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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Worry Trick summary
How Your Brain Tricks You Into Expecting the Worst and What You Can Do about It
17 mins
Brief summary
The Worry Trick by David A. Carbonell offers practical strategies for overcoming chronic worry and anxiety. It provides valuable insights and tools to help break free from the "worry trick" and regain control of your life.
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The Worry Trick
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Key idea 1 of 5
How worry tricks you into worrying more
Ask yourself this: What’s going to happen tomorrow? If it’s a weekday, maybe you’ll wake up at the usual time. Go to work. Traffic could be bad, so you might be a little bit late – Why not? It’s happened before. You could be in a serious car accident. It’s not impossible.
The thing is, we all go through life as if we know what to expect. Chances are tomorrow will be as regular and forgettable as the vast majority of other days in your life. A worry-free mind knows this. So if a doubt arises, it’ll leave just as easily.
But if you suffer from excess worry, things look different. You experience doubts about the future as if they were immediate dangers.
Worry loves it when this happens. When you treat your doubt as if it were danger, you naturally respond to it in a way that makes it worse. That makes it grow.
Think about it. What do you do when you start to worry? When you have that first sneaking feeling of doubt? Because your brain interprets it as danger, your first reaction is to try to stop it. This ends up with you arguing with yourself, and when you argue with yourself you can never win.
You see, you can only worry about the future – about something that could happen, however unlikely. But the truth is, you don’t know what will happen in the future. And it’s incredibly difficult to prove that something won’t happen, no matter how hard you try. In fact, to the worrying mind, the more you try and fail, the more evidence there is that the bad thing could happen!
So, reasoning and arguing make it worse. What about distraction?
That’s about as easy as being asked not to think about your first childhood pet. Even if you haven’t thought about Flopsy the bunny in decades, I bet he’s at the front of your mind now. Distraction doesn’t work either.
That’s the worry trick. Doubt interpreted as danger, which you naturally try to stop. The harder you try, the more successful the trick, and the more you worry.
If you keep trying to stop something but that just makes it worse, it means your methods need examining. You need to stop trying to change the worry itself. Instead, try changing the relationship that you have with worry.
Let’s explore that idea.
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What is The Worry Trick about?
The Worry Trick (2016) is a no-nonsense guide to dealing with worry and anxiety. Drawing from acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy, it breaks down where worry comes from and offers concrete steps on how to face and ultimately overcome it.
The Worry Trick Review
The Worry Trick (2016) is a book that unravels the tricks that worry plays on our minds and provides strategies to overcome it. Here's why this book is worth reading:
- With insightful explanations and practical techniques, it empowers readers to break free from the grip of worry and anxiety, enabling a calmer and more enjoyable life.
- By unveiling the deception of worry and exposing common patterns, it helps readers develop a more rational and realistic perspective, minimizing unnecessary stress.
- The book's friendly and compassionate tone ensures a relatable and supportive reading experience, reminding readers that they are not alone in their struggles with worry.
Who should read The Worry Trick?
- Anyone who deals with chronic worry
- Psychologists looking to deepen their knowledge of anxiety
- Students of the human condition
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The Worry Trick FAQs
What is the main message of The Worry Trick?
The main message of The Worry Trick is that worry is a trick our mind plays on us, and we can learn to overcome it.
How long does it take to read The Worry Trick?
The reading time for The Worry Trick varies, but it typically takes several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is The Worry Trick a good book? Is it worth reading?
The Worry Trick is a valuable read for anyone struggling with worry. It provides practical strategies and insights to help overcome anxious thoughts.
Who is the author of The Worry Trick?
The author of The Worry Trick is David A. Carbonell.
What to read after The Worry Trick?
If you're wondering what to read next after The Worry Trick, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan with Benjamin Hardy
- 12 Months to $1 Million by Ryan Daniel Moran
- Be Obsessed or Be Average by Grant Cardone
- How to Attract Money by Joseph Murphy
- How Not to Worry by Paul McGee
- The Worry-Free Mind by Carol Kershaw and Bill Wade
- 12 Rules For Life by Jordan B. Peterson
- Limitless by Jim Kwik
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie