Training, Drills and Courseware

Some readers are going to snort at the idea of making so much over a hackneyed proverb like ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk.’ I know it is trite, commonplace, a platitude. I know you have heard it a thousand times. But I also know that these hackneyed proverbs contain the very essence of the distilled wisdom of all ages. They have come out of the fiery experience of the human race and have been handed down through countless generations. If you were to read everything that has ever been written about worry by the great scholars of all time, you would never read anything
more basic or more profound than such hackneyed proverbs as ‘Don’t cross your bridges until you come to them’ and ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk.’ If we only applied those two proverbs—instead of snorting at them-—we wouldn’t need this book at all. In fact, if we applied most of the old proverbs, we would lead almost perfect lives. However, knowledge isn’t power until it is applied; and the purpose of this book is to remind you of what you already know and to kick you in the shins and inspire you to do something about applying it.

1. First, specifically about worry: What spilled milk are you worrying over? What in your past are you STILL ruminating about, complaining about, losing sleep over, etc? The relationship? The family argument? The job? The missed opportunity? The whatever. When, exactly, do you plan to move on? (NOW might be good. 🙂

2. Second, what piece of wisdom do you KNOW to be true but for whatever reason you have yet to EMBODY? Remember “Knowledge isn’t power until it’s applied.” So, what’s the knowledge you need to apply? And when do you plan to apply it? (Now’s always good. 🙂

Knowledge I KNOW but have yet to apply:_____________________________________
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I will apply this knowledge starting: *NOW*

Experience has proved to me, time after time, the enormous value of arriving at a decision.
It is the failure to arrive at a fixed purpose, the inability to stop going around and round in
maddening circles, that drives men to nervous breakdowns and living hells. I find that fifty per
cent of my worries vanishes once I arrive at a clear, definite decision; and another forty per cent
usually vanishes once I start to carry out that decision.
So, I banish about 90 per cent of my worries by taking these four steps:
1. Writing down precisely what I am worried about.
2. Writing down what I can do about it.
3. Deciding what to do.
4. Starting immediately to carry out that decision.”

Action Plan:

1. What’s stressing you out right now? I am stressed out about: _____________________
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2. What can you do? I can do this about it:____________________________________
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3. What will you do? I will do this:_________________________________________
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4. Cool. Now DO IT!