Calling All Worry Warts and Stress Heads – A Quick and Easy Guide to Breaking Out of a Worry Loop
Are some of your thoughts stuck on repeat? Like a song that you hate replaying over and over again to the point where you think you’re going to go insane? Do you find that you have one thought that leads to another thought, that leads to another thought and before you know it you’re feeling overwhelmed by the belief that something terrible WILL happen and you’ll be left unable to cope? If you’re getting stuck in a worry loop try out this quick and easy exercise below.
Get out a piece of paper and write down one worry in the middle of the page. For example “I’m going to fail.” Sit with that statement for a while and rate how worried it makes you feel out of 10, with 0 being not worried at all and 10 being extremely worried. I suspect your rating is rather high!
Now above where you have written your worry write the words “I’m having the thought that…” Read the sentence to yourself again, for example “I’m having the thought that I’m going to fail.” Hmmm, how does that now feel? Re-rate your worry out of 10.
Finally above where you have written “I’m having the thought that” add the words “I notice.” Read the sentence to yourself again, for example: “I notice I’m having the thought that I’m going to fail.” How does that sound? How worried do you now feel out of 10?
More often than not, people’s worry ratings get lower and lower with each step of the exercise. You see, thoughts only have power because we believe unquestionably that they are accurate and true. When we see our worrying thoughts for what they are – just thoughts, we are able to take away some of their power and regain control over how we feel.
Want to supercharge this worry hack? Jot down the words “I notice” and “I’m having the thought that” in the notepad of your phone to keep this tip handy when you really need it. Practice regularly for best results.
Still stuck in your worry? Sometimes it is best to team up with someone to tackle life’s biggest hurdles. Give me a call or send me an email if you feel some more individualised support would better suit you.
