I've been listening to Earl Nightingale in the car recently, so I'm seeing things through the "attitude" lens these days. Just as happiness can help you get more done, worry can sap your productivity, not to mention your energy and general well-being.
Nightingale says that 40 percent of what we worry about is things that never happen. Here's where the other pie slices wind up:
- Things over and past that can't be changed by all the worry in the world: 30 percent.
- Needless worries about our health: 12 percent.
- Petty, miscellaneous worries: 10 percent.
- Real, legitimate worries: 8 percent. Only 8 percent of your worries are worth concerning yourself about. Ninety-two percent are pure fog with no substance at all.
Try reining in your worries by thinking of them as projects or tasks you're assessing. If you're worried about getting fired (which could fall into the Things That Never Happen category), identify some to-do's associated with preventing that outcome. This is a way of converting that worry into positive action.
When there's specific action you can take right now, you regain some control instead of succumbing to the panic of worry. If you can't think of any to-do's, consider the notion that you're doing a terrific job and that worrying about being fired is counterproductive. Delete that task.
Comment Preview