An Antidote to Worrying + Prince Day is official! 💜
It's all in our heads!
I worry a lot.
I worry about presentations I need to give, conversations I will have, tasks I need to complete, events I need to attend, and actions I need to take; many worries weigh me down. I am constantly in a state of anxiety about the future.
What if I freeze during the presentation in front of my team? My team will not want to talk to me anymore. Will I be abandoned and kicked out? The catastrophic thinking begins, and the small worries become giant mountains.
I am a victim of my thoughts. I realize the worry is all about the fear I have of succeeding or failing sometime in the future, and it is all in my head. There is no real threat. As a result of all this worry, I start to avoid things and freeze, unable to concentrate on the present moment.
It is a vicious cycle.
As Seneca, the first-century Stoic, wrote in Letters From a Stoic:
“There are more things… likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
I have found that the things I spend all my time worrying about rarely come true. They are usually not so catastrophic or earth-shattering. The fears never materialize, and I find myself fine with a short moment of relief from wasting my energy thinking about the future. But then my mind goes into worry mode again and finds something else to preoccupy my days and nights.
But there is an antidote to the worry cycle: taking action.
Action brings confidence!
Take small steps forward to help you reduce your worry. By taking action, we chip away at the imaginary mountains we have created within our minds only to discover that the anxiety, fear, and worry were for nothing.
We got this!
Ideas that caught my eye
Dearly beloved. Today we are gathered to celebrate Prince Day! As a fan of His Royal Badness, Prince, I was excited to learn that April 21st is now Prince day.
Let's go crazy!
From Susanna Hoffs, the singer of The Bangles:
For your eyes only image
Here is an image to help you focus on the present moment. Take your time to explore this amazing illustration by Nick Slater.
How many things can you identify?
That's it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Till next time, stay strong!
Cheers,
Rizwan
P.S. I’m doing some research into the inner challenges designers face in their work and life. If you are interested in being part of the research which includes a quick 20-30 minute conversation please reply to this email and let’s find a time to chat. 🙏🏽