Note: This is Day 31 in the “Recharge Your Creative Batteries in 31 Days” Challenge. For the rest of July, we’ll be posting different ways for you to get yourself on the path to living in a creative flow and reaching your writing goals. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any.
You know those people who are constantly focusing on the negative? Those people that, no matter what it is you tell them, will always find something bad in it?
Those people, they worry all the time. Their lives are constantly focused on thinking about “what could go wrong” and then worrying.
What? What’s that you say? You’re one of “those people?”
Worrying Is Like…
My mom is one of those people I mentioned above. No matter what I tell her—good things or otherwise—she immediately hones in on “what could go wrong” and then starts to worry.
For example, the other day I told her that, just for fun, I applied to be on an amateur episode of Chopped (my favorite cooking show). Instead of saying something like, “that’s great” or “good luck,” she immediately went to what could go wrong and said to me: “What? No! People cut their fingers on that show!”
Seriously.
And the whole time I’m thinking, people can cut their fingers in their home kitchens too. It’s not like the risk is higher on Chopped (or maybe it is because of the contestants’ work speeds, but still).
That’s why I’m always quoting one of my favorite movies (Van Wilder) and telling her:
“Worrying is like a rocking chair, it’s fun for awhile but it won’t get you anywhere”
Write that down.
The #1 Reason to Stop Worrying
There are many reasons why you should stop worrying, but I’d say the biggest one is because it’s out of your hands.
Shit happens in life. Fate steps in. Good and bad occurs. And there’s not much you can do about it.
You can’t control how many publishers will reject your manuscript. You can’t predict exactly how many people will buy your book the week it comes out. You can’t do a lot of things that are out of your control.
So why are you still worrying about it?
Worrying is pointless. It’s just added stress that your body doesn’t need.
What your body needs is rest and relaxation.Your mind needs clarity to focus on your creative work. And it’s a little hard to do that when your mind/body are filled with worry.
How To Give Up Worrying
Giving up worrying isn’t something that will happen overnight, but if you work at it a little every day, you can shift your focus and energy to more important things, like creativity.
Here are my tips to stop worrying:
- Focus solely on what you can control—if you spend your time focused completely on doing your very best at everything that you do, you won’t have time to worry. And you’ll start to feel more confident about the outcome anyhow because you’re working so hard.
- Shift your thoughts—whenever a worrisome thought pops up, immediately stomp it out by thinking of something positive. Do this over and over again. Even if you find yourself doing it a hundred times a day at first.
- Trust and give the outcome to the Universe—at the end of the day, the Universe is there for you and will support you. You just have to believe it. When I was trying to change my worrisome ways, I began saying to myself over and over again all day long: “Everything always works out in my favor.” I choose to see all situations as good (or bad, but with a silver lining). Because I do this, everything tends to work out for me.
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How do you overcome your worrying ways?
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