“If you want to test your memory,” said George F. Burns, “try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.” Let’s make it easier, try to think about something that really worried you two weeks ago? One week ago? Yesterday?
Worry depletes energy, and while there’s always plenty to worry about, one of the smartest strategies to stop wasting energy is to be aware of what we’re starting to worry about, and change directions. What we focus on (worry about) expands, and who wants more of what we’re concerned about in the first place?
Focus on what you want as if you already have it, which author Stephen Covey said so succinctly when he reminded his readers to “Begin with the end in mind.” Every time you start to worry, refocus on results instead.
You can also do what Benjamin Franklin did. At the age of 20, according to author James Clear, he began carrying a small booklet wherever he went tracking several of his personal virtues including “lose no time,” “be always employed in something useful” and “avoid trifling conversation.” At the end of the day, he would track his progress. I’m sure Franklin would approve of
adding “avoid mindless worry.”
Making this strategy a habit and tracking it, as Clear explains in Atomic Habits, helps continually remind us of what we want, instead of what we’re hoping to avoid. That small attitudinal change can make a world of difference!
