your attention from specific worried thoughts to considering how you could take an actionable step toward improving the larger PROBABLE VS POSSIBLE OUTCOMES When we are caught in anxiety quicksand each and every worrisome thought may seem acute and reasonable Stress hormones are released anxiety builds and it becomes difficult to distinguish the probable from the possible Instead of repeating the same concerns over and over in your head write out the following for each of your uneasy What is the worst possible scenario that afraid of happening regarding this What is the best possible scenario that I wish could happen regarding this What is a realistic scenario that will likely happen regarding this You can be at peace Slow down and train your mind to steer away from reaching catastrophe and toward thoughts that represent the realistic and most likely outcomes PRODUCTIVE VS UNPRODUCTIVE WORRY Another helpful strategy when worry thoughts become triggered is to consider how productive helpful in your life or to it is to worry about that particular issue When you recognize worrying classify worried thoughts as productive or unproductive based on the following checklist Productive My worry is in regard to a specific problem My