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don ’ t let worry rob you of time and energy

10. Protect Yourself from the Worry Contagion

The more you learn about controlling and redirecting your
worry, the more aware you’ll become of others’ fretting and stew-
ing. You may find yourself surrounded by colleagues who sing the
“ain’t it awful” blues most of the time.

If so, don’t buy into their negativity and their false sense of
urgency. Don’t try to fix the worriers’ problems. Don’t try to argue
them out of their worrying. Remove yourself from the blather if
you can and let it roll off you if you can’t.

The Five Faces of Worry

1. Worry, Festering out of Ignorance

You can’t imagine anything good coming from your present
situation. You can only see bad options or no options, no way out
at all.

Instead of worrying, learn. Seek information. You just don’t
know enough yet to see your choices, and worry is preventing you
from even looking.

As new information allows you to posit possible actions, resist
the reflex to reject any of them. Develop as long a list of possibili-
ties as you can. When you’ve assembled your list, choose the best
option or choose not to act.

2. Worrying Lurking in the Future

You’re worried about a problem but can’t do anything about it
now, leaving you with no way to dispel your anxiety.

Instead of worrying, defer. Write down the specific time when
you’ll take action. Then set the problem aside. Every time the

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