Anxiety about the future: Effective ways to combat the worries

Who doesn’t know this: Fears about the future – the worries that haunt your head. What will tomorrow be, what in a year? We’ll show you how to better deal with your fears about the future.

Fear of the future: What fears do you have?

A blank white slate, an uncertain path, an unknown tomorrow. There are many images that describe the future. And in all of them there are opportunities, but also risks – after all, who knows what tomorrow will bring? It can sometimes be a bit queasy.

Everyone has probably thought about tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day in a week, a month, a year with mixed feelings. It only gets serious when you can no longer live and enjoy the present moment because of all your worries. Then it is high time to change something.

It is important that you first understand why you are afraid.

• Is it a very general fear of the unknown, of not knowing what to expect?
• Is it the fear of a certain event?
• Is it the fear that you don’t have your future in your hands, that you don’t have control over it?
• Or simply the fear of failure, mistakes or misfortune?

Try to understand what you are afraid of, write it down or draw a picture about it. Being as specific as possible in describing your fear is the first step in reducing it.

Sometimes the solution lies in the source of the fear: for example, news paints a very dark picture of the future. If you have found the cause of your fear in this or something similar, consciously try to isolate yourself from it. For example, consciously block your news for a while, don’t fall into it doom scrolling and instead deal with beautiful things that build you up.

We show you more antidotes to fear of the future.

Paint your future black

• Try imagining the worst possible scenarios. What’s the worst thing that could happen to you? What would be the extreme misfortune of the extreme.
• Then think about how you would deal with it. Imagine step by step how you would react.
• Pens and paper might help you here too. Or you talk to someone else about it and tell him/her your fears.
• If you know the worst-case scenario and are aware that even then there are strategies to solve it, the worry immediately seems less threatening.

Take control of your future

Not everything is controllable and predictable, yes. But there are many things we can influence. And often the feeling of being in control helps. The opportunity to make a decision, to take matters into your own hands and to escape from the feeling of powerlessness.

• So go ahead, make plans, a plan A, a plan B, a plan C, as many as you want.
• Take to the streets, do something about your fear. Maybe there is even a guide for your specific fear. Browse the internet or visit a bookstore.
• Movement also helps to escape the feeling of passivity. Go for a walk, to jog, to go biking. Whatever is good for you.

think of the past

• What bad things have happened to you before? How did you deal with that back then? Imagine that. Then you will see: You have already dealt with it earlier. Who helped you then? Talk to that person, maybe she will help you again now.
• What positive experiences have you had in the past? Where have you been pleasantly surprised even though you assumed the worst? Let these moments pass by your inner eye and draw strength and trust from them. Who says the worst has to happen?
• Maybe it will also help you to look into the past of another person, maybe an older one, who has already lived through your current life situation. Or just that of a person who is going through exactly the same life situation as you.
• Or you pick up a book: The greatest minds in our history have often been surrounded by uncertainties and a frightening future. How did you deal with crises? How did you overcome your fears?

All of these strategies give you a new perspective and show you that you are not alone. And maybe your fear seems a little smaller when you look at it in the big picture of the world and its history.

Let go of the future

And finally, there are the fears, which we can never fully overcome. Against which we cannot take action, for which we cannot paint a pessimism.

At this moment, we simply have to accept the future with equanimity. Let go and make the most of the moment. Somehow gaining a bit of trust that everything will turn out the way it is supposed to and that things will continue. This is probably the most difficult of all possibilities: accepting the future as it is.

Read more on Utopia:

• fear overcome: These strategies will help
• serenity learn: helpful tips
• Strengthen self-confidence: practical tips for more self-confidence