Stop Worry in 7 Steps
Stop Worry in 7 Steps
Being a high performer means facing stress and therefore worry. I have clinically been treated for anxiety three times since I was 25. That is within 23 years. Each time it has been different and for different reasons, the anxiety bug raises it head. Worry can be paralyzing. And what I have learned from my time with my friend anxiety is that I must exercise antianxiety everyday. Not just when it happens. For me that starts with Gratitude. Gratitude gives me a foundation to work from each day. Below are some other steps to combat worry.
Think about how much time you spend worrying each day. Has any of that worrying
ever accomplished anything positive in your life?
Imagine what you could do with all of that time and energy. Imagine how much happier and comfortable you would be if you could minimize amount of time you spend worrying each day. Worrying is a habit that we believe is helpful in some way, but its easy to see that worrying only has a negative effect.
Worry less and live more with these strategies:
1. Put your worries in perspective. Think of the big picture. According to
scientists, there are around 100 million billion stars in the universe. That’s
100,000,000,000,000,000 suns. Most of those stars are believed to have one or
more planets revolving around them. That’s a lot of planets.
● In the grand scheme of things, we just hanging out on the equivalent of a
speck of dust hurtling through space. We don’t even get to do it for that
long. Your problems aren’t as dire as you think. We’re little things on an
insignificant planet. Enjoy it while you can.
2. Expect good things to happen. You can’t worry if you expect a positive
outcome. When you assume things will turn out poorly, it’s natural to worry. Be
as prepared for the worst as you can but be optimistic. Your worry isn’t going to
change anything.
3. Understand what is and isn’t under your control. We spend a lot of time
worrying about things we can’t change. What’s the point? Do what you can to
mitigate your risk and then see what happens. Let go of the things you can’t
control.
● You can’t control most of the things you worry about any more than you
can control the weather or the tides.
4. Stay grounded in the present moment. Pay attention to what you’re doing right
now. Avoid thinking about tomorrow. Make the best use of your time each
moment and the future will take care of itself.
5. Have gratitude. When you realize how much you have and how lucky you are,
the future isn’t as scary. Remind yourself of how good you life is already. You’ll
worry less.
● Gratitude is a habit. Take a moment each day and mentally list the things
that you’re grateful for. This can do more to enhance your perspective
then you think.
6. Avoid isolating yourself. Life is harder to manage all alone. It’s not reasonable
to assume you can do everything by yourself. It’s also less stressful to have a
few friends in your corner. Avoid isolating yourself just because you’re stressed.
Your stress will only increase. Stay in touch with others.
7. Remind yourself of your past worries and contrast against your purpose. You’ve worried about a lot of things over the course of your life. How many of them actually came true? Of those that did, how bad was it? You’ll likely discover that most of your worry was inaccurate.
● Most of the things we worry about never happen. And even if they do, it’s
not nearly as awful as we anticipate.
Any time spent worrying is wasted time. If there is something you can do to resolve the situation, just fix it. Life is short and worrying detracts greatly from life. Work to minimize the amount of time you spend worrying each day. You will enjoy life more and be more successful.
Lastly, someone once told me until there is a problem, worrying is like having the problem twice or 10 times. So until there is a real issue or you are presented with the facts, practice these steps to combat the worry monster. Be the best version of you battles back worry.
