How do I protect myself from all of that thinking going on around me. I am outnumbered.

You are not outnumbered. There is only one. That is you. You need to change your mind from fear to Certainty. How? Try and think of reasons why your thoughts are secure from the influences of others. Recognize that within you is the will to good. This means that left alone your thinking would naturally rise to its highest level. If you are having a problem listening to good thoughts, take one thought perhaps this one here and expand upon it. That is the nature of you. Have confidence in yourself and build upon this. No one else can put this there. You will be amazed once you start this process how others will remark on how self assured you are. You set the bandwidth for your internal listening.
Tools: Any sacred writings will help you to take your mind off of those repetitive thoughts which pull you down. Include in these writings, "the Lord's Prayer, reciting the rosary, in Kabbalah you can read the Zohar, say the SHMA, or any prayer. The purpose of any of these tools, these words you say to yourself is to provide a pause in your uncontrolled thinking. These tools are useful in the early going but after a while you will recognize that you are thinking in repeat patterns and will then be able to change your thoughts, or change your mind. Try the following experiement. In the middle of something you are thinking about that appears disturbing, think about something wonderful. Think about some dream of happiness you want to come true. Truly visualize this. When you do this, the disturbing thoughts will melt away. That is the secret. Replace chaos with order. The order in this case is your direction in mind which establishes the counter flow. Knowing that you can do this without any help from any outside source is the most empowering of discoveries.