DO YOU consider yourself to be a worrier? Are there times when you repeat the same negative thought in your head, over and over again until your nails are chewed down to the nub, and you just wish—with all your heart—that you had the ability to stop thinking about something to the point of exhaustion?
You see, the truth about life is that the future is unknown. And it always will be. We don’t know how someone will feel about us, if our business will succeed, or if—god forbid—we will still be alive tomorrow.
A business can still fail, even if we thought we had a failproof 9-5 exit strategy in place. Even if we muster up the courage to go all in.
So, what’s the solution? This article will shed some light on that.
Truth Is, Nothing Is For Certain
Future outcomes are unknown, but uncertainty causes us to feel anxious. This is a dilemma.
We want to know if something works out, and so we ponder about all possible outcomes until we reach a conclusion that is made up of assumptions.
If we’re pessimistic, we feel that something terrible will happen, and if our assumptions are optimistic, we envision a good outcome. But no matter what you conclude, there’s always doubt, a nagging feeling that keeps us from relaxing.
Are stuck in this pattern of thinking forever?
While it’s true that the worst case scenario can happen, we can train ourselves to let go and feel more positively about our future.
Related: Stuck in the Valley of Disappointment? Here’s the Best Way to Break Out (4 min. read)
Some Great Books on Starting a Business
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Business Made Simple
by Donald Miller
Your Next Five Moves
by Patrick Bet-David
Related: 3 Common Reasons Why Being an Entrepreneur Is Hard (5 min. read)
Ask Yourself, “What If It All Works Out?”
If you look at all the times in your past that you have worried, and consider the outcomes—the end result, once the dust had settled—you’ll see that everything usually works out. Of course, there’s always a chance the situation goes as bad as you had envisioned, but things tend to have their way of working themselves out.
It’s never as bad as we make it out to be; We unwillingly make a mountain out of a molehill because our anxious thought amplify the situation.
Rather than considering the positive outcomes that are possible, we automatically think about all that could go wrong (the negative outcomes), and so a small problem becomes a gigantic one:
- When we interview for a new position, we think about the poor answers we gave until we talk ourselves out of getting the job.
- When we finally have the courage to start a business, we focus on all that could go wrong, rather than the freedom it can give you.
How to Shift Your Thinking
The best thing you can in a difficult situation where uncertainty is present is to look for positive things that can happen. Make a list of at least 10 items.
You’ll notice a big difference in your anxiety levels if you teach yourself to be optimistic. Ask yourself, “What if it all works out?, because most of the time, everything your anxiety is telling you is nothing but a lie.