Stop Overthinking: A Neuroscience-Informed Experiment for Decisive Decisions

Authored By: Pam Aks

There’s a flavor of stuck that looks logical on the outside.

You’re “thinking it through.”
You’re “still weighing your options.”

Can I just tell you how many past decisions are parading through my head right now?

The ones that I chewed on for weeks, maybe months, until they lost all their flavor. I could overthink with the best of them. And one incident in particular has made its way to the front line.

It was a business relationship that was wrong from the word “go.” One that I let linger well past its sell‑by date, part and parcel to my overthinking.

This was supposed to be a collaboration. In reality, I was doing most of the heavy lifting while the other person benefitted from my work.

I knew I needed to call it a wrap. I had the discussions in my head, weighed out all the options, looked at it from all sides. And still I stayed. For a year. Regardless of how drained and resentful I felt.

The final straw was when they wanted to take a course I’d created, sell it, and take a bigger portion of the revenue. That was it. I was done overthinking. I didn’t care what the fallout was going to be. I wanted out.

So, I ended the relationship. And just like my brain had “warned me” during our overthinking marathon sessions, the fallout was ugly.

But the relief was stronger than the fallout.

No more bracing when their name showed up in my inbox. No more rehearsing conversations in the shower.

That’s when I got curious: Why did my brain work so hard to keep me in the spin of it all?

What your brain is doing when you can’t stop “thinking about it”

We overthink for a variety of reasons. At the core, we’ve all got brains that run a few systems all at once when it comes to decision‑making, all with the objective of keeping us safe.

One system loves to imagine and predict. It runs “what if” scenarios on repeat. Helpful at first, until it turns into mental reruns that fuel worry more than clarity.

Another system scans for social and emotional threat, especially around conflict, rejection, or disappointment. Hard conversations get tagged as “danger,” which is why your heart can race just thinking about “the talk.”

Then there’s the part that wants to support “good decision‑making.” It wants the choices that protect the future, relationships, and your sense of who you are. When clarity is lacking, it keeps searching for more information. That’s one big reason we often find ourselves in that overthinking loop.

Here’s the thing: your brain isn’t trying to sabotage you. It’s trying to protect you, using very old wiring where survival is still at the forefront.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t work with that wiring and become a more decisive decision‑maker.

A three‑step experiment for decisive action

Think of one decision you’ve been “chewing on.”

Got one? Now give this little experiment a whirl.

1. Name the loop

Say it out loud:

“I’m in an overthinking loop about ending this collaboration.”
“My brain is running loops about raising my prices.”

Naming the pattern gives you a bit of space from it and lets you see it as a loop, not a fact.

2. Make it “good enough for now”

Overthinking turns decisions into forever contracts.

“Once I end this, that bridge is gone.”
“If I pivot, I can never go back.”

When everything feels permanent, your threat system cranks up the dial. Seeing choices as reversible and time‑limited can lower the pressure and make action feel safer.

Try asking:

“What’s a decision I can live with that’s in integrity with who I am right now?”
“What’s a good‑enough choice for the next 30 or 90 days?”

Good enough for now doesn’t mean you’re lowering your standards. It means you’re stepping out of overthinking and giving yourself permission to adjust as you go.

3. Take one tiny, body‑aware step

Which means:

Pause.
Feet on the floor.
One slow breath.

Then choose one five‑minute step that moves this decision forward:

• Draft the first version of the email
• Jot three bullet points for the conversation

With that former business relationship, my first step wasn’t the conversation. It was a messy draft of what I wanted to say. It wasn’t perfect. It was honest. And I felt relief.

Small, grounded actions tell your brain, “We can move, and we can get through this.” Do that enough times, and the overthinking loop starts to loosen.

So, my friends, what’s one decision you’d be willing to stop chewing on?

Author Byline: Pam Aks is a neuroscience‑informed coach and lover of brain geekery. Since 2005, she’s been a brain‑nerdy sidekick to solopreneurs and entrepreneurs who are tired of playing small and watching their big, important ideas stay stuck on paper. When she’s not coaching, she’s supporting other coaches in fine tuning their coaching skills as the Director of the Executive & Professional Coach Training Program at UT Dallas. She’s also the author of Developing a Confident, Resilient Mindset and is working on her second book, Move On If You Can’t Take the Fullness of Who I Am: A Movement for Women Who Are Done Playing Small.