It’s supposed to be reassuring right?
This question that we have got into the habit of asking ourselves when we perceive we’re taking a risk.
Except it’s not. Sending yourself into worst case scenario for every worry that you have is NOT a good thing.
In any world, let alone our anxiety-ridden current times, allowing your brain to cut loose and imagine how bad things could really get is a terrible idea. It’s terrible because our brains don’t recognise the difference between real and imagined scenarios. We use visualisation to help us see and achieve great goals BUT it can also work against us when we allow our imaginations to run riot, which is exactly what we do when we think worst case scenario. On some level we believe that’s actually happened. We feel the anxiety and the consequences of reaching into that deep dark place.
So, what to do instead? Imagine the likely scenario instead. What’s the probable outcome going to be? That’s a much better question to ask yourself because it helps you think about the risks you’ve taken in the past and all the things you were worried about and reminds you that these didn’t come to pass.
The other way to balance out the worst thing that could happen is to also consider the best thing that could happen. In your wildest dreams. Because as far to the extreme you would go for worst case scenario, you could also go for best case. And that might just give you a bit more motivation to take that risk.
One more way to balance this out is to also think about staying the same. What if you don’t do anything? We often think that taking action is risky because it means we have to do something that might put us out there and make us more visible and therefore vulnerable. But not taking action can be a risk in itself. And lead to an outcome we don’t want either.