I often take into consideration unpleasant things that might happen when planning things. Sometimes I dismiss options because of realistic things that might crop up.
I recently realized that although my brain is quite good at predicting which unpleasant experiences from my past might repeat, it has zero feel for how serious they actually are, and tends to overblow them. As a consequence I have cancelled things in the past due to fears of things that would have actually been quite trivial had they happened.
So recently, whenever I think of something unpleasant that might happen, I’ve started comparing it to other potential fears which has helped me put such thoughts into perspective.
Eg:
Me organising an event and only 1 person turning up (this would have stopped me in the past)
vs
Me failing a class and having to repeat it next year
The first fear suddenly starts to seem quite trivial.
In line with this, thinking through how you’ll deal with the bad outcome can help you get past them
For example
Me organising an event and only 1 person turning up (this would have stopped me in the past)
- being able to get to know that person better
- not ordering the food until after the event starts
- ending early, or having an alternative plan that works for smaller groups
Me failing a class and having to repeat it next year
- planning what the schedule will look like, or how that would shift your course planning
It doesn’t bounce around in your head as much afterwards, because you’ve “solved” the problem
