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Rumination vs Reflection: How to Escape Thought Loops

With Byron McCaughey · 17 July 2026

In this episode of In Session with Byron, psychologist Byron McCaughey tackles rumination - that post-board-meeting, post-pitch spiral where you can't stop replaying what you said and analysing what they said. Rumination is not the same as reflection. Reflection means considering what happened, extracting the useful information, and moving on. Rumination is a loop - and the research is clear that it correlates with anxiety and depressive outcomes. On a practical level, it also means you're never fully present for the next thing: the work in front of you, time with your partner, moments with family. Learn the critical difference between reflection and rumination, a simple diagnostic question - have I learnt anything new from thinking about this in the last 24 hours? - and how grounding in your senses pulls you out of the loop, because the brain can't attend to the present and replay the past at the same time. If the answer to that question is no, you're ruminating. Come back to the present.

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Transcript

Hi everyone, Byron here, psychologist for entrepreneurs. Today's In Session with Byron is on the topic of rumination.

So that is: I've just had a board meeting, I've just had an investor pitch, and I can't stop thinking about what I said. I can't stop analysing what they said. I'm in a loop.

Now, this is different from reflection. Reflection is where we consider something that has happened, we learn from it, we extract the useful information, and then we move on. Rumination is where we're in a spiral. And the research is really clear on this: rumination correlates with anxiety and depressive outcomes.

Not only that - on a more practical level, as a founder, ruminating means that you are not able to be fully focused on the next thing that you're attending to. You're not able to be fully there with things outside of work - time with your partner, with family, these sorts of things. And that, of course, all comes at a cost.

So the antidote to rumination is being present. Now, that's not just some nice word to throw in. The research shows that it's impossible for us to attend to what's happening around us while at the same time focusing on what's going on from a previous moment in our lives. Our brains just can't do that.

So what I want you to think about is: if you find yourself in a thought loop, if you find yourself ruminating on something, ask yourself - have I learnt anything new from thinking about this in the last 24 hours? If the answer is no, then you're ruminating. Come back to the present.

You can do this in whatever grounding way works for you. A simple one is just connecting with your senses - whether that's touch, smell, sight. Get yourself back into the present. That will get you out of the rumination loop and stop those thoughts from having a cost on your life as a founder - but of course, also your life outside of your business.

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