Worrying about the results will not change them. As a matter of fact, worry just might be the engine that starts negative thinking, and if you are involved in negative thinking, you will not expect to win. ~Zig Ziglar
I'm just going to cut and paste this and give proper credit where credit is due:
Have you ever watched people bowl? Many of them go through a little
ritual before they actually get to the point of hurling their bowling
ball in the direction of the pins. They carefully lace up their bowling
shoes, and then the hunt for the perfect bowling ball begins. They may
put on a bowling glove as well as an elbow brace. As they step to the
line they glare at the bowling pins and get into their approach posture.
Then they step forward and release the bowling ball down the alley.
That’s when it gets interesting. As the ball rolls toward the pins the
bowler starts deploying facial expressions, body English, and hand
signals to “guide” the ball into the best impact point on the pins. As
they see the ball drifting into a less-than-perfect point of impact they
begin to give voice commands to the ball to correct its course. Of
course, once the ball is released it is on the way, and there is nothing
the bowler can do to change what is going to happen. The bowler could
just as easily release the ball, turn around, and not even look at the
impact of ball and pins. The results would be the same.
The bowling illustration demonstrates the futility of “worrying”
about results. When you have set your goals properly and planned the
action you need to take it’s a waste of time, energy, and emotion to
worry about the results of what you have set in motion. When you execute
an action step, it is like releasing a bowling ball. The results ball
is rolling, and there is little you can do to change the point of
impact. Worrying about where the ball will impact the target won’t
improve or change what happens. The results will be the fruit of how
well you prepared and planned and executed the action.
Worrying Makes Problems Worse
Worrying about the results will not change them. I certainly recognize
that a certain amount of worry is just part of being human. People have
concerns about many things. There are legitimate concerns about money
and financial security. There are legitimate concerns about health
issues, and there are concerns about our personal and professional
relationships. People want all of these things to go well in their
lives, and a certain amount of worry and concern is normal. But there is
another kind of worry that is not only dangerous to your health; it is
dangerous to your success. The kind of worry I’m talking about is
“imagined worry.” Imagined worry is when you spend a lot of time
thinking about the future and what might happen in your life that could
be terrible. My late friend Mary Crowley said, “Worry is a misuse of the
imagination,” and she hit the nail on the head with that remark. Now
you might be wondering why I’m so concerned about worrying and what it
has to do with success and expecting to win, so I’ll tell you. Worry is
the most significant factor that relates to the root of negative
thinking. As a matter of fact, worry just might be the engine that
starts negative thinking, and if you are involved in negative thinking,
you will not expect to win. If you spend an excessive amount of time
imagining all the bad things that can happen in your life, you will
become a person who is problem-conscious, not solution-conscious. There
is perhaps no greater example of how this can be so dangerous than when
it involves worrying about health issues. I have known many people who
receive bad medical reports, and when they hear the news, they begin to
worry so much about it that their life may as well have ended at that
moment. Yes, they have bad days, but they choose to focus on the good
days and what they can still do. They live in the moment and know full
well that tomorrow will be what it is and they can deal with it when it
arrives, not before.
Stop Worrying . . . Start Expecting
Worry is the result of thinking and imagining what might happen in the
future. I want to stress the word “imagine.” The only reality people
have is what is going on in their lives today. It is in the events of
the day that life transpires, and anything based on tomorrow is pure
speculation. I’ve learned that if you have planned and prepared, you
can
have reasonable expectations about the future. If you take care of your
health through a good diet coupled with exercise, you can reasonably
expect good health in the future. If you save and invest your financial
resources, you can reasonably expect to have financial security in the
future. If you live by principles of love and service to others, you can
reasonably expect to have good personal relationships in the future.
Good action today will produce good living tomorrow. Reasonably good
expectations for tomorrow are based on positive thinking and prudent
action today. Try this: instead of imagining all the bad things that
might happen to you in the future based on your fear, start imagining
things working out. There’s a song titled, “What If It All Goes Right?”
by Melissa Lawson. The second line of the chorus is, “What if it all
works out, what if the stars all line up . . . ” You have to develop a
what if it does go right and work out expectancy if you want to be the winner you were born to be.
I Don’t Worry
Worrying is something I quit doing many years ago, and today I can
honestly tell you that I don’t worry about anything—period! In fact,
when the terrorist attack happened on 9/11 and I had to find a way to
travel back home, I did not worry about the possibility of another
attack. I believe if it is not my time, there’s not a terrorist on the
earth who can change the will of God about what my lifespan should be. I
never worry because I know who I am and I know
Whose I am. I
know that the principles I live by are true and correct. I also know
that I always try to do the right thing, and when you do the right
things in life, you don’t have to worry about results. As a matter of
fact, if I’ve done the right thing every day I’m not even responsible
for results. I just get the benefit of what I do, and the benefits are
usually better than I could have hoped for.
Finally, remember that if you have planned and prepared yourself to
win, there is no need to worry about the results. Like the bowler who
has released the ball down the alley, you must learn there is nothing
your worrying can do to change anything. If you have planned well and
set good goals, you can have confidence that you know where you want and
need to go. If you have done what you need to do to prepare yourself to
win, you do not have to worry. You will have no justification to worry
about failure. You can expect to win!
The article is adapted from
Born to Win: Find Your Success Code.
Zig Ziglar was known as America’s Motivator. He authored 32 books and
produced numerous training programs. He will be remembered as a man who
lived out his faith daily.
