May 19, 2021
In this week’s episode of The Resiliency Factor Podcast, I address the topic of worry as it has become an all too common part of our daily lives. With so much uncertainty in the world, it's understandable that we worry. We worry about our health. We worry about our families. We worry about our finances. Hell, we even worry about our very existence.
I address how worry serves a purpose and often takes the place of keeping us occupied when we feel helpless in any given situation. You don't have to look very hard to see that so much around us is not within our control. We know this at a fundamental level, but somehow worrying about the outcome of things we have no control over seems to help us cope with the uncertainties of life.
I argue that worry, while understandable, is an absolute and complete waste of our precious energy and time. After all, worrying about something does nothing to change the outcome of the particular situation we are worried about. Worry is also a very passive approach to dealing with uncertainty and fear. It dupes us into believing that as long as we worry hard enough and long enough, our situation will somehow change. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In this episode, I deconstruct the concept of worry… what it is and what it isn't, and how we can empower ourselves to break free from worry. I also discuss an alternative to worrying and how this alternative is much more empowering and proactive.
Key Highlights from Our Episode
- I explain why worry is a common defense mechanism when we're faced with a set of circumstances over which we have no control. For many of us, worry has become a way of life. When we are not worrying, we're worried because we're not worried about anything… how crazy is that? I should know! Although it's been several years, I remember the days when I would worry incessantly about all of the people I loved and all of the ish that was going on in my life.
- Worry is really a defense mechanism that makes us feel like we have some control over a situation that we have absolutely no control over. Therefore, worry is an illusion. A deception. It robs us of our joy, our energy, and ultimately our lives if left unchecked.
- Worry does nothing to change the outcome of something that has not yet happened and it certainly doesn't do us any good to worry about things that have already happened because, as you know, we can never go back and change the past. We can learn from it, but we can't go back and change it.
- Lastly, I talk about how we can use worry to our advantage to help us make informed decisions and to act accordingly on those decisions.
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