Ever fret about something that's out of your control? You get anxious about it, worry about how it could go wrong, and that makes you even more anxious? Then you get to a point where the anxiety just grows as you put the "what if?" in a hyperloop in your mind? It's a terrible state to be in, but luckily two words could help you.
Self-described "mental strength trainer" and licensed therapist Amy Morin shared a way to help ease anxiety and catastrophizing.
On her Instagram account, Morin explained that when you’re worried about things outside your control—like waiting to hear back about a job interview, dreading a friend bringing up an embarrassing story at an upcoming party, hoping your partner’s parents will like you, or dealing with any situation that fuels rising anxiety—a simple way to slow your mind down is to shift your focus to creating an "If-Then Plan."
Morin explains that an If-Then Plan is taking the situation that you’re worrying about and planning your next move if the worst does indeed occur (even though a Pennsylvania State University study found that 91.4% of worry predictions don’t come true). You establish a planned reaction or strategy to follow if indeed the thing that's out of your hands doesn’t fall in your favor. "If _____, then ____."
If I didn’t get the position from the job interview, then I will ask my friends if their workplaces have any openings. If someone brings up that embarrassing story at the party, then I will quickly change the subject or leave early. If it’s true that my partner’s parents don’t like me, then my partner and I should discuss how to approach that together.
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By establishing a plan for the worst-case scenario, your brain is essentially given permission to let go and stop worrying about it. Since your mind knows what it's going to do next, there's no reason to ruminate about it anymore and the growing anxiety loop breaks. By making an If-Then Plan, you take a situation you can't control and pair it with a reaction you can control.
If-Then Plans aren't just limited to reducing anxiety. In fact, the strategy can be repurposed and used effectively to help you develop good habits, too.
Instead of making demands of yourself like "Eat less sweets" or "Work out more," If-Then can help you create or break habits by providing plans/consequences such as "If I see the dessert menu, then I will ignore it and order coffee" or "If I eat chocolate, then I will do 30 extra minutes of exercise tomorrow morning." Much like with anxiety loops, this frees your brain from endless fretting by giving it a plan to follow, which boosts your chances of successfully forming or breaking a habit.
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So if you find yourself worried about something outside your control, try an If-Then Plan. If this technique doesn’t work for you, then you may want to speak with a professional that can provide other techniques to relieve your anxiety.
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