40 | June• 2019
TAMING THE ‘WHAT IFS’
make it in time or, if you don’t, the
person y ou’re meeting will likely be
understanding. After starting with
simple changes, work your way up to
bigger risks – such as a career shift.HOW MINDFULNESS
MEDITATION CAN BE
AN A NTIDOTE TO WORRYEmily Thring is the founder of the
Quiet C ompany, a meditation studio
that seeks to foster mindful experi-
ences. Here are her four tips.What is mindfulness
meditation?
It’s focusing on your breathing in the
present moment and connecting with#1 COMMON WORRY: MONEY
Money is arguably our biggest source of worry. According to the Institute
of International Finance, households globally have an estimated total
debt of US$44 trillion. Personal financial issues were also cited as the top
cause of stress for almost half (49 per cent) of respondents in a stress and
wellbeing survey by the Australian Psychological Society in 2015.Ditch ‘What If’
If you’re an excessive worrier, you
probably have trouble dealing with
uncertainty because you’re concerned
it will lead to a negative result. What’s
more, you likely believe that you won’t
be able to manage that outcome. Buhr
says that’s why most worriers develop
generally negative ‘safety behaviours’
to help them avoid risks, such as opt-
ing out of situations that scare them
or asking for affirmation from others
when they’re unsure.
The trouble is, you can’t avoid un-
certainty entirely, and the more you
try to, the scarier it will seem. Fortu-
nately, most of the time things turn
out just fine, but telling a worrier this
is unlikely to calm their nerves.
The best way to get comfortable
with uncertainty is to expose your-
self to it and see that those imagined
worst-case scenarios rarely happen.
Even when something does go
wrong, you can handle it.
So if you tend to worry about be-
ing late for appointments and always
leave 30 minutes earlier than neces-
sary, Buhr suggests doing away with
that buffer. You’ll see that you do