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Worrying can have significant impacts on our successes in life and our willingness to branch out, take risks, and step out into our fears. It can be difficult to analyze where worries and anxiety come from as they can be a result of past negative or traumatic experiences. 

Coming to terms with the fact that you might be worried about the future too much is essential when trying to transform your mindset and become more present in the moment. Below are five signs that you can use to determine whether you are worrying too much.

Once you admit to yourself that worry may be impacting your life in a negative way, you will be able to find strategies that work best for you that will shift your perspective and allow you to finally let go. 

1. Constantly Looking at the Worst Possible Scenarios

When you find yourself always looking at what could go wrong if you take the risk or step out of your comfort zone, chances are you will be hesitant and will stick with what is comfortable. This is an extremely common mindset that prevents people from ever accomplishing their goals and aspirations.

If you find yourself looking at the worst possible scenarios of a potential situation, it is important to analyze why you are worrying so much and what fears may be holding you back. Be honest with yourself and start looking at what could go right is one of the best ways to begin to shift your mindset. 

2. Inability to Sleep

If you find yourself toss and turn with negative thoughts repeating in the mind, worry and anxiety might be having impacts on your sleep which will cause a domino effect on many other aspects of your life.

If your sleep quality is very low and you have trouble falling asleep, during the day your emotions will impact you in a negative way and a negative cycle will begin. It is important to realize these feelings before they take over your life and find new techniques for letting go of worry and falling asleep at the same time each night.

3. Reliving Negative Experiences

If you find yourself reliving and looking at the past and negative experiences that happened, it is important to sit down and have an honest conversation with yourself. These experiences are probably having a larger impact on your life than you think and may subconsciously be preventing you from realizing your highest potential.

In order to become the best version of yourself and let go of your fears, it is important to let go of negative past experiences and reset your perspectives on the future. Meditation can be helpful in teaching you to be more present in the moment and to leave the past in the past to make room for new experiences. 

4. Being Resentful

If you feel stuck in a victim mindset and expect others to act a certain way by reading your mind, you will put yourself in a very negative cycle and the world will feel like a very dark place. To change this, it is important to be straightforward about your desires and be more accepting of various situations. Spending you to let go of your worries for the future.

5. Feeling Guilty

Guilt puts us in a state of anxiety and fear for our surroundings. When you learn to let go of guilt and be more accepting of yourself and others around you, you will gradually learn to worry less. Guilt puts life in a very worry some and negative perspective. Be honesty with yourself and give yourself the credit you deserve.

Worry gets into all the crevices of our lives. We worry about our jobs, our kids, our relationships, money, and a million other things every single day. It’s no wonder we feel like we’re not getting things done the way we’d like.

It doesn’t have to be this way. To change your life and stop worrying, ask yourself these quick questions:

What Are You Really Worried About?

Many times, worry is a mask for something else entirely. A hard look and some pointed questions might be necessary to get to the heart of the matter. On the other hand, once you have a clear understanding of what the real issue is, it’s easier to address the problem and stamp out the worry completely.

Is This Even Possible?

Worry inflates everything to monster proportions. If your worry seems ridiculous, it probably is. Take a step back and ask yourself just how likely this outcome is. Worry can’t stand up under this kind of scrutiny. 

Is This Something I can Control?

We’re very good at worrying about something we can’t change. Seriously, what difference does it make if it snows tomorrow? Nothing we do can keep the flakes from falling. Accept sometimes you’re just going to have to go with the flow and adapt to the circumstances. 

Does this Affect Me Today?

Worries about the future can derail your life today. If you’re worried about something far off, it’s time to take a step back. Ask yourself a fundamental follow-up question if you’re concerned about the future: “Is there something I can do today that will prevent this outcome tomorrow?” If so, now you have a plan of action. Get to it! 

Am I Spending Too Much Time?

Obsessive worry doesn’t help anyone. If you find yourself circling back to the same concern over and over, you might need help breaking out of this cycle. Consider talking to someone, such as a good friend or even a counselor or trained professional, to help you break out of this vicious cycle. 

Why Do I Care What Others Think?

If you’re worried about the opinions of others, why? If you’re concerned about impressing your boss, there are better ways to do this than worrying. More often than not, though, you’re going to find most people’s opinions don’t matter. Don’t let them get to you. 

Once you have the answers to these questions, you’ll find it’s easy to get your thoughts back on track. Worry becomes a thing of the past when we’re mindful of it, and don’t let it become obsessive. Imagine the difference a life without so much worry will make.

Worry moves into your mind and pays no rent for space it takes up.

Worry can derail an entire day if you let it. But did you know you had the power to stop it in just 30 minutes of your time, freeing up the rest of the day to live your life? The answer is more straightforward than you think.

When you become accustomed to worrying, you gain a constant stream of negative feedback and information in your brain. It’s like leaving the TV on to a channel designed to inform you of every worst-case scenario, only personalized to make all those dire predictions all about you.

Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? 

But by designating 30 minutes every day for worrying and allowing yourself to worry only during those 30 minutes, you gain back your day and your life simultaneously. 

You start by setting a ‘worry time.’ Once you have this half-hour firmly in place (put it on your calendar if you need to), you can start kicking every worrying thought to the curb. You tell it, ‘later.” and then refuse to let it near you again until it’s your designated worry break.

How do you do this? Try these quick steps:

Pick a Time

Grab a half hour when you’re not going to be busy. Be careful not to pick one too near bedtime, though, as it might interfere with your ability to sleep. 

Become Conscious of Your Thoughts

Every time you have a worrying thought, tell it to go away until later. If it helps, jot the worry down somewhere, so you have a list to look at during your break. 

Use a Timer

Worries can very quickly take over as much time as you give to them. By setting your timer to 30 minutes, you’re keeping control of just how much time you’re going to spend worrying.

Record Your Thoughts

Either write down your worries as you think about them, or if you like, journal about your thoughts during this time. Be as detailed as you like. This might also be an excellent time to examine your worries, to figure out if there’s a recurring pattern or theme. Dig down into the heart of what’s troubling you.

Stop When the Timer Goes Off

At the end of 30 minutes, you’re done. Any new worries now have to wait until tomorrow. Close the journal, throw away the paper, do what you need to close off the worrying for the day. 

Repeat

Do every one of these steps every single day for at least a month. Why? Because it takes time to form a habit, which is what you’re trying to do here.

In the end, you’ll be amazed at how much freer you feel when you realize you don’t have to worry all day long. You’ll sleep better at night and be much more productive during the day. Not bad for an investment of only half an hour.