Don’t believe everything you think

Recommended Reading - "Don't believe everything you think"

I was drawn to the book’s title – it is interesting and easy to read. I have noticed that people sometimes magnify their problems and imagine the worst possible outcomes, which can lead to frustration and anxiety. This book is suitable for anyone who tends to overthink when facing difficult situations.

In some of my previous articles, I have shared my own experiences with life’s difficulties. Even though I preferred to focus on solutions, I couldn’t entirely escape overthinking. After accumulating some experiences, I discovered two approaches that helped me minimise it:

1. When I became aware and wanted to break the cycle of overthinking, I would consciously count from 1 to 7 a few times until my mind shifted to something else.

2. I practised meditation by taking deep breaths, focusing on the rhythm of my inhale and exhale. When I focus on my breathing, I will pause in thinking, and it helps me reset my mind.

Of course, it is easier said than done. Negative thinking still inevitably returns from time to time. It took time for sadness to fade and for overthinking to gradually lessen. Still, we must remember that we always have the choice to consciously avoid becoming entangled in our own negative rumination.

In Joseph Nguyen’s “Don’t Believe Everything You Think”. He defines “thoughts” and “thinking”, “thoughts” is more a neutral observation without judgement, while “thinking” is our interpretation with judgement and opinions about our thoughts.

I resonated deeply with his core message: “Thinking leads to suffering”— because our thinking, not the events themselves, are often the root cause of our pain. What we experience is shaped not by reality itself but by our perception of it. Our feelings do not arise directly from external events but from the way we interpret them. Therefore, different persons using their different lens to view a situation will interpret it quite differently.

Joseph suggests asking ourselves powerful questions such as: “Is this thinking helpful?” or “Is this thinking making me feel the way I want?” If we are stuck in regret or worrying about the worst possible outcome, the answer is probably no. In that case, we can choose to stop dwelling on it and redirect our attention to something more constructive. If, however, we are focusing on exploring solutions, the answer is likely yes, so we can continue thinking it through. And once we have thoroughly analysed the situation, I believe writing down our ideas is helpful. This not only organises our thoughts but also improves mental clarity and reduces clutter.

Winner Lee

Life Coach, Mentor, Writer

The original article was published on LinkedIn on 14 August 2025:

https://lnkd.in/e7qx38gq

不要相信你所想的一切

我被這本書的書名所吸引；它既有趣又容易明白。我注意到人們有時會放大自己的問題，並想像最糟糕的結果，這會導致沮喪和焦慮。這本書適合在困境中容易過度思考的人。

在我之前的一些文章中，我分享了我對生活困境的經驗。儘管我較傾向於專注於解決問題，但我仍是無法完全擺脫過度思考。在累積了一些經驗後，我發現了兩種方法可以幫助我減少過度思考：

1. 當我意識到並且想要打破過度思考的循環時，我會有意識地從1數到7幾次，直到我的思緒轉移到其他事物上。

2. 我練習冥想及深呼吸，專注於吸氣和呼氣的節奏。當我專注於呼吸時，我會暫停思考，這有助於我重置我的思維。

當然，說來容易做來難。悲觀的想法仍然會不可避免地不時捲土重來。我們需要時間才能讓悲傷消退，讓過度思考逐漸減少。然而，我們必須記住，我們總是可以選擇有意識地避免被困於我們自己的負面的思緒之中。

在約瑟夫阮的《不要相信你所想的一切》一書中，他定義了“想法”和“思考”，“想法”更像是一種不帶批判的中立觀察，而“思考”則是我們對想法的解讀，帶有判斷和觀點的。

我對他的核心思想有深切的共鳴：「思考導致痛苦」— 因為我們的思考，而不是事件本身，往往是我們痛苦的根源。我們所經歷的並非由現實本身所塑造，而是由我們對現實的感知所塑造。我們的感受並非直接源自於外在事件，而是源自於我們對它們的解讀方式。因此，不同的人用不同的視角看待情況，會得到截然不同的解讀。

約瑟夫建議我們問自己一些有力的問題，例如：「這個想法有用嗎？」或「這個想法能讓我感受到我想要的那種感覺嗎？」如果我們陷入後悔或擔心最壞的結果，答案很可能是否定的。在這種情況下，我們可以選擇停止糾結，將注意力轉移到更有建設性的事情上。然而，如果我們專注於探索解決方案，答案很可能是肯定的，這樣我們就可以繼續思考。我相信，一旦我們徹底分析了情況，寫下我們的想法是會很有幫助。這不僅能整理我們的思路，還能提升思維清晰度及減少雜亂。

原文於2025年8月14日發表在LinkedIn：

https://lnkd.in/etPtMTnK