I was stressed and burned out always worrying about the future. With all the chaos at work, I just couldn’t figure out how to deal with uncertainty of an increasingly complex career path. I had a family that depended on me and a mortgage.
All the stress and anxiety due to uncertainty affected my life at home, my relationship and it took years off my health…not to mention turning into gray the little hair on my head I had left. I was in a spiral of anxiety over thinking everything, constantly worrying about the future.
But over the course of the last few years, by randomness and chance, I learned…I grew and started feeling better because I understood how to embrace the chaos.
Here are four reasons to stop worrying about the future…actually these are four WAYS of helping to deal with anxiety and deal with uncertainty that helped me stop the worrying and move forward…hope they help you:
1. You can’t predict it.
Stop worrying about the future because you cannot predict the future.
The main tenet of a lot of our life stress and frustration is this nagging and seemingly scary feeling deep inside that you just don’t know what’s going to happen next. From your career to your relationship to the way your kids will turn out to how ‘things will play out’ in your business—it is getting harder to figure things out accurately. Things are so much more unpredictable today because of the complexity of our society. And it bugs us…it eats us up slowly from the inside and causes this vicious spiral of worrying and anxiety.
So STOP TRYING TO PREDICT THE FUTURE! Stop wasting your time thinking about what CAN happen and start spending your time MAKING SOMETHING HAPPEN TODAY!
We may have made advances in medicine, technology and comfort, but we still cannot predict the future. Accept it and move on. Stop trying to predict what’s going to happen next. In your job. In your career. In your relationship. In your business. Just stop trying to over think everything and stop trying to predict how things will turn out. Because you’re likely going to be wrong…and guess what? You’ll worry even more!
2. You can’t control it.
Stop worrying about the future because you cannot control the future.
Luck, randomness and chance contribute so much to the unpredictable nature of life that it is just unrealistic to think you can control things. You can’t. I have a hard time controlling my kids and it would be foolish to think I can control my career or anything else.
Break the root of worry by realizing that you cannot control or dictate things to just be. It’s just not possible to have total control of your life when you are so intertwined with so much of the world (e.g. butterfly effect). Instead, deal with the uncertainty of an unknown future by focusing your energy on only the things you CAN control, which are: Your Thoughts and Your ACTIONS!
Freeing yourself from the handcuffs of control to start working on doing new things to support your goals TODAY is Ju-Jitsu for your soul! Deal with your anxiety and deal with your stress head on by taking action of the only controllable element in your life: Your mind.
3. You’re missing the best time of your life.
Stop worrying about the future because you’re missing the best time of your life in the here and now.
There is so much you miss in life when your head is in the clouds worrying about an uncertain future. “My kids grew up in a blink of an eye”, is what so many people say these days. Imagine, you’re here on this rock for a short time and you’re missing the best part because you’re caught up with trying to figure out the future.
Forget the future! Focus on today! Be in the present moment. Force yourself to focus on what’s really important in your life – your family, friends, health and the rest. Being in the here and now is the only truth. When you feel better about all of that, you’ll be more productive in your career, your business and how you handle your customers, colleagues and employees. You don’t want regrets in life looking back and realizing that you missed the best time of your existence.
During my tough time trying to deal with anxiety and stress a few years ago, I remember being at the park with the my kids. It was a beautiful day. No heat. Perfect breeze. Great scenery. But I missed it. Yes, technically I was there but my head was worrying about something somewhere in the future. By the time I got home, I realized that I really didn’t appreciate and take in the fun in the park with my kids. I was too busy thinking about the future to appreciate the present.
4. Sometimes the worst is not as bad as you think.
Stop worrying about the future because sometimes the worst is not as bad as you think.
Our minds play this weird game of attaching strings of thought with one another. One thought leads to another and then to somewhere else and then to another place entirely. And the next thing you know, your neck is in pain and you’re dealing with anxiety that came out of nowhere. We get anxious and nervous about the silliest little things…only they seem little AFTERWARDS. Sometimes we blow things out of proportion and exaggerate the bad that only our own mind thinks is going to happen. As I went through my own uncertain up and down journey and observed good friends and family with their chaos of trying to deal with uncertainty, I realized that when you look back at the chaos of life that you’ve gone through – that it wasn’t all that bad. Sometimes, you don’t even remember it! Rough yes, but the scenarios you thought it was going to be…probably not! You got through it. You survived. They say, “things work out in the end” because there is some truth to it. Worrying about the future will not help you deal with it.
From a very personal experience, I believe that in order to stop worrying about the future, whether it’s your business, your career or your life, you’ve got to come to the realization that while we may have the latest technology available to us on our fingertips, we’re not anything but human. We can’t predict, we can’t control and we’re only here for a short time. So forget the future. Get in the present and enjoy every single moment.
As my mom used to say with such certainty and love, “If you’re going to worry…then worry about the here and now. Have a cupcake Bobby…it’ll make you feel better:)”
Don’t Over Think It. Accept It. Move Forward and Embrace the Chaos! | Bob Miglani
Did you like this post? Stop Over-Thinking and SUBSCRIBE:
