Are you a chronic worrier? 

Do you find yourself constantly preparing for the next doomsday event? 

Is your stress affecting the amount of money in your bank account?

Were you nodding along to any of these questions? 

You’re not the only one. 

As I write this, we’re waiting for the US government to decide whether they’ll raise the debt ceiling. The stock market will crash, and a recession is right around the corner. I could continue, but I won’t.

The bigger question — how does your nervous system feel right now? Perhaps not so great.

Many of us have been taught to prepare for disaster and plan for the worst-case scenario. I don’t need to have a hole or a bunker to retreat into; I’ve got that covered just fine in my brain. My job as a financial planner and strategist is to plan for that rainy day. I always have worst-case scenarios covered — just in case. It’s part of my job. When we let practical planning slip into our nervous system, though, that’s where we can cause unnecessary stress.

Entrepreneurs need to strike a balance between practical financial preparedness and doomsday planning.  

Fretting about all the ways the market can crash and burn is an occupational hazard. It can rob you of joy and sleep. Trust me, I know this scenario well.

Life will bring surprises, recessions will happen, stock markets will bottom out, and the sky will fall. But does it really? 

In 2011, we were in a similar place. It’s incredible how short-term our collective memories truly are. A debt ceiling loomed, a recession happened, and the market crashed. Guess what also happened? The debt ceiling was raised, the market rebounded, and the recession was brief. We went on to enjoy several years of amazing market returns — that is if you stayed calm and kept your money in the market.

I also remember in my Midwest elementary school, we’d practice tucking ourselves underneath our desks during tornado season. We were prepared and knew what to do, and to this day, I can hear that tornado siren in my head and feel the same rush of fear in my body that I felt back then. 

Business can be 50/50

Life can be 50/50

In business and life, some is good, some is great, and most of it is simply out of our control. 

What we can control — how much we worry.

How do you know if you’re a chronic worrier?

Here are some scenarios that might be taking up space in your brain:

• You have a general fear that something will go wrong even (or especially) when nothing is happening at all.
• Everything is going smoothly and rosy, but you have this nagging thought that something terrible is going to happen.
• You believe life is a series of problems to fix or control.

I’m intimately familiar with that last one. I used to wake up each morning thinking, “What do I need to solve or fix today?” I thought I was being prepared. My girl scout troop leader would be so proud! While I thought I was being proactive, I was wearing myself down. No wonder I suffered from chronic fatigue!

Are your money worries a form of business self-sabotage? 

Why should things going well be an indication that problems are going to come? You can always find some sort of evidence to back that thought up. But deep down, it’s rooted in the belief we’re not good enough or deserving of all of this good in our lives. 

What to do when money worries strike: When this thought shows up, reverse the thought. Here are some sample replacement thoughts to experiment with: 

• “More good things can happen to me at any time.” 
• “I’m excited to see all the good things that are headed my way.” 
• “The good that I can experience is limitless!”

The book “It is Done,” by Richard Dotts, is one of the best books I’ve read on the subject of worrying and how it affects your manifestations, especially around money. Here’s what he says that changed everything for me:

“Realize that worrying is actually a VERY effective visualization session, just that it is a NEGATIVE form of visualization. You are using all of your creative energies and putting them into creating an outcome that you don’t want!” 

What? And here I thought I was just a good girl scout!

This statement was life-changing for me. It literally hit me with a ton of bricks that for all of my meditations, manifesting, and visualizing; I was undoing all of the good thoughts and going back to my habitual negative thoughts. Well, no more!

3 steps to stop the worrying cycle

Step 1: Bring the fear into your awareness.
Ask yourself if you secretly worry about things going too well or wonder when things will finally go wrong. Catch yourself when you have those thoughts and begin to examine them. You’ll realize these worried thoughts are completely illogical and grounded in past fears instead of solid facts.

Step 2: Take action and control what you can. 

If you can do anything to change the outcome or prepare, take appropriate action. If the source of your stress is completely outside your control, take active steps toward solving what you can instead of wasting energy creating doomsday scenarios in your head. 

Step 3: Let go of what you can’t control.
If the outcome cannot be changed through any action on your part, no amount of worrying will help. So why worry at all? It isn’t going to change anything except how your nervous system is reacting. When the situation is not up to you, like the daily stock market or the debt ceiling, visualize and affirm a positive outcome, leave it up to the Universe, and LET IT GO.

And then, practice, practice, practice these three steps. 

Trust that you can break this negative pattern. It will take daily practice to reverse this negative conditioning you’ve been immersed in most of your life. 

Here are some daily mindfulness practices to use if scarcity thoughts show up around money in your business:

1. Visualize your business bank account. Start at a $0 balance in your account, breathe, and signal to your nervous system that there’s nothing to be stressed or excited about. It’s just money, only a number that we put meaning on.
2. Imagine the number begins to slide down: -$1000, -$10,000, -$100,000, -$250,000, -$500,000. While you breathe, pay attention to what’s happening in your body. 
3. Now do the reverse, count back up: -$500,000, -$250,000, -$100,000, -$10,000, -$1,000. Now you’re back at $0. 
4. Slide up to +$1,000, +$10,000, +$100,000, +$250,000, +$500,000. Breathe deeply. Notice how your body feels.
5. Letting go of your sliding scale, notice your breath and nervous system. Come back to a place of ease and peace. Realize that money is merely a number and that it’s ever-changing. 
6. Ask yourself, what spending can you reduce that’s not enhancing your life? 
7. Consider the last item you spent money on: Did it add value or improve your life? Did it spark joy? 
8. What’s a small financial win that you can celebrate?
9. Embrace a financial gratitude practice. Bring to mind a specific thing that your money has allowed you to do. Start small, like buying a cup of great coffee. Now bring something bigger to mind, like a vacation, and feel grateful for having the money to enjoy the experience. Relive it, the people you met, the smells, the experience. 

How are you feeling after these practices? Which felt best for you? Whichever technique you enjoyed the most, I invite you to return to that. This will help shift your money worries and scarcity and get you into an abundance mindset. When you commit to these abundance practices daily, over time, you’ll see a difference in the money, opportunities, and blessings that show up in your business.

If you’re still a habitual worrier and need support breaking the cycle, I can help! Book a complimentary call here.

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