Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Matthew 6:25

As I wrote this article, I had to ask myself "what's the difference between worry and stress?" I wrote another article on how I address stress if you're interested. For me, worry is something happening in my mind, whereas stress is how my body reacts to that stress.
In some of my others articles, I talk about how anxiety and stress are a result of different unhelpful beliefs and thoughts I have. Some of these thoughts include worry. When I can address my worry, often the stress and anxiety in my life begins to decrease. In this article, I'll talk about some of the things I do to help me worry less about things that don't help me in the long run.

I hope you find this encouraging, and let me know if you have any advice on how you deal with it?

1. Brain dump everything I'm worrying about
The goal with this exercise is to purge all the thoughts bouncing around my mind that I would consider worrying. If I'm home, I'll brain dump using a designated journal and just begin to write down as many things that my mind is focused on. If I'm out and about, I might quickly jot some thoughts down on a piece of paper or napkin.

A typical brain dumping session might look something like the following:
- The "check engine" light came on
- I have that big project that's due by Friday
- I have to finish packing for our trip coming up this weekend
- The utility bill was double what I thought it would be
- I need to confront someone about an issue
- My Saturday morning is packed with multiple errands and commitments

2. Break the worry down into several pieces
Next, I try to break each worry down into evident facts (not assumptions) in a way that makes it seem less like on BIG monster in my head but instead, several small, tiny monsters that are easier to address.
I think for me, my worries are like big clumps of tangled ideas, events and feelings are wound up together in heavy ball.
So let's say my worry is "I have a big project due to by Friday". How I would break this down into smaller pieces might look something like this:

I have a big project due to by Friday
- I need to make sure my team has the tools needed to help me
- I need to confirm the date with the customer
- We have X-amount of area that we're working with
- I have a specs list with objections that need to be worked through

When I break down my worries into several pieces, its like I'm slowing untangling my ball of worry and it makes it easier for me to move onto step three:

3. Evaluate what I have control over
Once all the cards are laid out in front of me, I can start asking the question: what do I have control over? Do I have the ability, energy and time needed to be able to accomplish each project? If not, what's lacking and why? If my team doesn't have the tools they need, why not? Can I provide those for them or do they need to?

One project I worked on I felt very much like I had the ability to accomplish it and even all the tools I needed, but I was questioning the time frame. I had a hard deadline I needed to get this done by, and at the pace I was going, I knew I wouldn't be able to accomplish it in time. But even though I didn't have control over adding more hours to my day, I knew I could evaluate my pace and prioritize my workload. I begin shifting around other tasks that could wait until the following week so I would have more time to work on this project. Ultimately, I didn't have control adding more hours to my day, but I did have control over my workload.

4. Strategize action
When I have a game plan of how I'm going to address the things above, my worries begin to simmer down and get replaced with clarity. Clarity on what needs to be done and how it's going to be done tend to decrease worry and increase intentionality.
I like to do this through something I call strategizing action. I do this using the following method:
- Create a routine checklist
A routine checklist for me is taking a note book and literally planning every hour of my day out. I know that from 8-9am I'll be working on one set of tasks, and then 9-10am, I'm going to switch gears and work on something else. Your routine checklist might be more simple. You can create a checklist of "Next Steps" that you know needs to be done to accomplish each of the areas you know you have control over.
- Set a numerical goal
A numerical goal can be anything from how many chapters you'll read, steps you'll walk, calls you'll make, etc.
For me,

4. Go to God in prayer

5. Unpack verbally with a trusted friend