194 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
By reacting to your worries and judging them to be catastrophic,
you prolong your distress and anxiety. In chapter 2, we encouraged
you to maintain a mindful disposition by directing your attention
to your breath. This time, try to extend mindfulness to worrying.
Whenever a negative thought appears in your mind, don’t try to
analyze it or react to it. Instead, treat it as what it really is: a thought.
Whenever you experience worry, use your mantra (see chapter
6) to redirect your attention to the present moment. Because worry
is a future- oriented thought process, this can be difficult to do,
but remember that with practice and patience you can gain mas-
tery over worry. Using your mantra will help you be mindful when
observing negative thoughts.
Exercise 9.5: Eliminate Your Safety Behaviors If you
experience generalized worry, you likely often procrastinate. Pro-
crastination is a type of avoidance in which less urgent matters are
prioritized over more urgent tasks. Common examples of procras-
tination are constructing to- do lists, completing minor tasks that
are ancillary to the main project, and delaying work on difficult
tasks. To counteract this indirect emotion regulation strategy, you
should undertake the more difficult aspects of your tasks earlier on.
A lthough they might be initially aversive, you will find that if you
approach them in a nonreactive manner you will be more likely to
focus on the concrete goals that must be accomplished in the pres-
ent moment. Don’t make lists; just do it!
People who experience high levels of worry also often seek reas-
surance. Reassurance- seeking entails attempts to minimize the dis-
comfort surrounding future uncertainty by soliciting advice. Over
time, this maladaptive strategy prevents you from learning that
future uncertainty need not be overwhelming and insurmountable.
By taking more initiative and making decisions without frequently
turning to others, you will train yourself to perceive uncertainty as
far more tolerable.