I was speaking to a friend over Instagram as I was worried. I was worried because I had
decided to pursue a lifestyle true to myself by mastering what I am passionate about and make a career out of it. This is the story of how R. Mann knocked worry straight out of my system, by simply applying the principles discussed in two earlier posts: analysing worrying problems and day compartmentalisation. The story goes like this ...
"What are you worried about?" said Mann. Well, I was worried that I had taken a large risk
by pursuing my passions. What if I spend years pursuing this and it doesn't amount to anything? I would have to start all over again. Could you imagine, being a junior at a company in your thirties? While others are becoming managers and earning money that will take me at least a decade to work towards. "Well. let's examine the facts" said Mann. "What's the worst thing that could possibly happen? You may go back to a job and be a junior in your thirties while others may have advanced in their careers, that's a fair concern to have. However, you will not start from scratch, you are now starting from experience. And during your journey, you've picked up habits such as reading, self-development, being less concerned about the opinion of others and above all, the skills of an entrepreneur that are well respected. You may feel you are behind some of your peers but are we all running the same race? And with your new attitude towards constant learning, you can progress far quicker and live a happy life regardless. In addition, you should never fear doing something different than others, you should fear never finding meaningful work like most people are currently waking up every morning to do." Fair points all I thought, but what about my current progress of which I felt was really slow I asked. "One step at a time, one blog at a time, one course at a time and one email at a time." This made me realise that I was worried about what happened yesterday and what may or may not happen tomorrow. And as the saying goes 'The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today makes the strongest falter.'
This interaction knocked worry out of my system immediately as the worst-case scenario didn't sound as bad when stated, especially as I have gained vital skills that not many people would have the chance to acquire. I also realised there is no way of truly knowing what the future has in store for any one of us and the best way to prepare for the future is to do today's tasks to the best of my ability. Above all, I wasn't going to be jailed, labelled an outcast or handicapped in any way going forward. I should instead, appreciate the opportunity I have and move forward full force and take any blows that come way on the chin. Knowing the worst-case scenario, accepting it and finding ways to improve on it gave me immense relief. And knowing that taking every task one at a time is the best way of securing my future gave me peace and focus.
Do we exaggerate the importance of the negatives sometimes? Mr Mann certainly told me I was, but I wonder how many people gave up on their dreams due to the fear of failure. I wonder how many of these individuals would have persevered if they only did three things:
- Wrote down the worst-case scenario
- Accepted the worst-case scenario
- Calmly devoted time to improve the worst-case scenario that had already been mentally accepted.
Could Mr Mann be talking to you too?
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