This year I am trying to worry less, and it’s a hard resolution to measure. I can see why people do Dry January or put numbers against their New Year’s goals. Whether it be numbers on the scale or how many times you are going to go to the gym. You do that because you can measure them. These goals are easy to quantify. You can see your progress, unlike something that is so ambiguous like “worrying less.”
Thanks to my anxiety, I make a catastrophe of most things in my head. If something is going well, it’s hard for me to enjoy and appreciate it. I mostly wait for the other shoe to drop. But I have a theory about needing to do less of something: Adding more. If I try to do more – more learning, more fun, more spontaneity… will I have time to worry?
What Are You Doing More Of?
I wrote a blog post last week that kicked off this topic in our weekly podcast. Penn and I talk through what we want more of in 2024 (which Penn is super on board with for the sole reason that it rhymes. Thank goodness I didn’t think of this in 2025.) I asked a bunch of you what you wanted more of in 2024 and your answers did not disappoint:
Enjoying the journey, even if I’m on a parallel path
Breathing and pausing before reacting
Playing more pickleball
Taking time for hobbies that aren’t work-related
Drinking vodka
Taking care of myself
Lifting heavy things and putting them back down
Calling friends just because
Listening to more Taylor Swift
Letting go of stuff I don’t need
Dancing! Living! Debauchery!
(Ok those last three were from three different people, but I think they probably need to hang out in 2024.)
More Believing
I couldn’t find the person who said it first, but a quote I think about a lot is ‘What if you replaced worry with belief?’ Instead of worrying that something will go badly, you believe that something will go right. I am going to add ‘more belief’ to what I need more of in 2024.
What do you need more of? Tell us and enjoy this week’s episode:
