Overthinkers come in flavors. Each type has unique strengths but also unique challenges they grapple with, often bravely. Below are five types you might recognize in yourself.

As you look for your closest match, don't make the mistake of devaluing the strengths mentioned but dwelling on the weaknesses. Approach your patterns with curiosity rather than criticism.

This type is driven by achievement and rewards. They want to excel and constantly try to take optimal actions.

Example: You're full of ideas but still pondering how best to pursue your ideas three months—or even three years—later.

Their strengths: Strong ambition and drive. Creative thinking. Willingness to invest focused mental effort to improve results.

Achilles heel: Trying to perfect your approach too early, before taking action. You attempt to optimize before starting, rather than refining only after trying a first version. Careful thinking to avoid missteps can backfire—overthinking becomes a bigger threat to your success than mistakes.

Tools they need: The maximizer needs to learn to recognize when trying to make perfect plans is holding them back. For example, when they're obsessing about selecting the best tools or most efficient strategies before starting (See: How to stop premature optimization). Maximizers also benefit from learning to better discriminate what to devote their full maximizer energy to vs. when to choose "good enough" options to reduce cognitive load and move forward faster (See How to train yourself to not always be a maximizer).

This person has many distracting thoughts while trying........

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