2 Words I’ll Never Say to Anyone: “Don’t Worry”
Did the paddle ever fall out of your hands and you hit a rock?
Were you scared when you tipped over?
Did you ever get hurt?
Real questions from 5th graders I met during my speaking tour last week in St. George, Utah.
Every time I speak in front of a group, of any age, I’m completely focused on reading the audience in front of me. To get a feel for the people in the room and what they would like from me at this moment.
Does someone need a little push towards a breakthrough decision? Does someone need to hear that they are not the only one losing sleep over an issue? Does someone need to hear a different perspective?
Sometimes, people simply need some assurance that everything is going to be OK.
When Worry Leads
I worried when I was in 5th grade. About most anything. Appearance, friends, change, ideas, what I didn’t know, had yet to understand, or hadn’t yet experienced.
As I received these 5th graders’ questions about the risk and danger associated with whitewater kayaking, I felt their sense of worry. I wondered if I had the answers that would help them disarm those worries.
I’m not a combative person, but worry takes on all the qualities of a formidable arch-enemy. Often accompanied by its accomplices, fear and doubt, no other mindset disrupts progress as worry does. The lens of worry scales our problems of the future as if they were problems we have to live with today.
Worry understands the benefits of proximity. If it just hangs out close enough to you, it might offset your positive trajectory. Dissuade you from taking action. Pressure you to buy in to what worry is selling.
A Weaponless Choice
Some enemies are meant to be replaced rather than fought. Worry fits this category.
Choose to disarm worry with 5 actions you can begin right now:
Move
You know the options. You know the benefits. Pick something and go.
idea: when you feel the tension that worry brings, step outside on your porch for 10 minutes and breathe different air. Walk around the patio at your workplace. Worry disarmed.
Unplug
Less noise. More time turning inward. Bonus — combine with “move” to replace worry 3x faster.
idea: distracted by worry? turn off 1/3 of the lights in your house, shut down the tv, turn OFF the phone, shut down the computer. Worry disarmed.
Learn
Something new that piques your interest and stretches you in fresh directions.
idea: worry on your mind? invest 5 minutes to be a scholar of a new passion. Worry disarmed.
Connect
With people you like, trust, and respect. Then find ways to serve them every day.
idea: there is someone in your closest circle who needs to hear from a friend. Right now. Check in with them. Right now. Worry disarmed.
Practice Gratitude
The exponential factor in our 5-step equation. Practice like you mean it.
idea: before your first sip of water, cup of coffee, tea, juice each morning say out loud — “I am grateful for …” Worry disarmed.
Start Small and Build Up
The totality of these small investments practiced daily positively affects your disposition, temperament, and most importantly, your mindset.
Need a guide though this process? That’s exactly what we do in my 5 With Joeprogram. The final program of 2015 launches next Sunday just in time for the holidays when worry needs to be replaced the most, especially the worry that shows up when you should be sleeping. More details HERE.
As America’s first ever Olympic Gold Medalist in Whitewater Canoe Slalom, Joe promotes strategies and shares stories for living and performing at your best, doing the work that matters and engaging with purpose. His platforms include performance coaching and consulting, professional speaking, broadcasting and his weekly newsletter, “Sunday Morning Joe.”
Registration for my next 5 With Joe program is now open — more details HERE.
