It’s human nature to think the worst in most situations.  We have been conditioned to think and worry about the worst case scenarios out of fear.  We tend to become immobile with our decisions or actions because fear controls our thoughts.  Our perception of what could be end up outweighing what actually is.

It’s time we change and create a shift in our thinking.  Instead of consuming our minds with the possibilities of what could be (which often never end up happening anyway), we need to accept information and facts for what they are.  We need to recondition our minds to not allow our imagination to get carried away.  We have to consciously put a stop to the random thoughts that get conjured up because of fear, fear of failure, rejection, not attaining results and etc..  Rather than acknowledging hypothetical what ifs, we need to be content with the information we have and not over analyze.

For instance, imagine you noticed a few unnatural health symptoms.  So you go on Google, start typing the symptoms, read all the possibilities and then go nuts because you conclude that you have brain cancer.  You start stressing and your body shuts down and it begins to mimic certain traits that coincide with your self-diagnosis.  You go into depression, start worrying about your family and how they’ll cope with it, and your funeral costs and etc. you just go off on this whole crazy tangent.  After putting yourself through emotional turmoil for however long, you finally decide to go to the doctors all to find out that you had a minor infection and all you needed was some antibiotics.

I have probably done this exact thing to myself a million times and dealt with various levels of emotional turmoil.  I suffered unnecessarily because of my own delusions instead of just accepting the information for what it was, in the above case, a few flu like symptoms and that I should go to an expert (the doctor) to get the proper diagnosis, before freaking out.  This consistent way of thinking based out of fear is unhealthy and can lead to many poor choices.  Fear based decisions hinder your growth and actually push you backward.  This habit then spills over into all other areas of your life and can negatively affect your relationships as well.  Whereby, your paranoid what ifs could end up pushing your partner, friends, colleagues or even family members away.

By changing your way of thinking and stopping the hypothetical what ifs before they begin, you prevent yourself from dealing with unnecessary stress and emotional turmoil.  You also take more decisive actions that coincide with your goals and help you achieve overall betterment in your life.  You will find you are more confident in your decisions and the results you attain meet, if not surpass, your expectations.

Time to reflect:

Do you wander off and start worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet?  You made a decision, but the outcome hasn’t even played out yet and already you’re going off thinking about the worst case scenarios.  If this is you, you need to consciously take steps to help stop those thoughts from consuming your mind.  By acknowledging that you behave in this way, you are able to put notice to the problem.  In order to fix it, you must take action every time you catch yourself thinking about what ifs.  Stop the thoughts and allow yourself to go into a happy place or move on to another subject entirely.  Do what you need to do to stop that train of thought and soon you will build a habit of accepting what is.

“People spend time worrying about things they think they have to have and lose perception of what they do have. You can have all the money and material things you want. If you aren’t here to enjoy them, what good do they do?” ~ Eric Davis