“Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.” Eckhart Tolle
Worry Defined 
1. To give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.
2. A state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems.
When was the last time you allowed your worries to push you further and further away from your truth? When it comes to the topic of worry, I think we can all say we are guilty of giving into our own anxieties and uncertainty at one point or another. We dwell on issues and allow our minds to be inundated with limiting thoughts. Often times our worries can even take over our everyday functioning. Worries can cripple our ability to get on with our usual day. We find that we are distracted and highly unmotivated all because we can’t seem to let our worries go.
It is when we allow our worries to paralyze our ability to function that we permit our worries to have access to our power. The power that would usually drive us to take risks and have confidence in ourselves is silenced the moment we entertain our worries. While each of us innately has the power to push away our worries, effort must be given to change our perceptions from negative to positive. It is only when we learn to silence our worries and shift our thinking to motivate us into action, that we truly embrace our power and attract those positive outcomes we so greatly desire.
Turning Worry into Action
1. Be Inspired
Inspiration is everywhere. When you open your heart, mind, and body to what the world has to share with you, it is then that you allow yourself to truly be inspired by its wonders. Allow for your curiosity and creativity to emerge. Ask questions of those people and things around you and watch as moments of clarity and inspiration present themselves to you. “What if everything would just work out for the best?” “What can I do about this now?” Allow for the questions to flow naturally and watch as you’re inspired to see what is true and within your control.
2. Keep Moving Forward 
Life will continue to move on even if you allow your mind to be clouded by your own limiting thoughts. Don’t allow yourself to be left behind. Adopt the mindset of wanting to move forward. Ask questions of yourself to determine the purpose of your worry. You will come to realize that worrying serves absolutely no purpose other than to pull you away from taking action. Seek a better understanding of the situation that is affecting you, and allow your questions to motivate you into taking steps towards action. Self reflection and curiosity will allow for greater self-awareness and a true connection to your inner power. Tap into your power and keep moving forward. “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorry. It empties today of its strength.” Corrie Ten Boom
3. Envision the Positive
What if you took the stand that you were going to get past this difficult moment in your life? Try envisioning the desired outcome as it if has already happened. Spend 5-10 minutes in silence and ask your mind to take you to a place of calm and relaxation. Call upon your creative power and envision your desired worry being resolved through action. Whenever I worry I won’t have enough time to get the things I need done, I envision myself completing all the tasks I give purpose and value to being completed efficiently and without stress. One cannot function effectively if they put unnecessary pressure on themselves to get everything done. By doing so, you not only set yourself up for failure, but you also sacrifice some tasks that you really could have given 100% to. More often than not, I find that doing this exercise helps to set the tone for my day. I am less concerned about getting everything done and more concerned about doing the things I give value to well. When you allow yourself to see the bigger picture you make room for your desired outcomes to be experienced. “I never worry about action, but only inaction.” Winston Churchill
4. Acknowledge Your Worries in Writing
When seeking clarity, it’s always helpful to get things in writing. Create a running worry list. As worries surface write them down and take some time to examine each ones true value in your life. Sometimes seeing a worry in writing helps the person to see how silly and unnecessary the worry truly is. What you are also able to uncover through logging your worries is that a fair majority of them are absolutely out of your control. Rather than waste your time ruminating on something that is out of your control, acknowledge your worry in writing and then let it go. Look to your worry log to determine patterns that may exist. Don’t allow your worries to become a broken record. If you have experienced the same worry before you must have survived it. What’s the sense of getting all worked up again? It will all work out for the best.
5. Build Momentum by Being Present In the Moment 
Nothing feels better than when you attack a worry head on and face uncertainty. The moment immediately after you do so you feel liberated and powerful. When these types of moments present themselves allow your worry to build momentum inside you, not as a deterrent from action but as a motivator to be present in the moment and deal with matter as it presents its self. An example that comes to mind in me is times where I am called upon suddenly to speak in a large group. While the initial fear and anxiety experienced has the power to immobilize me, I use it as fuel to be present and allow for my inner strength and confidence to emerge. It’s a wonderful feeling when you stand against your inner limiting thoughts of how others might receive you, or how foolish you might sound in the moment, and allow for the stirring of your own power and creativity to shine through. Take advantage of moments like these and commit yourself to being fully present. It is these moments that help to build your character and shift your perspective when a new worry emerges. You’ve done it before you can do it again!
6. Refine Your Power
As you continue to grow and learn from one experience to the next, fortify your inner power with images and memories of past victories. What may have worried you once before is no longer of concern to you now. You persevered and overcame many obstacles and you came out on the other side better for it. Refine this power by pulling it out when you need it the most. This can often be done alone or with the help of someone supportive. Ask yourself empowering questions that will help you to remember past success. Have a supportive friend or loved one champion your efforts by reminding you of past victories. Your journey in life has no fixed destination but holds great promise and rich rewards. There is no telling what is possible. “Do you remember the things you were worrying about a year ago? How did they work out? Didn’t you waste a lot of fruitless energy on account of most of them? Didn’t most of then turn out all right after all?” Dale Carnegie
7. Learn To Say “NO” Just As Easily As You Say “YES”
Why is it so easy to say “Yes”? I think it just stems down to good old peer pressure. When we feel pressured to say yes it’s because we want others to like us. We take on more than we realistically can and sacrifice our mental stability in the process. We worry about having to do it all when no one has asked this of us in the first place. We were the ones that accepted every request made of us and now we are alone to suffer the consequences. Learn to say “No” just as easily as you say “YES”. Save yourself from the unnecessary stress felt when you create problems for yourself by always saying “YES”. All that will result is you feeling overloaded and anxious that you ultimately end up letting someone down. Learn to be selective. This practice will not only help to keep your anxiety levels down, but it will help to showcase your natural strengths. When you can learn to say “No” people will begin to respect you for what they know you can bring to the table. You wouldn’t agree to volunteer to sing at a charity event when you know you can’t carry a tune for your life. Why don’t you stick to collecting donations at the charity event? You are an excellent speaker and have been known to be quite the people person. If there’s anyone who can convince people to open their wallets for a good cause, it’s you! When you are realistic with yourself people will not only respect you but they will learn to see you for your talents and dependability. Taking on tasks or responsibilities that you have time for and can do well is way more important than taking everything on and doing it poorly. Trust yourself and learn to say “No” when appropriate.
8. Striving to do Things Well
Let’s face it sometimes we let our ego get the best of us. When you allow your worries to result in being overly critical of yourself, you diminish your true power and create a never ending cycle of insecurity and anxiety. Remember the golden rule that anything worth doing is worth doing badly. When you allow yourself time to do something you are passionate about badly you never know you might eventually become quite good at it.
Don’t allow your desire to be perfect pull you to a place of comparison and competition. You will lose sight of your own uniqueness and will never be content. “Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.” Anne Wilson Schaef Strive to do things well and watch as your concern for perfection diminishes.
9. Don’t Allow Others to Push Your Panic Button
It’s easy to feel pressure when you allow the opinions and expectations of others to get the best of you. Don’t allow others to push your panic button. When you concern yourself on how others perceive you, you push yourself further and further away from your truth. Seeking out the appreciation and admiration of others will only appease your ego temporarily. When you don’t receive this type of attention from others you begin to doubt your strengths and talents. Slowly but surely panic and worry begins to settle in. While it may be difficult, one must find ways to muster the confidence necessary to strengthen their innate power. Worry less about the opinions of the world and more about the way you perceive yourself and in turn perceive the world. “I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.” Michel de Montaigne Our self-worth can not and should not be determined by others. When we can learn to detach ourselves from judgment then and only then can we believe in ourselves and the world around us. When it comes to this strategy I think the first step to diminishing this worry begins with you. When you can stop being judgmental of others you model how you want the world to respond to you. Be less critical of others and eventually others will follow suit. If we don’t want our panic button pushed then we surely shouldn’t be pushing others.
10. Be Consistent. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to making any shift in your life you need to be consistent in your efforts. Identify realistic strategies for yourself and stick to them. Accountability is huge! When you hold yourself accountable for the way in which you feel you will put more effort into creating your desired outcomes. If you want to worry less by placing less importance on how others perceive you then practice strategies that will build your inner power. “Accept who you are; and revel in it.” Mitch Albom Give yourself permission to try new things and fail forward. Stay in the present and continue to work towards doing things well instead of doing them perfectly.
“Let your advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” Winston Churchill
Ambition In The City
The mind is everything. What we project into the world for ourselves is usually what we get back from the world in return. I am a firm believer in the power of thought. More often than not, people are usually pretty aware of the paths they are creating for themselves with their thoughts. By making everyday decisions, and by having everyday interactions, you are slowly writing the pages of your life story. If you can ever take time to examine your story, ask yourself, “how did I make this all come about?” You will see that your mind and the thoughts you shared with the universe had everything to do with where you find yourself today.
Ambition In The City 