We all have our faults. It's time that I expose some of my real-life areas for improvement. Any thoughts on how I can improve myself? These are all things that I have both self-identified and that I've been told by others.
1) I over-analyze things. Though I am an analyst by profession, I over-analyze everything. It's annoying, even to me.
a) I over-complicate things. Related to number 1, but a little different. I almost over-complicated this point with extra detail, like you wouldn't know what I meant.
2) I take things too personally. This used to be that I would get defensive easily, but I have since cut back on the defensiveness. But I still take some things personally.
a) I also care too much about what others think about me, though I've cut down on this a lot.
3) I'm routinely 5 minutes late for work. For some reason, I just can't get my butt out of bed.
Thanks for taking the time. Of course there are a ton of other opportunity areas where I could make myself a better person, but these stick out in my mind at the moment. Feel free to post your own ailments that you would like to have help with improving.
inb4killmyself
Over-analyzers and over-thinkers generally seem to be more left-brained, in my experience. And I see no reason not to play to your strengths when trying to improve neurotic behavior, so why not work at considering your behavior logically? But keep a sense of humor about it, because when you find yourself over-analyzing your over-analytic behavior it will be absurd lol. If it makes you angry when you realize it your progress will be that much harder. Heavy hearts weigh us down, and the cure is simply a light-hearted attitude!
Pay attention to your thought processes. It can be difficult to manage at first, but keep at it and you'll improve over time. It's a skill to be developed. When you do catch yourself doing one of those things in your list, don't react immediately and be like, "Stop that you dumb jerkface!"
Be gentle, calm, and patient. These are qualities that most people prefer to see in their friends, family, lovers, etc. And with your non-judgmental, attentive, light-hearted self, carefully consider your actions. Thoughts are willful and thus a type of action.
"Is what I'm doing helpful?"
"Oh, no, it doesn't seem to be. I can be productive and all that good stuff without being quite so obsessive about it. It's good that I noticed this, but important to remember that everyone is imperfect and there's no reason to beat myself up for making these minor mistakes. I know I'd like to stop that behavior, and this is a small but important step toward making that a reality. Now..."
"How can I better approach this?"
Brevity is the soul of wit, right? Simplicity is often a means out of delusion.
"Is this actually something complicated, or is all of that just in my head?"
If you want us to say more about this stuff, it'd be nice to have some specific examples of what goes on in your head. What are you over-complicating and over-analyzing, exactly?
Obbe was onto something with the meditation thing, and trying to clear your mind of thought is maybe what he's after. To me that seems a little... difficult. It's hard to put these things into words, but in my meditation practice I let thoughts happen as they will (can't seem to 100% turn them off no matter what) but make the conscious decision not to chase them. Let go. Let go.
Other people don't care about you. Especially strangers. You could be the weirdest mother fucker around, and they wouldn't really give you a second glance. Or if they did, they might comment about your weirdness to their friends and then be on their way. Either way it doesn't really affect you in any real way. What does affect you is your own mind, and what you think they might have said. I'm not saying you shouldn't give a fuck what anyone cares, but thinking logically you should know that whatever they do think of you isn't really important.
They're probably worried you think about them, too. And what are you thinking about them? People are nice
Sleep. How are you eating? How much sleep are you getting? Any problems sleeping? I suggest a very regular schedule. Be in bed the same time each night no matter what. Drink some magnesium before bedtime:
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Calm-Raspberry-Lemon-16/dp/B00BPUY3W0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412305026&sr=8-1&keywords=natural+calmIf you're not wanting to get out of bed, it's entirely possible that you need more sleep
Don't sleep in the daytime. Don't use blue-spectrum lights after a certain time (8pm for me). Download f.lux or similar for your computers and cell phones.
mhm