The national pastime

"World may end in 2012: Doomsayers" This headlines on the Yahoo homepage jumped out of the PC screen and grabbed me.

Most people are better at the doomsday thinking than they are at contingency planning. Worrying - not football - is really the national pastime.

Worry starts with the words what if. For example: "What if I don't meet the budget." The trick is to shift the anxiety to anticipation with if...then. For example: :If I don't meet the budget then I will..."

I find that changing worry to preparation is empowering. It frees us the negative energy and makes it available to create opportunity. It also increases confidence. I'm less worried because I have a fall-back strategy.