Don't Worry Be Happy!

Years ago I used to be an expert worrier, I could have worried for England if there was a category in the Olympics, and probably would have won!

One day after being totally exhausted with worrying, I sat down and thought, what exactly was I gaining from worrying.  In short, nothing.  Not only was I making myself feel worse, I was making it much more difficult to find ways to create solutions to the issues I was actually worrying about.  I realised that I was using up so much energy worrying, that it made me wonder, how I could channel that energy more effectively. 

The result?  I now never worry.  It doesn't mean I'm nochalant about everything, it means I put things into perspective, work things through and come up with realistic and workable solutions. 

I want to share with you my fail safe way to stop the worry habit.

I realised that if I wrote down what I was worried about, I could break things down more easily seeing it in front of me, and then start to tackle things properly. I created a worry log that I found extremely useful.

I drew a table with six columns with the following headings:-

1. My worry
2. What's the worst that can happen?
3. What's the best that can happen?
4. What's the most likely outcome?
5. What do I have to do to achieve the best outcome?
6. What actually happened?

Everytime I was worried about a particular situation, I would fill in the table in with the relevant information.  It really made me start to think about things specifically, enabled me to break it down and most of all, helped me find solutions to my worries. 

The best part of the worry log I think is column 6.  This bit is the real winner, not only are you recording the outcome for you to look back on and learn from it, but it is a key feature in helping you to realise that the worst very rarely happens and if it does, there is always an upside.

The next time you find yourself worrying about something, use your own worry log to help you work through your worry, and I guarantee that you will have new perspective, a clearer head and will at the very least have reduced the amount you are worrying!

Copyright Elizabeth Bacchus

Treat Yourself To A Confidence Boost!

How often have you wished for more money, more success or for a better life.  They are common thoughts for most people, but you don't have to sit there and hope for it, why not make it happen.  It doesn't matter what has happened in your past, your past is not your destiny.

Confidence is the main issue that holds many people back but it doesn't have to. Start by thinking of your past success.  List your favourite five successes, they can be anything; maybe getting a promotion, passing an exam, learning how to cook or finishing a planned decorating project.

Its good to see them in black and white and you can probably easily think of more than five when you start, but for the moment, just stick with five so you already feel a sense of achievement.

Choose one of your five successes to concentrate on.

Now start to think how you achieved this success.  What was your plan of action? On a sheet of paper write down the stages that you went through to achieve this success.  How did you plan ahead? What did you put in place to reach your goal?

By seeing your original successes and tracking how you achieved them, it helps to recall what you know deep down; that you are a capable and successful person, able to create a plan, follow it through and reach your chosen goal successfully.

Sitting quietly, without any distractions, start to recall how you felt when you achieved  this past success.  Think about the feelings that were stirred within you upon reaching your goal.

• How did it make you feel emotionally?
• How did it make you feel physically?
• What did you body language look like?
• What was the expression on your face?
• How did the tone of your voice change?

By recalling those specific feelings we had in past successes, we train our brains into recreating those feelings again, which in turn creates all the feelings associated with these positive experiences, including a big confidence boost.

Try and do this exercise every day to get your mind recalling positive experiences, so you begin to get used to feeling like a successful, confident person regularly, until it becomes a natural mindset for you.

Good luck and enjoy your successes!

Copyright Elizabeth Bacchus