In previous newsletters we focused on turning negative thinking into positive beliefs to transform self-criticism and worry. We also examined worry from and energetic perspective. In this installment we look at ways you can master your worry by channeling its energy.
If I tell you not to think of a pink elephant, what are you going to do? Think of a pink elephant, of course!
Telling yourself, “Don’t worry” is rarely effective. The “worry” part is what registers in your unconscious mind, not the ‘don’t’. When you provide yourself with alternatives to worrying, you enable yourself to channel your energy in more productive directions.
As we discussed in last month’s newsletter, the energy that fuels worry is neutral. You can direct that same energy into more positive actions if you commit yourself to do so.
Three Ways to Channel Worry Energy into Positive ActivityIt’s easier to redirect your energy if you have something specific to do with it. Here are three ways you can channel your worry energy so you can harness it for positive outcome:
1. Give yourself high quality worry time.
You may actually value your worrying. After all, worry can feel protective. Considering every possible negative outcome can give you confidence that there will be no unpleasant surprises. The problem comes when worry takes over your life, intruding at any moment of the day or night to distract you from what you really need to focus on.Instead of letting worry take over, set aside brief periods throughout the day devoted to high quality worry. It’s up to you to decide how often you need to worry and how long each period should last. You might want to devote the last five minutes of every hour of your waking day to high quality worry, or you might prefer 20 minute sessions morning, afternoon and evening.
During high quality worry time you focus all of your attention on whatever you’re anxious about. You can allow yourself to get as worked up as you want about anything that’s bothering you. Once the designated time is up, you turn your attention back to whatever needs to be done in your life. If worry intrudes at any other time in the day, you very patiently and gently remind yourself that now is not the time to worry. You turn your attention back to whatever it is that you were doing, confident that before long you will once again have some high quality worry time available to devote yourself wholeheartedly to your concern. If the schedule you initially choose doesn’t work for you, modify it until you find one that does. As you practice high quality worrying, you may gradually decrease your sessions in length or frequency.
2. Keep a Worry Journal.
Keep a journal in which you record all of your worries. You can carry a small notebook wherever you go and keep a running account of your worries throughout the day. Or you might want to keep a notebook next to your bed and each night before you go to sleep record the major worries of the day. Worries have a way of circling endlessly in your head. One worry can seem like twenty when it comes around again and again. When you write your worries down they become more manageable. Sometimes a worry loses its power when seen in black and white. You can go back over your worry journal weekly or monthly.
It can be extremely instructive to review your worries and notice the actual outcome in each situation. Often the things you worry about never occur. Other times they happen but you handle them just fine. This powerful lesson in reality can help you reduce your worry in the future.
3. Focus your attention in the present.
When you worry you are lost between your ears. You are focused on some feared outcome in the future. Though these thoughts and feelings may consume you, whatever you are imagining is less real than what is around you. Take a deep breath. Turn your attention to your surroundings. Notice anything in your environment that you can appreciate – the beauty of nature, someone you love, some music you really enjoy. Whatever your worry, it’s a hypothetical situation off somewhere in the future. The moment you are living in is real. It is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. Appreciate it fully. It’s really all you have.
Focusing in the present helps to put what you are worrying about into a larger perspective. You can see that while your concern is a part of your life, it is only one part of a much larger whole. When you focus on what works in your life, you diminish the power of your worry. When you re-channel your worry energy in more positive directions, you’ll be sure to make your good life better.
Qatana Samanen, Ph.D.
Qatana’s professional development began with graduate school at the University of Oregon. Her first post-doctoral position was at the Boston University School of Medicine where, as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology), where she specialized in stress management and behavioral medicine. Qatana has had over 30 years of experience as a life coach and psychologist and derives great pleasure from helping clients transform their lives for the better.