All human beings worry to some degree. That worry could be about fear of ill health, loss of love, financial situation, loss of a job, loss of everything in general. Would you like a quick, sure-fire recipe for handling worry situations?
Let me talk about Willis H. Carrier’s formula, which so many people have used for over a hundred years now. He was a brilliant engineer who launched the air condition industry (so this was almost a century ago) and he came across a huge project where he had to install a glass-cleaning device. Well, push came to shove – he failed at the installation.
“I was stunned by my failure. It was almost as if someone struck me a blow on the head. My stomach, my insides began to twist and turn. For a while I was so worried I couldn’t sleep.
Finally, common sense reminded me that worry wasn’t getting me anywhere; so I figured out a way to handle my problem without worrying. It worked superbly. I have been using this same anti-worry technique for more than thirty years.
Step 1. Analyze the situation fearlessly and honestly. Figure out what’s the worst that could possibly happen as a result of the failure or situation.
“No one was going to jail me or shoot me. That was certain. True, there was also a chance that I would lose my position; and there was also a chance that my employers would have to remove the machinery and lose the twenty thousand dollars we had invest.
Step II. After figuring out the worst that could possibly happen, accept it if necessary.
“I said to myself: This failure will be a blow to my record, and it might possibly mean the loss of my job; but if it does, I can always get another position. Conditions could be much worse; and as far as my employers are concerned – well, they realize that we are experimenting with a new method of cleaning gas, and if this experience costs them twenty thousand dollars, they can stand it. They can charge it up to research, for it is an experiment.
Step III. From that time on, devote your time and energy to improving upon the worst which you have to accept mentally.
In the end, he went from losing twenty thousand to making fifteen thousand because he made several tests by improving on the worst.
I probably would never have been able to do this if I had kept on worrying, because one of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys your ability to concentrate.
Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/11977418
Arsenio's ESL Podcast 
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