5 Ways To Train Yourself To Stop Worrying About Everything
End chronic worry and enjoy life more
It’s rare to find someone who hasn’t experienced sleepless nights and restless days. There’s no denying that worry is a part of everyone’s life. And, in today’s fast-paced times, it’s only rising daily.
More are more people are being plagued by anxiety and worrying thoughts.
Negativity creates a vicious cycle of distress. You become anxious about something going out of control, facing a potential threat, or finding yourself in a fearful situation.
How to know you are worrying too much
Worrying leads to more negative thoughts, which stresses you and makes you even more anxious, taking you into a downward spiral.
Here are some of the tell-tale signs that you are worrying excessively.
- You experience an increased heart rate
- Your breathing becomes shallow
- You sweat a lot
- You have decreased appetite
- Your sleep is disturbed
- You feel dizzy and uneasy
- You get into harmful lifestyle habits
- You overthink
- You get overly concerned about some problem
- You experience a feeling of impending doom
Going overboard with worry throws your mind into overdrive. You get pulled into the negativity trap and find it hard to get out of it.
Advantages of overcoming anxiety and worry
Nagging feelings of worry can interfere with your day-to-day work. Overcoming them puts you in a position of control and gives you a sense of calm.
- Less stress
- More peace
- It puts you at ease
- You have better sleep
- You experience higher energy levels
- You become mentally stronger
- It boosts your confidence
- It makes you feel more in control
- It improves the quality of your life
How to break free from anxiety and worry
There’s nothing wrong with having an occasional negative thought, worrying about something of concern, or experiencing a sense of lack of control.
The problem arises when it becomes an everyday habit. You start your day by worrying and continuing the trend throughout the day.
Worry becomes counterproductive and harmful when it becomes excessive and interferes with your daily functioning at work and in your personal life.
Though you cannot eliminate worry, you can break the cycle of negative thoughts and prevent them from becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.
Here’s how you can control worry and take charge of your well-being.
1. Catch yourself ruminating negative thoughts
You’re often unaware of having sticky thoughts and repeatedly thinking about them. Most times, these intrusive thoughts are harmful, and when they become intense, they can disturb your peace and even overwhelm you.
To fix the issue of excessive negative thinking, you must keep vigil and be conscious of what goes on in your mind.
When you notice yourself getting derailed and your thoughts shifting from positive to negative, red flag them immediately.
Intervene timely, and pull yourself out before you are sucked into the dark pit of negativity.
There are numerous ways to do this. Two commonly used methods are the rubber band technique, where you snap the band worn around the wrist every time you start rumination, and the twitching your skin technique.
The idea is to give yourself a painful stimulus as a reminder and stop the negative thought process in its tracks.
2. Change your thought patterns
Life is not what it is but how you perceive it. Similarly, you are what you tell yourself. If you continuously narrate wrong stories to yourself, your mind will be tricked into believing them and accepting them as your reality.
When you worry, your brain cannot judge whether it is real or self-generated. It responds by releasing stress hormones and further aggravates the situation, pulling you towards adverse outcomes and adding to your stress levels.
Incessant worrying is a thought pattern that must be discouraged. Thinking negatively, assuming things, visualizing adverse outcomes, and impulsively jumping to conclusions is futile.
Worrying doesn’t serve any useful purpose. On the contrary, it makes you feel anxious, helpless, and depressed.
If you’ve had a particular thought pattern all your life, it can be challenging to change it. However, taking small steps and consistent efforts can help you transform even the deeply engrained negative thoughts into more empowering ones.
3. Don’t get into ‘what-if’ scenarios
Worrying is useful when it serves you well and brings your attention to a possible threat.
However, many times people worry without a valid reason. They make things up in their head, go too far evaluating the various aspects of an issue and take the problem from bad to worse.
Imagining things and playing out the adverse outcomes of every effort of yours can lead to exaggerated anxiety.
Thinking that something terrible will happen keeps you nervous and prevents you from thinking straight.
This unproductive worry makes you overestimate the risk and prevents you from taking action or making decisions.
Instead of dwelling on what might happen, keep yourself grounded in the now and focus on what is and what you can make happen in the present moment.
4. Stop fretting; start fixing
People who habitually worry do so even for minor, everyday stuff. Most times, things that disturb their mental peace are either imaginary or small things that look magnified in their mind.
Undue fretting and unnecessary worry is a cause for concern as they can cause mental chaos and overwhelm.
When you get into the complaining mode, everything looks more complicated than it is. You remain stuck with the problems and feel trapped, unable to find the way forward.
Understand that in such conditions, a change of mindset is what you need the most. Instead of fretting, take it as a challenge to find the way out and fix the issues in the best possible manner.
Looking intently for the solutions to your problems will distract your mind from the recurring thoughts and help channelize your energy into making things work.
5. Fill your mind with positivity
Some people are born with a positive outlook; others can wire themselves up to look at the brighter side and make themselves more optimistic.
To drive worry away and experience more bliss in your life, saturate yourself with as much positivity as possible.
Do it consciously at first, trying to feed your mind only with positive material. Listen to inspirational material, and read motivational content, including books, affirmations, and quotes. Listen to upbeat music and inspirational podcasts or watch motivational videos.
When you’re filled with positivity up to the brim, you leave no space for negativity. The doubts, fears, and apprehensions can no longer trip you or sabotage your happiness.
In Conclusion
Anxiety and feeling of stress are everyday experiences, but excessive worry can take a heavy toll on you. It unnecessarily sends you into a state of too much caution, exhausts you, and leaves you feeling drained, affecting your physical and mental health.
Therefore, you must train yourself to cope with worry and regain control over your life.
When worrying stands in the way of taking action and achieving your goals, a deliberate change in how you do things is warranted.
You cannot completely do away with worrying, but you can reduce it to a point where it stops bothering you and allows you to live a happy and stress-free life.
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Dr. Roopleen is the author of ‘And So Can You’ and From Average to Awesome
