For years, I struggled with overthinking every interaction. After a conversation, I’d replay it in my head and cringe over the smallest things. My brain’s favorite line was: “They’re probably judging you.”
But here’s what I’ve learned: most people are too wrapped up in their own lives to analyze mine. That thought wasn’t reality – it was just a mental script I’d practiced for too long.
Reading 7 Lies Your Brain Tells You: And How to Outsmart Every One of Them put this into words I couldn’t before. One of the “lies” it unpacks is exactly this: believing your anxious thoughts are truths. Once you realize they’re just stories, you start showing up more naturally, without rehearsing or overexplaining.
Honestly, it’s been freeing to remind myself that silence isn’t awkwardness, mistakes aren’t disasters, and confidence isn’t about being perfect – it’s about not letting those mental lies run the show.
If social anxiety or second-guessing holds you back, this book might help you reframe it like it did for me.