Dale
Carnegie is one of the most trusted authors in the self-improvement space,
thanks largely to his bestseller "How to Win Friends and Influence
People," originally published in 1936.
His
1948 book, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,"
deals with tactics for liberating yourself from nagging anxieties that
make you less happy and less productive.
The
book grew out of Carnegie's experiences teaching adult education courses at the
YMCA in New York City. Carnegie realized that worry was a common theme among
his students, no matter their profession or background, and set out to write a
book that would inspire them to take action against their own psychic demons.
In
the seven years leading up to the book's publication, Carnegie researched
ancient philosophy and spoke to a range of business executives about their
strategies for conquering worry. But most importantly, he conducted an
experiment of sorts by giving his students advice for eliminating worry and
observing what worked.
We
read through "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" and pinpointed
Carnegie's five most compelling strategies for reducing everyday anxieties.
1. Ask yourself, "What's the worst that can happen?"
There's
a simple three-step technique that can help when you're besieged by personal or
professional worries.
First,
ask yourself what's the worst that could possibly happen. Second, prepare to
accept the worst. Finally, figure out how to improve upon the worst, should it
come to pass.
This
technique is based on an anecdote from Willis Carrier, founder of the modern
air-conditioning industry. While working for the Buffalo Forge Company as a
young man, Carrier found that a new gas-cleaning service his company provided
wasn't as effective as he'd hoped.
Carrier
realized that the worst that could happen was that his company would lose
$20,000. He then accepted it: The company could qualify the loss as the cost of
researching a new strategy. Finally, he figured out how to improve the
situation: If the company bought $5,000 worth of new equipment, they could
resolve the issue. Ultimately, that's exactly what they did, and they ended up
making $15,000.
2. Gather all the facts in an objective way.
As
Herbert E. Hawkes, former dean of Columbia College, told Carnegie, "If a
man will devote his time to securing facts in an impartial, objective way, his
worries will usually evaporate in light of knowledge."
Carnegie
offers two ways to go about collecting facts objectively. You can pretend that
you're gathering this data for someone else, so you're less emotionally
invested in what you find.
Or
you can pretend that you're a lawyer who is preparing to argue the other side
of the issue — so you gather all the facts against yourself. Write down the
facts on both sides of the case and you'll generally get a clearer picture of
the truth.
(Francisco Osorio/Flickr)
Before you present a problem to your coworkers, try writing down potential solutions on your own.
Before you present a problem to your coworkers, try writing down potential solutions on your own.
3. Generate potential solutions to the problem.
Leon
Shimkin, then general manager at Simon and Schuster (he later became the
owner), figured out a way to cut the time he spent in meetings by 75%.
He
told his associates that every time they wanted to present a problem at a
meeting, they had to first submit a memorandum answering four questions: What
is the problem? What is the cause of the problem? What are all possible
solutions of the problem? What solution do you suggest?
According
to Shimkin, once he instituted this new system, his associates rarely came to
him with their concerns.
"They
have discovered that in order to answer those four questions they have to get
all the facts and think their problems through," he told Carnegie. Once
they did that, they typically found that "the proper solution has popped
out like a piece of bread popping out from an electric toaster."
In
other words, action replaced worrying and talking.
4. Remember the law of averages.
The
law of averages refers to the probability of a specific event occurring — and
you should consult the law to find out if it's worth fretting. Chances are good
that whatever you're worried about isn't likely to transpire.
Carnegie
writes that the US Navy employed the law of averages in order to boost sailors'
morale. Sailors who were assigned to high-octane tankers were initially worried
that they would be blown up when the tank exploded. So the Navy provided them
with exact figures: Of the 100 tanks that were hit by torpedoes, 60 stayed afloat
and only five sank in less than 10 minutes, leaving time to get off the
ship.
5. Place stop-loss orders on your worries.
This
strategy is based on a principle in stock trading. One investor said he set a
stop-loss order on every market commitment he made. Here's how it works: Say
you buy a stock that sells for 100 dollars a share and set a stop-loss order
for 90 dollars a share. As soon as that stock dips to 90 dollars a share, you
sell it — no questions asked.
You
can use this principle in everyday life. For example, Carnegie once wanted to
be a novelist, but after two years of toiling away without much success, he
decided to cut his losses and go back to teaching and nonfiction writing
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