2/20/2007
Elbowing out the worry
Hello my friend:
I just read an article online about how (math) anxiety saps a
person's working memory, making it difficult to do math problems
(and anything else, for that matter).
The University researcher who studied this said that stress and
stressful thoughts occupy a persons working memory, making it
very difficult (since people can't consciously think about more
than one thing at exactly the same time) to think about math
when they are worried about passing the test, focused on what
will happen if they don't.
Whether it's math, social anxiety, health concerns or worry
about anything... just like a Burger King Whopper in Tuscaloosa
is the same as a Whopper in Seattle, as far as the body is
concerned, worry is worry is worry.
Worrying about failing a test has the same negative effect on a
person's mind and body as worrying about meeting a deadline,
making a sale or worrying about breaking an expensive piece of
crystal.
Worrying is so common and so core, I name it as one of the 11
Core Mental Patterns of Failure.
Worrying is different than what I call a 'Healthy Concern.'
Worrying is taking a concern (reasonable as well as
unreasonable) and not letting it go.
In every situation in life where you have a desired outcome
where there are a lot of steps or a lot of people involved and a
lot of moving parts, you naturally have a lot of concerns.
That's normal. If you ignore your concerns... the things that
SHOULD concern you, bad things will happen.
Concern is good.
But worrying, the habit of mentally focusing an inordinate
amount of time and energy on all of the potential things that
could go wrong, is bad.
A bazillion times I've heard people getting advice from others
that started like this... 'What's the worst that could possibly
happen?'
Now that is definitely not going to make the average person
feel better, putting in their mind the worst possible thing that
could happen.
Brilliant!
You see, this unbelievably powerful tool we have called a human
brain has no owner's manual. And because of its power for
creating both good and bad emotions and actions, well-meaning
but uninformed people can provide the most harm to others.
If you want to have more healthy concerns in your life and
fewer worries (and as a result: less stress, better health,
better performance, a happier life for decades to come), you
need to do what our Think Right Now clients are taught to do...
You need to tell yourself (yes, you talk to yourself all day
and all night) that you're bigger than anything that could
possibly happen to you. You need to practice this. You need to
get to a place where your automatic mental chatter is
encouraging instead of discouraging.
Fail to do this and worry will be your constant companion.
Teach your brain how to let go of worrisome thoughts (it's
soooo easy to do) and negative, harmful, life-threatening stress
will be a thing of the past for you.
Tell yourself constantly that you've let go of all irrational
fear and anxiety and you will never feel it. Wouldn't that be
cool?
Ask yourself constantly what is the best thing that could
possibly happen in this situation. That will keep a smile on
your face all day long. I'm not kidding. This works.
Tell yourself as often as you can that you accept mistakes as a
normal part of life, and when you make a mistake (you are human,
you do make mistakes right?), you'll stop beating yourself black
and blue because of it. You'll be able then to learn how not to
repeated in the future.
I've seen people quickly learn how to get their brain to do
this, to learn how to let go of anxiety and fear, and they tell
me on a regular basis that they feel like they're actually
smarter... they feel like they're able to learn new things
quickly and easily for the first time in their lives.
Does that sound strange?
Well that's what stress and worry does. It blows up the size
of every mistake, every setback, every failure, so that whenever
you make a mistake, no matter how small it may be, it feels like
the end of the world.
Learning how to talk yourself out of worrying and into
feeling optimistic anytime you want is one of the most important
skills you could ever possess.
If you're a habitual worrier, learning to let it go will not
feel natural at all. Worriers are convinced that if they don't
worry, things will not get done.
And that's just not true. Talk about a deadly belief.
The most effective people are the ones who do not worry.
Remember, concern is good.
Worry (being caught in a mental loop of constantly imagining
what can and will go wrong) is very, very bad.
Learn to mentally move from worry to concern, and every day of
your life from this day forward will feel like a gift instead of
a punishment.
And you'll probably do a whole lot better in math, too!
I love you all,
Mike Brescia
PS. To learn how to break free from the chains of worry,
anxiety and even panic attacks get Dissolving Panic and
Anxiety Now.
PPS. Beyond mere getting rid of worry and anxiety, Unstoppable
Motivation Now
was designed, in part, to keep you focused on your end goals so
you can't get stuck in the negative mental loop of, 'What if
(some bad thing happens)?'
To learn and internalize the beliefs, attitudes and emotional
patterns of people who never get worried about anything because
they're too busy achieving worthwhile goals, use both of these
programs together. You be glad you did.
Note:
If you send us a detailed success story/case study about any of
our Think Right Now! or Instant Inner Power audio programs, you
can choose any Think Right Now! or Instant Inner Power audio
program of your choice. Just send an email with your story and
you get an audio of your choice - simple. You only pick up the
tiny shipping & handling. As soon as we get your story, we'll
send you your choice of program immediately, if not sooner.
Brilliant!
To be clear about this, 'I love your programs, they've helped
me a lot.' doesn't count.
To receive your audio program, send us:
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Program title(s) used:
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We now do this in order to pass on 'best practices' to other
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take care of arranging to have it shipped to you.
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