despite having lived in a few different countries. I would fly there, fit in, work, and spend days off at home. Only in the past few years have I seen the value of and need to travel, even though my group lesson students have talked about their travels pretty much every week for two decades. I’ve only hungered for it recently.
So, two days ago, we set off to Nasu, in Tochigi Prefecture, for my annual reset trip. It’s not a big deal; many people travel, and a 3-hour drive is hardly one of life’s great adventures, right?
But when it comes to needing a mental reset or mood change, or just time for good team communication, or the opportunity to thank someone or be appreciated by someone you work for, you can’t really put a price on the value of that simple yet important opportunity. It’s not just an escape. It serves everyone.
A Change of Scenery – A Change of Heart
I don’t have a car in Japan. I take trains to other towns, and walk or cycle to my places of work. So, for better or worse, you get used to just existing in your current surroundings, towns, and neighborhoods. It becomes easy to forget that there are other ‘realities’, for want of a better word, out there. This is the same for all of us, I think. When I lived in Florida, the land was flat; If I traveled across the country for work, I’d pass mountains, fields, or even deserts.
Mountain Pass
Tochigi Prefecture has plenty of mountains and natural scenery, so it’s a breath of fresh air (literally) from towns and cities like Tokyo, or other areas where you mostly stare at concrete and windows all day. Just being in a different visual place for the first time in a year can make plenty of difference just to reset the mind, and break the overthinking spell that we all find ourselves in sometimes.
Unfortunately, our internal thinking might be limited if we constantly limit our surroundings. What I mean is, if we don’t expand, refresh, or change what we physically see over an extended period, or we don’t physically go or explore further afield, we might stop imagining the potential for change we actually have in our lives.
This lack of change might more so dull our mind and reduce its capacity to evolve or expand. Without knowing it, we might be depressing our very nature for growth or positive thinking, even if we think we are content in our regular comfort zones.
Is it time for you to get out of your own head?
It’s not Magic – It’s Perspective
This heading sounds a bit like it was written by AI. But it wasn’t, and here’s what I mean.
Of course, we come back to reality. I personally come home to an apartment that reminds me more of the past than a blank canvas for the future. The envelopes and bills are still there, on the floor or stuck to the fridge with a magnet. I still need to replace the damaged shoji door paper in my room. And it’s time to clean the apartment, ready for a new year.
The world doesn’t magically change from one outing. But getting out of your own mind and exploring the world (or just going further afield) and seeing how other people live, reminds you of the endless opportunities there are for you to change, escape, or imagine a new beginning, and alternative ways of doing things, and the possibilities of a new chapter.
It makes the dark lighter
It makes me feel happy for my ex-wife, who managed to escape back to the USA to live with her daughter. I miss her, and the good memories/idea of her. However, to think that she now lives in a place with palm trees, tons of space, probably a nicer apartment, and in a modern and exciting culture full of possibilities – I feel happy she found more. She got out of her own head and chased the future she wanted.
Why did I write this post?
So, why did I write this? I spent the past almost two years potentially overthinking reality, options, directions, and decisions. This blog unknowingly started as a kind of therapy, which hopefully has evolved into something more useful for others, and gives us the chance to support each other and communicate.
I Need to Rethink My Other Posts
I have to go back and rewrite quite a few blog posts now, to write them with a clear mind, and not relying on AI editing* as I did before, with either too much hope or too much desperation at the time.
I still value AI as a tool, but now all the writing and editing must be from me. There’s no fulfillment without 100% authenticity, at least in my case. AI can help with other analytics, and I still want to use Google Gemini for producing images.
Please Take Time Out
I want to remind you. If you are like me and have gotten stuck in the moment, stuck in your heads, and feel stuck in the daily grind, and if you’ve failed to take some time out for a little realistic re-evaluation.. Get out and about.
Take As Long As You Need (Mentally)
The reality is that with some problems, it takes time to get around them. It takes time to heal, time to think, time to re-evaluate your situation. You might even hold onto something negative, hoping that it might reverse itself.
You might even overcompensate for your situation with habits* that seem beneficial at the time.
Be Mindful of Social Media
Be careful of the algorithm. If what is getting you down or filling you with fear is constantly in your social media feed, keep an eye on that! As some people with faith often say, ‘God told me it wasn’t my fight.’ Pick your fights for mental survival, too.
Get Out Of Your Own Head
If life is getting you down, it seems so obvious, but take that break. Get a change of scenery, take time out to find the quiet you need alone or a peaceful time with good people. We all need a balance. Be sure to balance your needs. Whether you prefer to splash out on a big holiday (not an option for many, including myself at the moment) or just want to camp in your own backyard, go for it.
It doesn’t need to be extravagant, and it doesn’t need to be often. I’ve taken a simple 2-day car ride once a year, enjoying a change of scenery, uplifting conversation, and appreciating a peaceful night away in my own hotel room – and it was a breath of fresh air, and helped to change my perspective.
Go the extra mile to evolve
It would have been easy to politely turn down my boss’s invitation. As an introvert, it can become normal to respectfully decline social offers and events. However, if you feel you might need to check in with yourself, why not take that invite, take the opportunity, or make that simple change and see what happens? Try going the extra mile because it could very well help you to evolve.
Thanks for reading.
