This morning, I saw the price of Bitcoin spike. Immediately, anxiety kicked in. Should I buy? Am I missing out? What if it crashes tomorrow? Why didn’t I get in earlier? This is so unfair.

Just like that, I was hooked.

I took the bait — the news, the numbers, the what-ifs. And I started thrashing. Mentally spiraling. Replaying decisions. Trying to think my way out.

But here’s the thing: overthinking never works.

We don’t unhook ourselves by thinking harder. We just drive the hook deeper.

We instinctively want to solve the problem — if I just figure it out, then I’ll feel better. But some problems aren’t solvable in that moment. Maybe you buy more and it crashes. Maybe you wait and it skyrockets. Either way, you can’t know.

You do your best. You move on.

But the real shift comes from stepping away — not from solving, but escaping.

Unlike a fish, we have a way out.

For me, that meant getting out of the house. A bike ride by the lake. A visit to the farmer’s market. A coffee and some time writing.

That changed everything. The hook slipped out.

Because the hook isn’t just the thought — it’s the environment that reinforces it. Your mind learns: this is where I doomscroll. This is where I panic. And so you stay stuck — in the chair, in the loop, in the spiral.

The hook says: You should cook at home and save money. You still have work to do. You’ll be fine if you just figure it out.

But you don’t need to out-think it. You need to move. Change your environment. Change your state.

This is a reminder: not everything is a problem to solve. And not every moment is meant to be optimized.

Sometimes the smartest move is to stop fighting and swim free.

Remove the hook.

When you stop thrashing, you actually move forward.