Interrupt your Overthinking  – ‘Blink VuMu’

Are you a prize winning overthinker?  This is a helpful technique to interrupt that pattern when you identify that you are over-cooking a thought, or thought process.   It is called ‘Blink VuMu’  not just because it is an usual name, but because the name is the pattern to follow (see the bolded letters as your clues!):

Step 1) Blink wildly for 5 seconds (count back from 5-1)

Step 2)  Get curious – How am I doing this?

Step 3) Ask yourself the following questions

       Q1) Is this Valid? YES/NO

       Q2) Is this Useful?  YES/NO

       Q3) If not, what would be the Most Useful response I could offer right now?

•            The value of this question set is that you can recognise that a reaction can be both valid and not useful.

•            The first question allows you to say “YES” and validate your response. However, even as you do this, you have already stepped away and are analysing from a more dissociated position.

•            The second question is more likely to get a “NO” response as you recognise the contextual value of your reaction.

•            The third question starts you down a line of becoming more strategic and re-framing your thoughts, looking at it from different perspectives and breaking the pattern in a useful way.

As you practice this technique you are creating a new neural pathway, and a new habit, which will give you a more strategic outlook as you create your future.  Give it a try!