Worries Feel Personal, but Act Like Risks

Worry shows up as a voice in your head, so it can feel personal. It’s thoughts of what could happen. What if it rains at the fair? What if the car breaks down again? What if I finish late?

When someone shares a worry, the response is often: “don’t stress,” or “it’ll be OK,” which means well, but avoids addressing the concern. Without a way to talk about uncertainty, worry stays personal and can grow.

But in engineering and project work, “it’ll be OK” is not an appropriate answer. If a builder is worried the beams are too weak for the skyscraper, nobody says, “try to relax.” The worry gets stated, assessed, and handled.

Worries and risks are both about uncertainty. The difference is what you do next. Risk is worry that’s been pulled out into the open and addressed with the right amount of action. Any uncertainty, at home, at work, at school, can stay as worry, or it can become a risk you can respond to.

Try this

• Write a vague worry as a specific risk.
• Pick one small action that reduces the likelihood it occurs.

Example

• Vague worry: I might mess up the presentation.
• Risk: I might run long or I might sound nervous.
• Action: Rehearse out loud with a few friends and a timer.

From PMEZ’s UNSTUCK approach