Soundtracks

Have you ever noticed that the loudest obstacle in your life isn’t someone else—it’s your own mind? In Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking, Jon Acuff argues that the stories we tell ourselves are like repetitive “soundtracks” that shape our reality. These internal loops can either propel us forward or hold us back. Acuff’s core claim is disarmingly simple yet profound: you can change your life by changing the thoughts you listen to.

Acuff contends that overthinking—where what you think gets in the way of what you want—isn’t a fixed trait or brain flaw. Instead, it’s a form of mental energy we can redirect. In this book, he shows you how to transform overthinking from a super problem into a superpower. By turning down old, destructive soundtracks and replacing them with new, life-affirming ones, you reclaim control over your mind and your results.

Why Our Thoughts Behave Like Music

Much like songs that trigger memories and emotions, our internal soundtracks play quietly underneath everything we do. When we listen to negative ones long enough, they start to shape our identity and our actions. Acuff draws on neuroscience, psychology, and humor to show that our brains are malleable: thanks to neuroplasticity, we can literally rewire how we think. This notion echoes Carol Dweck’s growth mindset and Dr. Caroline Leaf’s work on thought transformation—yet Acuff translates those ideas into an approachable, funny, story-driven guide.

The Retire–Replace–Repeat Framework

The entire book revolves around three steps: Retire the old soundtracks holding you back, Replace them with new ones that serve your goals, and Repeat these until they become automatic. You don’t eliminate overthinking; you redirect it. This approach is both practical and empowering because it transforms thinking from an uncontrollable stream into a skill you can manage with intention.

Stories That Stick

From Acuff’s hilarious story of agreeing to his first-ever public speaking gig with only one thought—“I think I can do this”—to the tale of Colleen Barry, who went from receptionist to CEO by rethinking her narrative, the book brims with real-life examples. Each story reinforces a central message: the gap between where you are and where you want to be is often bridged by a new thought, not just a new plan. (This echoes ideas from James Clear’s Atomic Habits and Carol Dweck’s Mindset—change begins invisibly, in the mind.)

The Science of Turning Thoughts Into Results

Drawing from cognitive psychology, Acuff explains how our brains tend to distort memories and overvalue negative experiences—a phenomenon known as the negativity bias. He cites research on how social rejection triggers real pain responses in the brain, and how constant mental rehearsal cements negative loops. But that same repetition can be harnessed for good. Through deliberate thought practice—like repeating affirmations or visualizing positive outcomes—you can strengthen productive neural pathways and weaken the destructive ones.

Why This Matters Now

In a noisy, fast-paced digital world, overthinking feels inevitable. Yet Acuff invites you to challenge that assumption. He promises—and delivers—a blueprint to quiet the chaos not by silencing thought but by curating it. Instead of fighting your mind, you learn to DJ your own mental playlist. “If you can worry, you can wonder. If you can spin, you can soar.” That single line captures the book’s spirit—playful, practical, and astonishingly hopeful.

By the end of this summary, you’ll see how to retire broken soundtracks, replace them with empowering mantras, and repeat them with practical actions that stick. You’ll learn why thinking kind thoughts matters as much as true ones, how to borrow mental music from mentors, how to “turn down the dial” when your mind gets loud, and how symbols—from coins to sneakers—anchor mindset shifts in daily life. “Soundtracks” isn’t just about overthinking less; it’s about thinking better and finally letting your thoughts become your allies instead of your enemies.

Acuff provides a deceptively simple yet powerful formula for taming overthinking: Retire, Replace, Repeat. These three words serve as both mantra and method for shifting from paralysis to momentum.

Step 1: Retire Broken Soundtracks

The first step is identifying and retiring “broken soundtracks”—the repetitive, negative thoughts that play in your head like a scratched record. You start by noticing recurring lines such as “I’m not ready,” or “That will never work.” These aren’t harmless—they shape how you behave, speak, and see yourself. Acuff uses humor and storytelling, recounting how overthinking cost him seven years of blogging momentum. His antidote? Learning to ask each thought three questions: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it kind?

If the answers are “no,” your soundtrack needs to go. This method replaces judgment with curiosity—a mindset echoed by mindfulness pioneers like Jon Kabat-Zinn and Amy Edmondson’s concept of “psychological safety.”

Step 2: Replace with New, Empowering Soundtracks

After you retire a broken thought, you must immediately replace it with a better one. Nature abhors a vacuum—and so does your brain. Acuff demonstrates how people craft new internal music that supports growth. Pastor Patrick Bradway replaced his guilt-ridden thought “I can’t take time for myself” with a more truthful, helpful, and kind version: “My wife wants me to have hobbies that make me joyful.” Similarly, Sal St. Germain’s team saved $14 million after replacing a company-wide “we’re victims” mindset with one that said “we’re partners.”

Replacing isn’t forced positivity; it’s strategic reprogramming. The goal is to choose soundtracks that push action instead of paralysis.

Step 3: Repeat Until Automatic

Repetition transforms ideas into identity. Neuroscience backs Acuff here—thanks to neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, every time you repeat a thought, you strengthen its synaptic path. This is where the “Repeat” step comes alive. You re-train your mental DJ to default to beats that uplift rather than sabotage. Whether through written affirmations, rituals, or symbols, the repetition is what makes new beliefs stick. Just as your favorite playlist eventually feels like second nature, so do your new thought patterns if you keep them on loop.

“Thoughts are like songs—play the right ones on repeat and you’ll dance to a different rhythm in life.”

This three-step remix teaches you that thinking isn’t the enemy—unexamined thinking is. Once you master retiring, replacing, and repeating, you’ve effectively taken control of your brain’s radio station. And from there, the playlist is entirely up to you.

Throughout Soundtracks, Acuff anchors every strategy in one deceptively simple technique: interrogating your thoughts. When a mental loop threatens to hijack your focus, you ask three questions—Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it kind?—to decide whether a soundtrack deserves airtime.

Is It True?

Many thoughts masquerade as facts, but few can stand cross-examination. Sal St. Germain’s team in Hawaii believed their parent company was holding them back. When he checked if that belief was true, he found the opposite—they were actually trusted to lead. That truth unlocked $14 million in savings. Truth-checking thoughts transforms vague fears into solvable problems, echoing cognitive-behavioral therapy’s practice of disputing distorted thinking.

Is It Helpful?

Even if a thought is partly true, it may not serve you. Erin Zieren, an architect, constantly replayed tense conversations in her head for days. Her thoughts weren’t helpful—they drained her energy. The test here is simple: Does this move me forward or keep me stuck? Overthinking loves the illusion of productivity, but true helpfulness always produces motion.

Is It Kind?

Of all three, this question catches the sneakiest lies. Many of your harshest internal critics claim to be “helping.” In reality, they’re sabotaging your self-worth. Acuff—and the research of Jon Kabat-Zinn—stress that resilience isn’t toughness; it’s the willingness to begin again without judgment. He powerfully illustrates this in his story about business travel guilt: when he stopped telling himself he was a “bad dad” for traveling and instead chose a kind soundtrack, his family’s happiness grew too.

“If you wouldn’t say it to a friend, don’t say it to yourself.”

These three questions form a mental litmus test for every belief you hold. The more you practice asking them, the faster you can separate broken soundtracks from empowering ones. Over time, truth, helpfulness, and kindness become your brain’s default filters for thought selection.

One of Acuff’s freshest metaphors reframes how to manage negative thoughts: your thoughts aren’t on/off switches—they’re dials. This insight, borrowed from counselor David Thomas, liberates perfectionists from the fantasy of permanent calm. The goal isn’t to silence the noise forever; it’s to learn how to turn down the volume when it gets loud.

Switch Thinking vs. Dial Living

Acuff admits he once chased the elusive “switch” that would eradicate overthinking in a single breakthrough. But this switch mindset feeds perfectionism—it implies failure every time the noise returns. Dials, in contrast, acknowledge fluctuation. When life cranks up stress, you simply respond with deliberate actions that lower the emotional volume.

Develop Turn-Down Techniques

After testing ideas from thousands of people, Acuff lists practical “turn-down techniques”: running, building LEGO sets, making lists, doing small tasks like folding laundry, and connecting with friends. Whether you’re jogging for endorphins or decluttering a drawer, the goal is the same—physical or creative acts that ground your overactive mind. He even shares fifty ideas ranging from watching British baking shows to swinging on playgrounds, reminding readers to experiment without judgment.

What matters most is accessibility, variety, and play. No screens, no overthinking—just movement and mindfulness. It’s reminiscent of Cal Newport’s Deep Work approach to focus rituals, but infused with humor and flexibility.

“It’s not a failure when the noise gets loud again. It’s just time to grab the dial.”

By embracing the dial metaphor, you trade shame for agency. Instead of demanding silence from your mind, you learn to adjust its rhythm. Overthinkers stop fearing relapse and start practicing resilience.

When you don’t know which thoughts to adopt, borrow them from those who’ve gone before. Acuff encourages readers to “borrow from the best” by collecting powerful soundtracks from other people, quotes, and moments—and curating them like songs on a personal playlist.

Collecting Thought Music

Borrowed soundtracks aren’t about imitation—they’re about inspiration. Acuff borrows Dorothy Parker’s line, “Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye,” which guides his writing. From Kanye West, he steals the audacious affirmation, “My life is dope and I do dope [stuff].” This ironic mantra taught him gratitude by forcing him to notice what’s good instead of muttering “must be nice.”

Everyday Mentors

He collects lessons from Lyft drivers, marathoners, even ad agencies like Crispin Porter Bogusky, which preach “delusional positivity.” These become borrowed mental tracks that play on demand. As he puts it, “When you pick the soundtracks you listen to, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish.”

From Other People’s Songs to Your Own Playlist

Eventually, you remix these borrowed beats into your personal soundtrack: perhaps “Pivot, don’t panic,” or “Spare change adds up.” The beauty is that you don’t have to start from scratch—wisdom is public domain. Like Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist, Acuff encourages collecting, tweaking, and repeating until your mental playlist authentically fits your life.

“You don’t think your way out of overthinking—you act your way out by choosing someone else’s better song.”

Borrowing reminds you that wisdom is shareable, courage is contagious, and sometimes the best way to change your thoughts is to let someone else start the playlist.

Once you’ve curated positive soundtracks, Acuff teaches you to apply them through a framework he calls “Win the Week.” It’s about turning motivation into measurable action, one small victory at a time.

Define Your Weekly Wins

Ask yourself, “Where do I want to win this week?” It could be at work, in relationships, or personal growth. Acuff shows that each arena of life plays in sync with its own soundtrack. Have a difficult coworker named Karen? Replace “Karen is the worst” with “I get to practice courage and clarity in this meeting.” These small mental rewrites shift weekly battles into opportunities for growth.

Overwhelming Action Beats Overthinking

Acuff shares how he reignited his stalled writing career with one phrase—“Writers write.” To make it real, he wrote daily, logging 50,000 words just to rebuild the habit. The act mattered more than the output. Similarly, “light and easy,” his new writing mantra, helped him transform dread into joy. Acuff even wore neon-green Nike shoes as a physical reminder that creativity could feel playful, not punishing. This ritual transformed his mindset from fear to flow.

(This echoes James Clear’s law of identity-based habits: every small act is a vote for the kind of person you want to become.)

From Thought to Action to Evidence

You identify a thought, attach action, and gather evidence through movement. Whether tackling uncomfortable projects or navigating people conflicts, you learn that mental wins quickly become physical. You don’t wait for perfect confidence—you create it through practice. Thoughts empower actions, and actions generate results.

“Overthinking leads to inaction; overwhelming action leads to unstoppable momentum.”

Winning the week means aligning thoughts with motion. Start small, act fast, and let your week’s wins echo into lifelong confidence.

In one of the book’s most transformative ideas, Acuff teaches how to stop wrestling with negativity and instead flip it. Every broken soundtrack has an opposite hidden inside it—your job is to find it and play that side instead.

From Criticism to Curiosity

Across organizations, Acuff observes how resistance to change often hides broken soundtracks like “That’ll never work.” Replace criticism with curiosity: “I wonder how this might work.” That tiny flip transforms fear into creativity. He shares how photographer Jeremy Cowart ignored his skeptics—including a hesitant Acuff—and built a social-impact hotel chain. Later, Acuff replaced his self-defensive soundtrack with “My predictions are positive.”

Personal Flips Create New Futures

Every reversal starts by identifying the negative and turning it over. Tiffany Dawn flipped “I suck at math” into “I’m great at everyday math.” She didn’t fake positivity—she told the truth differently. Similarly, Deb and Bryan Meyer renamed their “Emergency Fund” an “Opportunity Fund.” Those conscious renamings signal to the brain that change equals possibility, not pain.

The Power of a Simple Reversal

This flipping process mirrors the mindset shifts taught in cognitive-behavioral therapy and positive psychology (Carol Dweck’s work on reframing struggles into growth opportunities). Each flip weakens fear’s grip and strengthens belief in action. As Acuff jokes, you may not stop overthinking overnight—but you’ll start overflipping immediately.

“Choose new thoughts that generate new actions that take you new places.”

Flipping isn’t denial—it’s design. When life hands you a broken record, you don’t smash it. You flip it and play the other side.

In partnership with researcher Mike Peasley, PhD, Acuff tested whether repeating positive affirmations actually reduces overthinking. The result: yes—dramatically. His “New Anthem,” a modern remix of positive psychology, helped thousands tune their minds toward confidence and performance.

The Power of Repetition

Participants who read the New Anthem twice daily for thirty days were 250% more likely to reduce overthinking and 400% more likely to achieve their goals. They worked nine more days per month toward their objectives. Acuff discovered that action-based affirmations—like “Momentum is messy” or “The only person standing in my way is me”—convert belief into measurable results.

The Morning and Evening Slingshot

Repeating the New Anthem morning and night “loads the slingshot.” You launch your day with intention and end it with reflection. This ritual not only primes your subconscious (recalling the ideomotor effect from Thinking, Fast and Slow) but builds mental momentum that survives sleep. Over time, your brain treats optimism as familiar terrain rather than foreign territory.

Self-Care Begins with Self-Talk

Self-kindness becomes the foundation of personal excellence. As one participant said, “If I can’t handle two minutes of saying nice things to myself, how will I handle bigger challenges?” By combining empirical data with humor and accessibility, Acuff turns affirmations—often mocked as fluff—into an evidence-backed productivity hack.

“You can’t have gratitude if you can’t first admit something is good.”

Repeating the New Anthem tunes your mind toward opportunity instead of anxiety. In time, you’ll stop just reading positive words—you’ll start believing them.

Acuff introduces the idea of the pocket jury—the internal panel of critics that replays every mistake you’ve ever made. It’s the mental courtroom where doubt presents old evidence to block new ambition. The only way to win is to gather your own evidence that proves your new soundtrack true.

If You See Something, Say Something

When artist James Victore challenged Acuff to repeat the phrase “Everything is always working out for me,” Acuff found it uncomfortable—but transformative. The key wasn’t blind optimism; it was collecting evidence whenever things actually did work out. Got an early hotel check-in? Delayed flight turned into extra writing time? Each became proof. Over time, these micro-moments overwhelmed the pocket jury with reality.

Three Steps to Dismiss the Jury

• Listen to what it’s saying—name the accusations clearly.
• Gather evidence of what’s really happening through daily wins.
• Tell yourself the truth out loud until the jury goes silent.

Acuff shares examples like Erin from Ohio, who fixed her refrigerator and reframed her story from “I waste time” to “I’m resourceful and self-reliant.” Each small action became testimony of competence.

As Barbara Fredrickson’s positivity research confirms, flourishing people maintain a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative experiences. Acuff’s evidence-gathering practice helps you consciously hit that ratio by documenting every win.

“Fear comes free; faith takes work.”

When you build a body of proof that supports your new mindset, the pocket jury loses jurisdiction. Eventually, it runs out of arguments—and you’re free to proceed without objection.

Mindset only becomes permanent when you anchor it in the physical world. Acuff’s final lesson is ingenious: use symbols to cement your new soundtracks. When thoughts become touchable, they become durable.

Symbols Turn Ideas into Habits

Acuff shares how he broke his habit of texting while driving using $200 worth of coin rolls. Every time he completed a trip phone-free, he dropped a coin in a jar—a tiny audio cue reminding him, “I can drive without distractions.” Over time, the ritual rewired his behavior. It wasn’t the money; it was the meaningful motion. His half-dollar coins became a symbol and, fittingly, looked like a dial—his metaphor for thought control.

Simple, Personal, Visible

The best symbols are straightforward, custom, and seen daily. Readers in his research group shared their own: a rock from a mountain hike symbolizing endurance; dog tags engraved with life goals; colorful stickers marking every rejection as progress; even tattoos as permanent reminders (“Joy,” or Bob Ross’s “Happy Tree”). What matters is visibility—out of sight means out of mind.

Make It Your Secret Armor

Symbols function like talismans of intention. Whether it’s speaking jeans, a coffee mug from your first business trip, or a compass on your desk, these tangible cues remind you daily to live your chosen soundtrack. Like James Clear’s habit cues, physical triggers bridge thought and action effortlessly.

“Your symbol doesn’t just remind you who you are—it shows you who you’re becoming.”

By transforming thoughts into symbols, you close the loop between invisible belief and visible behavior. Your new soundtrack isn’t just in your head—it’s on your desk, around your wrist, and reflected in your life.