7 Steps to Stop Worrying

“Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.” – Abraham-Hicks

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 it’s 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 for the better.

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 than 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. 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’s 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’ll enjoy life more and be more successful.

Live in the End — A Final Thought

If you’re caught in a loop of worry, try this mental shift: Imagine how you’d feel if the problem was already solved. Not in some far-off future — but right now. Let that feeling settle into your body and mind.

Worry keeps your attention locked on what might go wrong. But when you train your inner eye on the outcome you desire, rather than what you fear, your nervous system begins to settle. This is more than positive thinking — it’s the practice of aligning your inner state with the outcome you want.

“Assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled.” — Neville Goddard

When you stop asking “What if it goes wrong?” and start asking, “What if it turns out better than I imagined?” — your entire outlook begins to shift.