We all know that worrying never solved a thing. But that doesn’t mean we can stop ourselves from indulging in it from time to time. For some people, worries can take over their thoughts and prevent them from living their best life. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are plenty of helpful strategies that will allow you to overcome incessant worrying and get your life back on track.
9 Strategies for How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
One of the oldest and most famous self-help book titled How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie is still read to this day. It seems that worry is something that has plagued people for years and likely will continue to if we don’t have the right tools to tackle it.
Even the coolest and calmest among us have experienced worry before. It might have started as a simple though and slowly but surely snowballed into something massive. Possibly even keep you up at night or preventing you from getting on with your day.
If this situation sounds familiar to you, all hope is not lost. There are plenty of strategies you can use to stop those worrying thoughts and get out and live life. Worry is a completely natural emotion, but it’s not one that has to rule your life any longer.
Here’s a Video on Dale Carnegie Audiobook: How To Stop Worrying And Start Living By PSD
Why Do We Worry Excessively?
Everybody worries from time to time and it’s a completely natural part of human life. However, there are those among us who take this habit to the next level and become excessive worriers. There are many reasons for this over the top thinking, and there could be more than just one at play and it’s usually because of a negative attitude or ‘cognitive distortion.
Some examples include:
- Worst case scenario – When we expect the absolute worst possible scenario to occur in every situation.
- Overgeneralization – Using just one negative experience to rule everything that could possibly happen in your future.
- All or nothing – Seeing things as completes, for example, if you don’t do one thing right it means you’re an absolute failure in life.
- Negative interpretations – assuming that something is a certain way without having any of the facts or evidence on hand.
These thoughts become lifetime patterns that many of us are so used to and find it hard to break free of. It’s impossible to just tell yourself to stop worrying. Even though we try this approach over and over again and fail. Therefore, you need some new tactics to break free of the worrying pattern. Get yourself out of these habits that you’re so used to.
Here’s a Video on Too Much Worrying Medical Course
Strategies For How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
If you’re in desperate need of some tactics for how to stop worrying there are plenty of things you can try. These approaches won’t be successful for everyone. So it’s a matter of trying them out until you find the one (or many) methods that work for you.
#1: Give Yourself Some Worry Time
Think about all of the other things we do in life. Eating, sleeping, showering, phoning our friends, going to work. They’ll come with a specific timeframe and fall into a schedule. As nobody would have time for anything if we just did them at random intervals throughout the day.
The same goes for worrying, it takes up a lot of time and energy if you do it all day long. Set aside some time each day to worry. Go over everything that has been on your mind. If you start thinking of something worrying, make a note of it and address it later. You’ll likely find it’s not a worry anymore.
Here’s a Video on How To Stop Worrying – 5 Ways To Deal With Anxiety
#2: Raise Your Heart Rate
Exercise has got a lot going for it and the health benefits it offers for body and mind are astounding. One area in particular that can be improved just by getting your heart pumping is less worry. Studies have found that just 30 minutes of exercise a day can release a significant amount of serotonin which is the happy brain chemical.
Exercise also has been proven to reduce anxiety and stress. In numerous studies, those who committed to daily exercise reported fewer feelings of worry. People doing aerobic exercise found just as much benefit as medication.
Here’s a Video on Three Exercises to Get Your Heart Rate Up Fast
#3: Meditate
If you’ve never attempted mediation before you might have some strange ideas about what it is. People often assume it’s about having no thoughts whatsoever. But it’s actually about focusing on one thing. This isn’t an easy task or something you can master in a day. But committing to learning it will pay off substantially.
Spending some time each day to get your inner zen working will do wonders for worrying. Brain scans have shown that training yourself to meditate will lower anxiety. It also positively affect the parts of the brain responsible for worrying.
Here’s a Video on How to Meditate
#4: Try Some Mindfulness
Mindfulness is no new concept but it’s one that seems to be picking up steam in the world of psychological treatments. Mindfulness refers to the practice of nonjudgmental awareness of our thoughts and emotions and bringing ourselves back to what’s actually happening in the present.
By practicing mindfulness we can make note of how we’re feeling without judgment or trying to change it. Studies have shown just how beneficial it can be with participants employing these tactics reporting a greater effectiveness in reducing worrying thoughts.
Here’s a Video on The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger
#5: Stay Busy
Have you ever heard of the saying “idle hands are the devil’s playground”? Well, it turns out, anxiety and worries love idle hands as well. Keeping your hands busy and focused on a particular task can be enough to drown out worry. And also give you something productive and satisfying to do.
Research has also shown that people who suffer from flashbacks or past memories of trauma reported less frequency of such occurrences when they had something to keep their hands busy. Keeping hands and minds busy means less chance of stressing about things. And it’s also a great way to find a new hobby.
#6: Take It Easy
Sometimes the mere thought of worrying makes us worry more, as we’re constantly berating ourselves for having such strong emotions. Rather than beating yourself about feeling worried, try to take it easy on yourself. Imagine that you’re talking to a friend who is going through a similar feeling or situation and adopt that same empathetic attitude and tone of voice when talking to yourself in your head.
Some people may have a strict code that they adhere to in which they must stick to certain rules or codes and this can be a major source of worry. Try to cut yourself some slack if you break one of your rules, or better yet try to avoid such restrictions on yourself and your behavior.
#7: Write Your Worries or Speak About Them
We all know that a journal can be like a form of therapy, and this same logic applies to get rid of our worries too. A 2011 study found that letting all of your thoughts out onto paper before taking an exam can eliminate the worry, so by logic, it should work for other aspects of life as well.
This approach is also helpful when it comes to speaking with a counselor, friend or family member about your worries. Sometimes we build them up in our heads so much that when we finally say them out loud we see they aren’t as big as we once thought. Getting perspective from someone else can be hugely beneficial as well.
Here’s a Video on Real English: Talking about worries
#8: Get Offline
If you’re feeling worried or anxious about something, you might think to jump onto Facebook to take your mind off things. This is the wrong approach, as research has found that almost half of us feel worried or anxious when we don’t have access to our social media which means we rely on it far too heavily to keep us balanced.
Try to develop habits and activities that don’t take place online, and move away from these mind-numbing ones. Numerous other studies have shown that using Facebook can actually contribute to stress and negative thoughts, so if you’re trying to quash your worries then it isn’t the place to be.
#9: Accept and Move On
The most common thing people do when worrying is to start fixating on their worries and holding onto them. This approach will only keep them closer and make it harder to let go. Rather, we should be accepting that we’re feeling worried, giving it the label of ‘worry’, and then letting it move past us.
These techniques are commonly used by psychologists and other mental health professionals as they make it easier to accept your feelings and then move on from them. Spending so much time obsessing over the worry will only make it worse, so acknowledge it and be on your way.
Here’s a Video on Fear & Acceptance Of Moving On
