How To Stop Worrying About Things You Can’t Control
It’s more than just a punchline
For most of my life, I worried about things I could not control. It was my chief source of anxiety. Friends and family would advise me, “Don’t worry about things you can’t control.” Gee thanks. Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that myself.
It sounds easy in theory, which explains why we’re quick to dish it out as pre-packaged advice. But it proves difficult to execute in practice.
A lack of control triggers feelings of frustration and helplessness. We compensate by worrying or taking futile actions to make us feel like we’re doing something. This never works, of course. And by focusing on it, you exacerbate the worry and anxiety.
The restoration of mental harmony starts with awareness. Once you recognize the total absence of influence you hold over a situation, you can take constructive steps to deal with these events.
The breakthrough for me came from the fusion of personal growth strategies and classic risk management. It resulted in the 4C Checklist — my tool to curb the worry and anxiety of events in which I could not exert any influence.
