Prepare for the worst

Day 248 / 365

I have started reading a book today that had been on my reading list for a long time. It’s called “How to stop worrying and start living”. It’s by the same author that wrote the bestseller — How to win friends and influence people. I am just about 20–30 pages into the book and I have already learned things that can be applied easily to reduce anxiety in life. I’ll like to share one of those things here in this blog.

Anxiety is the worst. Not only will it affect you mentally, but it will also start affecting you physically as well. You feel worried when you are faced with a problem and you can’t seem to think of a way out of it. But the catch here is this, the more you worry, the tougher it would be for you to find a solution. Your mind will just race from one point to the other, thinking about all the possible bad outcomes. There is no way you can concentrate in such a state of mind.

The solution for this is simple. Think about what could be the worst outcome if all the things that you are worried about came true. Now accept this outcome as your reality. Just by this alone, your mind will stop racing and you will feel slightly relieved.

Now that this is done, you can finally concentrate. Since you have already accepted the worst outcome, there is nothing more for you to lose. But there is plenty to gain. So start thinking about ways in which you can improve on your worst outcomes. What could you do to minimize your losses? How can you recover quickly? With a clear mind now, you will be amazed at how many great ideas you can come up with. And even if you don’t, at the very least you will have mental peace.

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — The Silent To-Do List