That’s how Jim Cathcart, advisor and consultant, describes worry.

Way back when, a young girl was preparing to sing at an adjudication performance. She worried she would not be able to remember the words. If you have ever taken voice lessons you know you can’t read the sheet music for an adjudication. True enough, the worry overcame the positive of, “I’ve got this; I can do it!”

That young woman was me, my very first time of taking voice lessons and an adjudication. You see, I was so afraid of forgetting the words that my mind helped me do what I kept telling myself I would do.

Not the bogy man, the adjudicator, the voice teacher… You can fill in the blank with whomever helps you to think about what can go wrong. You see, my rehearsal was for a negative outcome because I feared the worst instead of focusing on the best.

The mind, yours and mine, is an extreme goal seeking and problem-solving mechanism. That’s right! Our mind does exactly what we tell it to do. So, if you are worrying about paying the bills, COVID-19 and your children returning to school, the new boss, or getting a job then recognize you are designing your brain to help make this happen!

Crazy! Right? We have trained our minds to have negative things happen to us. Don’t believe me? Then think about… writing exams in high school, going for a job interview, your family’s health, or the myriad of other things that we can worry about.

Here are a few suggestions to make your worry less problematic.

• Recognition – understand a tremendous amount of energy goes into the negative rehearsal. Once you recognize what it is you can more easily channel your thinking into a more productive focus.
• Control – once you know what it is you are worrying about it’s good to ask yourself, “Is this something I have control over?” If the answer is yes, then spring into action, if not do your best to let it go.
• Time – decide how much time you are willing to devote to worrying. Is it a minute, 5 minutes, a day, a week… You get the message. Give yourself permission to worry and to stop worrying.
• Affirmations – repeat affirmations numerous times to help you get out of the worry funk. You can try, “I handle all that comes my way with grace and ease.” or “I am worry free.”
• Replace – your negative thoughts with positive thoughts. This is not an easy solution as it can take a long time to have this become easy.

Just remember, worriers don’t want answers to their worry! If you’re a worrier there is no time like the present to begin to change your thinking pattern.

Sherry’s CORNER

Having worked with hundreds of people who have lost their jobs, I am always amazed at those who struggle forward. They refuse to let this challenge stop them from focusing on what will come rather than the company that just let them go. Take Randle for instance, he started his own company, and Tamara who found the new job wasn’t so exciting so quit it to focus on finding something better, and Garth who changed his pattern of “I’m too old” to “I have lots of wisdom”.

When have you had the opportunity to change your thinking?

Email me at sherry@dimension11.com.