Wholeness Healing Center

Soundtracks, The Surprising Solution to Overthinking. A Book Review

Another recent recommendation came to me, in the form of Soundtracks, by Jon Acuff, marketed as a guide to address overthinking. I found the book quite interesting, and I was also quite pleased to find many of the skills I have used, taught, and recommended mentioned in his book. I especially found it helpful the way he then assembles the skills into a process. Acuff writes, ultimately of his “New Anthem” and the book is about his coming to the process, stories that enlightened him along the way, as well as skills that have aided in his accepting his own challenge to write this book.

From identifying the problem (Chap. 1, I Think I Can Do This), he moves through 10 chapters easily, fluently, and seemingly effortlessly. But of course, we all know how difficult changing the habit of overthinking can be. That is one reason I found this book so helpful. Acuff identifies why the change is so difficult, then proceeds to lay out manageable steps to address, process, and change the pattern into something much more manageable.

From the negative overthinking of involuntary memories and how we have used those in our thinking to what is required to make some changes, Acuff seems very attuned to the process. “Your brain builds on overthinking’s habit of negativity by doing three additional things:
1. Lying about your memories
2. Confusing fake trauma with real trauma
3. Believing what it already believes” (Acuff, p. 23)

Acuff then takes the reader through processing the fallacy of those memories to skills to help change the process that keeps a person in that negativity. “If you can worry, you can wonder. If you can doubt, you can dominate. If you can spin, you can soar.” (Acuff, p. 29) That then becomes the shift into action, moving to lessen the negativity and increase the empowerment.

Acuff uses stories from his travels, from his speaking engagements, from authors he has read, and from his family and friends, wisdom gleaned from a myriad of sources. He writes about the process of replacing the old soundtracks that we have created and continue to hear in our heads. “Replacing a broken soundtrack doesn’t mean faking a new one. It means choosing new thoughts that generate new actions that take you new places”. (Acuff, p. 128) He offers questions to prod the reader to go within and determine the motivation for continuing the behaviors. “A fast way to find a new soundtrack is to ask yourself, ‘What do I want to be true?” (Acuff, p. 193) He then provides suggestions of using symbols to aid in the process.

The New Anthem (Acuff, p. 153) features some positive affirmations to move the process along. The questions he poses throughout the book, as well as the suggestions of symbols, all serve as concrete assistance in changing how one sees the overthinking, then moving to change that process into something that serves one better.
I found the book to offer many manageable, successful, and specific suggestions that the reader can easily implement in daily life. His writing is clear and direct, and the movement through the change seems quite doable. If you are one who overthinks, perhaps you can find some value in the processes found in this book.

Works Cited
Acuff, Jon. (2021) Soundtracks: the surprising solution to overthinking. Baker Books. BakerPublishing Group. Grand Rapids, MI.