Taylin John Simmonds Profile picture
Jan 13 13 tweets 4 min read Read on X
One pattern I’ve noticed in all miserable people:

They overthink and underact.

The system I use to escape the cold, dark prison of overthinking:
“Energy goes where attention flows”

Your energy gets stuck when all your attention is on the thoughts in your head. This creates a downward spiral.

Pull your attention elsewhere to escape the vortex.

This is how: Image
1/ Develop meta-awareness

(Your ability to notice when you’re overthinking).

Understand that you are not your thoughts; you’re the thinker

I meditate 20 minutes a day, bringing my focus back to my breath whenever I catch myself thinking.
2/ Untangle energy knots

Overthinking is a byproduct of unprocessed trauma and negative emotions.

It’s like when your grandma’s kettle boils; the steam builds up until it screams.

Energy that you push down, corrupts your mind. In order to heal, you need to feel.
P.S. If you want more content like this, follow me.

I write about writing and share ideas that fascinate me.

Tap my profile pic + tap 'Follow.'

Thanks :)
3/ Overthinking stems from indecision

We fear the pain of making the wrong choices. And worse, we fear regret.

But once you understand that every decision has consequences, you can make a choice with certainty.

Choose the path that aligns with your values and don’t look back. Image
4/ You don’t have a thinking problem, you have an action problem

Miserable people try to think their way out of problems that can only be solved with action.

Make action your default mode.
(This tip alone saved my life)
5/ Overthinking is the opposite of focus

Overthinking = scattered consciousness
Focus = single pointed consciousness

If you allow yourself to be distracted by social media, messages, emails, calls, and cheap media…

You are training your mind to be chaotic. Image
If you can take control of your mind, you've joined the 1%.

Where your attention goes, you give power.

Do you want to give it to politicians and meme accounts who don’t know you exist?

Or do you want to use it to make your dreams come true?
6/ Abolish pesky thought loops

Looping = bouncing between 2 or 3 dark thoughts

Most people try to think their way out of a thought loop.

Thinking only creates thought loops. Writing breaks them.

Grab a journal and brain dump your thoughts… Image
The longer you journal the more stories you will notice.

Separate these stories from the facts.

Most of the stories you tell yourself are based in emotion. They’re created by your mind to validate your feelings.

Once the story is on the page, you realize it isn’t always true. Image
Writing brings order to the chaos of your mind.

And it might help you bring order to someone else’s.

Write in your journal to free your mind.
Write on social media to free the world.
Thank you!

I’m grateful to be able to make a living sharing ideas like this that have changed my life.

Follow me @TaylinSimmonds for more on writing and thinking.
And repost the tweet below to share with a friend.

Until next time,
TS

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More from @TaylinSimmonds

Apr 16
You’re not in control of your emotions.

A Roman Emperor spent his life proving it.

He uncovered a flaw in human thinking that keeps people weak, anxious, and reactive.

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And it will change how you handle every challenge in life: Image
1/

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." - Marcus Aurelius

Life doesn’t happen to you. It happens for you.

Every mistake, setback, and failure sculpts your character.

Viewing life this way builds resilience.
Stoicism is 2,000 years old, yet more relevant than ever.

Stoics don’t ask:
"Why is this happening to me?"

They ask:
"How is this making me stronger?"

Same situation.
Different mindset.

Ignore this principle and watch as life's inevitable challenges crush your spirit.
Read 13 tweets
Apr 15
The biggest medical scam:

ADHD

Most people think ADHD is a focus problem, but it’s a focus superpower with a motivation glitch.

Here’s how you transform ADHD attention into productivity (backed by science): Image
People with ADHD can hyper focus for hours.

On video games. Books. Art. Coding.

When something is interesting, attention isn't a problem.
In fact, they can go deeper than most.

The problem isn’t attention.
It’s attention regulation.
The brain runs on dopamine.

Dopamine isn’t just about pleasure.
It’s about motivation.

It tells your brain:
“This task is worth doing.”

People with ADHD have a dopamine regulation issue.

ADHD brains don’t obey “should.”
They chase interest, urgency, novelty. Image
Read 11 tweets
Apr 2
On the latest episode of Modern Wisdom:

​Naval Ravikant goes DEEP on wealth, fame, and freedom.

Nothing was off limits, from attention as currency to productizing your identity.

Let me save you 3 hours:🧵 Image
1/ “Fame should be a byproduct of doing something worthwhile.”

Earned fame, built on value, can serve your tribe.
Chasing it for its own sake is fragile.

Fame can get you in the room, but it also traps you on the stage.
You’ll perform, people-please, and fear losing it.
2/ “The only true test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.”

He breaks it into two parts:
• Knowing what to want
• Know how to get it

Intelligence is not your IQ, education, or how fast you think.
Read 18 tweets
Apr 1
Katsushika Hokusai spent 60 years drawing.

He changed his name 30 times, moved 93 times, and called ALL of his art garbage.

But at 70, he created one of the most iconic images in history.

The truth behind Hokusai’s madness is WILD: Image
Hokusai started drawing professionally as a teen.

But didn’t find his true voice until after age 70.

He was struck by lightning.
Suffered a stroke.
Lost his wife and children.

Died penniless because he paid off his grandson’s gambling debt.

And he still kept creating.
At age 70, Hokusai declared:

“Everything I made before this isn’t worth looking at.”

Then he gave the world his most iconic gift:
The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

A wave about to crash down.
Fishermen rowing for their lives.
Mount Fuji watching in the background.
Read 14 tweets
Mar 30
In 1985, Studio Ghibli was crumbling.

Totoro flopped. Box office numbers tanked. Shutting down felt inevitable.

Then they made ONE bold move that transformed Ghibli into a Billion dollar box office cash cow.

Here’s the fascinating story of Studio Ghibli’s comeback: Image
Hayao Miyazaki grew up during WWII.

His dad built fighter plane parts.
His mom was bedridden.

These fragments of war, illness, resilience shaped his films.

“I make films for 10-year-olds. Not to entertain them, but to prepare them for the weight of life.” Image
Miyazaki hated how anime was made.

He called it “lazy, mechanical, and emotionally flat.”

He didn’t want to make animation.
He wanted to make "moving art that breathed life."

Miyazaki had already quit the anime industry once.

And returned to drawing manga:
Nausicaä. Image
Read 21 tweets
Mar 28
This book changed everything for Sam Altman.

It's not about self-help, business, or money.

But written by a holocaust survivor in a Nazi death camp.

Here’s why “Man’s Search for Meaning” became his bible: 🧵 Image
Image
Viktor Frankl wrote this book after he was imprisoned in Auschwitz.

• He lost his parents, brother, and wife
• He was starved, beaten, and forced into labor
• Death was a daily reality

But he found something most people never do in the middle of all that suffering...
Suffering without meaning destroys you.

Frankl noticed two types of prisoners:

1) People who lost hope and gave up
2) People who held onto something bigger than themselves

The ones with purpose were far more likely to survive.
Read 12 tweets

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