How To Face Worry

Introduction

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Seventh edition 2005) defines worry as to keep thinking about unpleasant things that might happen or about problems that you have.

Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment. - Dale Carnegie

To learn how to face worry, the following two worry-related rules adapted from “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”, first published by Dale Carnegie in 1944, can be used as evergreen examples.

In the early days, Carnegie made his living by teaching adult classes in night schools in New York. He realised that one of the biggest problems of these adults was worry. He wrote his book by reading what the philosophers of all ages have said about worry. He also read hundreds of biographies, all the way from Confucius to Churchill. According to him, we won’t find anything new in his book, but we will find much that is not generally being applied in our daily life.


Rule #1 : Basic Techniques in Analysing Worry

This was a story of an insurance man. When he first started selling insurance, he was filled with a boundless enthusiasm and love for his work. Then something happened. He became so discouraged that he despised his work and thought of giving it up. Then on one Saturday morning, he sat down and tried to get at the root of his worries. He began asking himself following questions:

a) What was the problem?

He was not getting high enough returns for the staggering amount of telephone calls that he made.

b) What was the cause of the problem?

He did pretty well at selling a prospect, until the moment came for closing a sale. Then the customer would say, “Well, I’ll think it over, Mister. Come and see me again”. The time wasted on these follow-up calls that was causing his depression.

c) What were all possible solutions?

He checked his record book for the last twelve months and studied the figures carefully. He made an astounding discovery! He discovered that 70% of his sales had been closed at the very first interview! Another 23% of his sales had been closed on the second interview. And another 7% had been closed on those third, fourth, fifth, etc., interviews. He came to the conclusion that he was wasting fully one half of his working day on a part of his business which was responsible for only seven per cent of his sales!

d) What was the best solution?

He made a quick decision that he would immediately cut all visits beyond the second interview, and spent the extra time building up new prospects.

Rule #2 : How to Keep From Worrying About Criticism

A national sensation in educational circles was created due to an event which occurred in 1929. Learned men and women from all Americas rushed to Chicago to witness the affair. A few years earlier, a young man by the name of Robert Hutchins had worked his way through Yale, acting as a waiter, a lumberjack, a tutor, and a clothesline salesman. Now, only eight years later, he was being inaugurated as president of the fourth richest university in America, the University of Chicago. His age? Thirty. Incredible! Criticism came roaring down upon this “boy wonder” like a rockslide. Even the newspapers joined in the attack.

The day he was inaugurated, a friend said to the father of Robert Maynard Hutchins: ”I was shocked this morning to read that newspaper editorial denouncing your son”.

“Yes,” the elder Hutchins replied, “it was severe, but remember that no one ever kicks a dead dog”.

Yes, and the more important a dog is, the more satisfaction people get in kicking him or her.

Carnegie added that when you are kicked or criticized, remember that it is often done because it gives the kicker a feeling of importance. It often signifies that you are accomplishing something and are worthy of attention. Many people get a sense of savage satisfaction out of denouncing those who are better educated than they are or are more successful.

Conclusion
It is worthwhile to mention it here as what was written by Linda R. Dominguez in her book entitled “How to Shine at Work” (2003). She wrote that part of turning problems into opportunities is to recognize that we always have a choice. We can choose to be angry, we can choose to worry, or we can choose to be thoughtful and respond in a way that moves us forward. It is up to us.


Worry less about what others think, say and do.


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