Worry is one of the most worthless emotions.  Worrying does not solve your problem. Worrying about something only adds more stress to our already stressful lives. Now I am not saying that we shouldn’t be concerned over certain situations in our lives.  We should be concerned about every area of our lives and make a plan to move forward in every area as well.

Challenges will come up in everyone’s life.  It is how we handle these challenges that will make or break us.  Our natural tendency is to worry when some challenges rears its ugly head.  We worry when things are out of our control.  We need to face that and stop the worrying when we cannot control things.  Look for the things we can control and then put your focus on that and solving your challenge. 

Learn to embrace challenges as that is what will make you a better person and give you more character. Let’s say you lose your job in this economy. That is a stressful thing all in itself as now how do we pay our bills.  Will we lose our house?  Will we lose our cars?  These could possibly happen.  Will worrying about it get you a job or will telling yourself that you will make a plan and start to implement that plan immediately be better for you? Worrying about it will not serve you as if you start to focus on losing your house or cars or not being able to pay your bills will only add to your stress and you will not focus on what you need to do.  Worrying clouds our judgment and we do not think straight.

Worrying will lead to health problems as well such as ulcers or headaches and such.  It will keep you up at night and you will not get the required sleep your body needs to tackle the problems head on.  I know this is easy to say when you are in a certain situation. I have been there before where I got laid-off and had to file bankruptcy and had to borrow money for a relative to keep my house. I do understand the stress involved. I have been there.  Sure I was worried and I could not sleep or could not eat. I had a young family to support and where would we go.  No one would hire me so what was I to do.  After a while I just wanted to give up and the more I would worry the more I would do nothing about it.  You might have to be creative to solve your problem but if you are in a constant state of worry then your creative part of your brain will not come through as worrying is blocking it.

So what can you do to overcome worry?  Below is a worry process that you can work through and help you take the actions you need to solve your problem or challenge. I hope you will work through this process as I am sure it will help you overcome those challenges you are facing.

WORRY PROCESS

With a pen and paper in hand, take a few minutes to quiet yourself.

1. Begin by listing out your worries and concerns until you feel your list is complete.  (Do not judge your list, but simply allow all that concerns you to be expressed.)

2. Review your list and identify any needless worries that you have absolutely no control over (i.e. the sun is going to burn up one day!).

3. Once again, review your list and identify the truly legitimate worries (i.e., It’s harder to secure bank credit for loans today).

4. Consider, if these legitimate worries/concerns were to actually happen, what is the worst thing that could happen to you?

5. Of your legitimate worries, list out what potential actions you can take to address each worry/concern.

6. Of the actions you have identified that you can take, decide which ones you will execute on and include them in your action plan.  Begin to execute immediately.

7. As new worries come up, periodically repeat the process as needed.

• As you work this process, you’ll find your mind will begin to dismiss the worries that are no longer legitimate.  You’ll start to take more accountability for your situation since you’ll be taking actions on those things you can do something about.

• Keep in mind that worry will always pretend to be useful, which it is not.  Worrying does not produce any positive results for you.  In fact, it is negative goal setting because you are focusing on negative outcomes.

• As soon as you catch yourself entertaining worrisome thoughts, say, “STOP!  That’s not what I want.  I want . . . (fill in the blank), and I choose to focus on that.  What is one action I can take today to demonstrate that I am serious about what I want?”

• Seeing results will help to further minimize worry…as you take action and see the results, your worry diminishes.

• As you take action on those things you can do and see results, it helps you become more comfortable with worry, since you now have a reliable process to follow when worry rears its nagging head.

• Do not allow worry to hook you into stopping what you know you must do while you resolve your concerns.  Keep taking action until and unless a new direction or decision to stop is made

Keith Young

Law of Attraction Coach