It’s a simple enough idea, but for many of us not “overthinking it” can be nearly impossible at times. Whether it centers around a relationship, work, finances, a looming life decisions, all of us are probably guilty of thinking too much at one point or another.

My inspiration for this article came during a 6.2 mile training run. My half marathon is just a few weeks away and I’m hell bent on breaking 2:30 this time around. It’s my third time tackling 13.1 miles and I really want to start the new year with a strong personal record.

So far my training runs seemed to be putting me on track for that, until a recent weekend. I set out to do what I thought would be an easy six or so miles. Instead, I was walking by mile two. My legs hurt, I couldn’t breathe right, the cold air stung my nostrils, I had zero energy, and was just plain unmotivated. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I was glued to my GPS, watching my pace number increase as the distance number decreased.

I started thinking about possibly not reaching my goal and feeling terrible at the end of my half marathon.

So I’d start running again, but never quite found my stride. Soon I was on track for a 13-minute mile pace, but far from my goal of between 10:30-11:00 minutes.

With three miles to go, I finally just hit the “off” switch on my GPS, turned up my music and ran. I didn’t care about the pace, didn’t think about the mileage, I just went.

I have no idea how long it took me, but I finished the rest of the run without walking and felt pretty strong. I felt motivated once again to tackle my next big run of nine miles with a new hope that I’m capable of pushing through and getting the distance done.

I think it’s a lesson I’ll incorporate into my relationships too.

It’s so easy to get bogged down with the details, the little things that can consume our minds for days, and amplify our fear of failure. Sometimes the cure isn’t expert analysis, advice from friends and family, or even a late-night phone call to your significant other as a way to ease the anxiety.

Sometimes you’ve got to unplug, get on course, and just go.