The Worst of the Worse Case
Stories our minds tell us are powerful. You see, our thoughts have the power to dictate what to do or not to do. One such frame of thinking is considering the worse case scenario.
In fact, for some of us, the dialog in our head about the worst that can happen leaves us paralyzed. We say to ourselves words such as, “Should I, or shouldn't I?” Or…we become plagued with “What ifs?”
Those of us who want to advance our careers, become our own boss, or lead more effectively cannot afford to let a worse case scenario get in our way.
Here's the deal. For the people described above, thinking the worse and doing nothing but thinking the worse, is the worst.
What to Do When Considering the Worse Case Scenario
Being that I am my mother's child, thinking the worse case scenario runs in my veins. What can we do to avoid this, even if such thinking is in our DNA?
Well…
Understand your worse is only your worse. What you consider as your worst possibility is strictly based on your knowledge and experiences. Dollar to a donut, there is someone in this world who has it worse than you. Therefore your worst may not be the worst that could happen.
Don't believe you know the worse. My mother once told me she came up with every worse possibility. As I told my mother, we cannot come up with EVERY possibility. It is impossible, so stop trying.
Redirect your energy. Thinking about every worse case takes a lot of energy. If you use so much energy on your thoughts, you do not leave energy for taking action. Therefore, redirect your “What if?” energy to focusing on taking action.
Accept the worse. The worse can happen and may be downright painful. Recently I heard something very important from Ryan Levesque, the author of Ask. He said growth comes out of pain. (Ain't that the truth!) To that he added, “If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not learning.” So if the worse case scenario happens, accept it and grow from it.
How about you? What do you do when you're considering the worse case scenario? Share in the post comments.