If you worry, then you probably already know that ‘trying’ to stop worrying just doesn’t work. Your mind just won’t listen to you. You may be able to get distracted, but it won’t last long, and in fact, it can make your worrying thoughts even more powerful. At some point, you may believe that there is no way out of chronic worry, but there is, and many people have successfully achieved it in their own lives and moved on. What they did was not try to suppress their worry, but to postpone the habit of worrying. That is how…

You must first learn how to create a ‘worry moment’. This could be sometime in the afternoon, for example, and be around 30 minutes long. It should happen at exactly the same time every day and in that “worry time” you are allowed to worry about anything and everything you want. However, outside of that time it is a worry free zone and with practice you will learn how to do it. Every time you have a worrying or anxious thought, write it down and then put the worry off until it’s your ‘worry’ period. Keep reminding yourself and ensuring that you will have time to worry later in the day as it is saved in your notepad.

Within your ‘worry time’ review your list and reflect on all the items you have written down for that day. If those same thoughts still seem worrying to you, then think about it, if not, push them away and allow yourself the freedom to shorten your worry period a bit more, as there are fewer things to worry about, so you can enjoy the rest of your day. It is by learning to postpone your worry to a certain time each day that you will begin to regain control of your life. It works because you break your habit of worrying the moment the thought hits you, and while it’s hard at first, you’ll find that it eventually pays dividends.