Dale Carnegie offers the following three rules for dealing with worry in his book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Content adapted.
Rule #1
If you want to avoid worry, then follow the example of Sir William Osler and live in ‘day-tight compartments.’ Don’t stew about the past or the future. Just live each day until bedtime.
Rule #2
The next time worry backs you into a corner, try the approach of Willis H. Carrier.
a) Ask yourself, “What is the worst that can possibly happen if I can’t solve my problem?”
b) Prepare yourself mentally to accept the worst, if necessary
c) Then calmly try to mitigate the worst that you have now mentally accepted as possible
Rule #3
Remind yourself of the great price your health pays for constant worry in your life. Be diligent to excise worry from your day-to-day life so as to avoid the wear and tear on the body.
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