Tip for Stopping the Worst Case Scenario Spin

If you’re prone to catastrophizing (spinning out in the worst case scenario), “just think positive” is useless advice. 

Switching from “I’m going to get fired” to “This is no big deal” simply doesn’t work. Your brain is just going to say, “OF COURSE THIS IS A BIG DEAL,” and keep on keeping on. But you can still use your prefrontal cortex to slow or stop the spin. 

Here’s one of my top tools (I had a client recently tell me this is her favorite thing that she learned from me): 

💡 Catastrophize but GO ALL IN 

Our brains stop at what they think is the worst case scenario. 

For example, your brain stops at “I’m going to get fired.” 

But what if you do get fired? 

Play it out. 

Would you likely be able to find another job?  In your field? At Starbucks? 

Do you have friends or family that would support you financially? 

Do you have savings built up that you could rely on while you got back on your feet?

Show your brain that what it perceives isn’t really the worst case scenario. It might be hard, but you would be okay. 

Take it a step further and write it down. Research shows that putting things down on paper helps you with (1) external storage (storing information in a physical location where you can revisit it as often as you need) and (2) internal storage (internalizing and remembering things). 

If you found this useful, I’m going to teach you more helpful tools in this free webinar:

Stop Catastrophizing

Tuesday April 16 at 1pm EST

Register to attend or to get the replay: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Hkt6fxVoR_S5EcVHsUX5lQ 

I first learned about this tool from Kara Loewentheil.