500 Words a Week - Worrying

For as long as I can remember I have always been a hopeless worrier. Worrying about the most minute things, minute interactions, minute decisions. This worrying has led to me being relatively indecisive at times. More so in my life outside of work, than in work itself. However, the worrying is still present at work. The other day I was writing an email, and after I sent it, I reckon I must have read it at least 10 times. Checking to ensure every word made sense. At times maybe this can be a good thing, as I can apply a fine tooth comb to my work. However, re-reading an email 10 times cannot be productive.

I think worrying starts an endless path to more worrying. It’s like scratching an itch, once we start scratching we can’t stop. Sure at the start it feels nice to scratch, it reassures our worrying when we look into whatever is bothering us. However, the itch gets worse after we scratch it, we keep looking at what was worrying us, pretty soon we cause ourselves pain from all the scratching. Take for instance me re-reading an email 10 times, re-reading once or twice was acceptable to ensure no mistakes and everything makes sense. Are numbers 4-10 really necessary? I scratched the itch of worry, and I had to keep scratching.

Being trapped in this cycle of worrying can greatly affect our work, it can become a huge barrier between us and our goals. Plus, people don’t like to work with people wo are constantly going to fret over every minute detail. Something I’ve tried to do to help me with this, is put myself in uncomfortable situations which I know will bring up my worrying. Present in front of people, leave your job and move city with nothing lined up, write a blog every week in which you share your personal thoughts. These are examples of things I’ve done where I just had to accept the worrying and look beyond it, rather than scratching the itch.

I have mixed emotions about making new year’s resolutions, or waiting until a certain time or day till we start something. However, sometimes it can make the change we are trying to encourage more special to us. Last year I made a New Year’s resolution to myself to stop worrying about the small things, the issues that don’t matter. I still frequently worry about small things, but there are times when I catch myself in the act, and I ask myself “what good is this doing me?”. The answer to this question is always a resounding “no good”.

“No rewards for worriers” – Seth Godin