Most people worry. Some more than others. We constantly are looking toward the future and wondering what it might bring, whether good or bad, and that, added to our imagination, brings worry.

With the pace and complexity of life today, there is plenty for professionals to worry about. But problems arise when we allow worry to take over our thoughts, when it begins to affect the way we look at life and the way we make our decisions, when worry becomes all consuming and causes us to withdraw. Worrying a little can have the salutary effect of focusing our minds, but too much worry tends to be debilitating. It robs us of our confidence, our energy, our effectiveness, and it prevents us from taking the calculated risks we need to take in order to be successful.

And for those who are driven to succeed, worry can be a real problem, because all obstacles they  encounter can cause worry, from minor ones to major ones.

So the question is, what can we do to counteract worry? There are several things that can be done, according to business expert Thomas DeLong.

The first is to take a hard look at what you are worrying about. How important is it really? If it turns out to be a relatively minor consideration, it isn’t worth a great deal of worry. You need to isolate it and not let worry about it bleed into other areas. You need to focus and confine your anxiety specifically to the task at hand, without bringing in extraneous worries. You have to keep in mind that a glitch in one area does not mean that there are problems in other areas.

Another way to combat worry is to draw up an agenda, and include in the agenda particular duties that you must accomplish. This will help you to focus so that you won’t be pulled away into irrelevant worries.

Another way to fight worry is to aggressively go after the problem that is causing the anxiety. Sometimes it isn’t an easy thing to do. If the problem is a complicated one, you may feel the need to give it a good deal of analysis. And there may be no simple solution. It may be a situation of equally good but competing answers, or equally bad solutions. In cases like this, relying on your instinct may be helpful, rather than remaining indecisive and being pulled off course by the worry this causes.

Worried about finding a new job? One smart step you can take if you live in the Tampa Bay area is to contact StaffEx. We can help you find full-time employment and while keeping you busy with temporary assignments.  We look forward to hearing from you!