3. Take action
Once you have outlined a plan of action to address your ruminating thoughts, take one small step to address the issue. Refer to the plan you made to solve the problem you’ve been obsessing over.
Move forward with each step slowly and incrementally until your mind is put at ease.
4. Question your thoughts
We often ruminate when we think we’ve made a major mistake or when something traumatic has happened to us that we feel responsible for.
If you start ruminating on a troubling thought, try putting your repetitive thought in perspective.
Thinking more about how your troubling thought might not be accurate may help you stop ruminating because you realize the thought makes little sense.
5. Readjust your life’s goals
Perfectionism and unrealistic goal setting can lead to rumination. If you set goals that are unrealistic, you may start to focus on why and how you haven’t reached a goal, or what you should have done to reach it.
Setting more realistic goals that you’re capable of achieving can reduce the risks of overthinking your own actions.
6. Boost your self-esteem
Having many sources of self-esteem is important for keeping you in a better mood and reducing your risks of rumination.
If you only have a few points of pride in your life, such as a house or a child, you may lose your self-esteem if you have to sell the house or if your children move away.
The more sources of self-esteem you have, the smaller the risk that you will fixate on your perceived shortcomings.