Ep. 02 - What is Overthinking and Why Do We Do It?

Welcome back to Shifting Overthinking to Marketing Movement, a limited audio series for creative, equity-led solopreneurs with a story and expertise to share. This gets you out of your own head to find clarity & direction to find sustainable marketing processes that fit your body, brain, and capacity.

Housekeeping on Sales —

One thing I’m going to add is that this series will include mentions of my done-with-you offer, Storyspark Connection, when it’s relevant, and a bigger mention of it at the very end. 

I want to be upfront, but let me assure you, anything I build is meant to be valuable enough that , and that’s not to mention the fact that my Discord community is currently free and active for those who aren’t ready to work fully together but need continued support after they work through the series. 

But as we talk about sales later in the series, my goal it to walk the talk but also show how it can be clear for folks without being overly pushy. 

Defining Overthinking for Our Purposes — 

I’m not going to be boring and pull out a dictionary, but because we all make think of overthinking differently, I did want us to all start from a shared definition that we operate from through the series. Especially as it relates to our businesses and marketing.

Here’s my simple definition: Business overthinking is the fear and/or anxiety around either committing to strategy or making decisions subject to public perception or scrutiny. All of which results in inertia or stillness in marketing and sales. 

This is not to say that stillness is always bad. We’ll discuss the natural cycles of growth in a later episode. It’s more about holding yourself back from committing to a project, publishing, or putting yourself out here. 

I see overthinking from a content or writing perspective most often, given what it is that I do. It can either be a full on block where folks struggle with knowing what to say, or having marketing content or other projects that they can get partway done but never across the finish line, or they sit on hard drives without being published.

But there are also many different ways this shows up. Another common one that I’ve experienced off and on for years is this idea that I must have this signature, productized offer that will solve all of my capacity and cash flow issues. 

For you, it could be pitching for visibility, sitting on an idea for a podcast for years, stopping and starting writing a book for months, waiting to hire an assistant, not choosing a course or membership platform for a new offer, or thinking you need to wait until you have a new certification before raising your prices.

ACTION STEP:

How does this show up for you? Feel free to free write on all of the ways fear or worry about how you’ll be perceived or rejected comes up in your business and when promoting it.

Exploring the Psychology Behind Overthinking —

So, if it’s not helpful, why do we do it? First let me put up a quick disclaimer that I’m not a therapist, and that this section is meant to be more of about general psychology and my observations with myself, colleagues, biz besties, clients, and in my community. It’s not meant to diagnose and some of this may be helpful to process with a trained professional.

I want to address the systemic and cultural factors right out of the gate, because a lot of this can feel like blaming the individual for a toxic culture we have all internalized.  I’m not trying to shame you because that doesn’t actually fix anything or help us feel empowered to move forward.

Culturally and in the online entrepreneur space, there are so many factors that add to a cycle of overthinking. One of the people in my community, Bre Hamilton, is a religious trauma recovery coach and has stated that there is a dread in those of us who have had religion in our childhoods that our decisions would have eternal consequences and even when you deconstruct, some of those lingering issues can be there.

Even without the religious undertones, you see it culturally as well. As a millennial I was told the only way I can be happy as an adult is follow a specific set of instructions: go to college, get married, have children, make enough money to go on vacation, etc.

Culturally, we’re told that it’s all or nothing— you’re either successful right away, or any sign of failure shows you’re not cut out for this and it’s YOU who needs to change to fit the mold.

Online entrepreneurs also face a similar type of capitalist programming: coaches and marketers are telling you you MUST do reels to get clients, or build a YouTube channel, or use AI to clone you, or steal my system, or the exact steps to a six-figure launch. What this implies to our subconscious is there’s a one right way to being successful and that it is up to US to discern it. 

Which means, when capacity is at a minimum and we still have to pay our bills, most of our creative & mental energy goes to making the exact right decision and have it all figured out.

Given these circumstances, it really is no wonder that we OVERthink and UNDER implement.

On a more personal note, there’s imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and a fear of rejection. There’s a question of “Who am *I* to say this?” or “What if I spent all of this time and no one even looks at it?” With an offer we’ve built that may take us hours of recording or designing, this is a serious blow for us low-capacity folks who could have used that time and energy differently.

When I post on social media, I can’t really win: I feel dejected when no one views a reel I spent a lot of time on, but also, then, when something blows up, I hate being perceived or worry that my content will be taken differently than I meant it.

A good resource for any person who creates is the book “The War of Art” by Stephen Pressfield, which expands on the concept of Resistance, which is interconnected with overthinking and holding ourselves back from what we want to accomplish.

To reiterate, there’s nothing wrong with you if you’re in this cycle or struggle with overthinking and not taking concrete actions.

Action Step — 

I’m recording this in April 2026, and I’ve recently done my quarterly planning. Maybe later I’ll break down the process, but when I transition from reviewing the previous quarter and I plan the new one, I decide on a theme.

It’s a statement meant to help focus my energy and attention, so even when I get ill or have a flare, I inevitably have to change my plans. I have a theme that brings me back and gives me that balance of structure and flexibility we’ve talked about in the last episode. It’s usually a short statement. Fittingly for this, my current one means “Momentum means imperfect action.”

So my action step here is, no matter where in the quarter or year you are when you listen to this, that you choose a theme for this series or for the current stage of your creative business. 

You can pick one similar to mine, or remind yourself how what you share is fortifying and inspiring to the people you’re meant to serve. A current subtheme of mine is “Finish what you started.” 

You can make it longer like an affirmation if you like, but I find it’s best to have it displayed in places you know you’ll see it — my calendar, project management system, above my computer monitor, stuff like that.

Feel free to share your theme in the dedicated channel in the Storyspark Lounge Discord community over at https://www.maxwildestories.com/community