Why Ive decided to stop stressing about the future

Why I've decided to stop stressing about the future Why I've decided to stop stressing about the future I’m a chronic look-ahead-er. I’ve been that way for as long as I can remember.I’ve tried just about every trick in the book to try to focus on the present moment rather than hesitantly and anxiously looking ahead into the unknown. A wonderful former therapist told me that looking ahead causes anxiety and looking behind causes regret, so it’s important to work to stay in the present moment. This is a helpful, logical way of thinking, but the question remains for me - how do I do it?What I knowI know that  practicing meditation  even for just a few moments per day helps. And I know that  staying organized  and allowing myself to have a feeling of control helps, too. Exercise and its accompanying endorphins often loosen the tight grip of anxiety that I sometimes feel in my chest. And so do gentle reminders - my mom told me an analogy once that compared looking ahead to swimming - it’s important to focus only on each individual stroke rather than the ultimate end of the lap. How I get trappedMy anxiety du jour is that I once again find myself at the crossroads of a career transition. I wrote about it a few months back, but I will be finishing up a graduate degree in English in December. This degree is quite broad; I know I have the opportunity to apply my newly-acquired skills to many different areas. But with that comes the next question: where do I turn? What do I do? And then come the tailspin questions (often riddled with imposter syndrome): will I be able to find a job I love? Am I adding too many twists and turns to my career path? What if I’m not qualified enough? How will I pay the bills? What if I hate the new job? How will I know if it’s “right”?And once I’m in this mindset, no matter how many times work on my breathing or picture the swimmer, the anxiety grips me.A change of perspectiveThere’s a beautiful wooded trail near my house that I walk just about every day. I was recently  listening to a podcast  and was struck when the in terviewer asked the interviewee what they planned to do “next.” For some reason, that word lodged itself into my brain and stayed. I kept walking and it became a near-mantra that day. With the pace of my stride, I thought, “next, next, next, next …”This little word somehow sparked in me a shift in mindset. Instead of focusing so much on what I should do for the rest of my life and worrying about the broad, distant questions, I have continued to repeat the word “next” to myself: what do I want to do  next? What is the  next  best step for me? What  next  step will help keep me on the path that feels inherently right? What can I do  next  to help better myself?What I focus on nowInstead of what is forever…just, what is next? I’m almost 30 and realize that I am still pretty young- with many years of my career still ahead of me. Instead of finding the “be all, end all” path, maybe it’s okay that I continue on a more circuitous route. It can cause anxiety, sure, b ut maybe there’s some fun in not knowing what is to come. Maybe the trick is to move away from the perceived stability of “forever” and focus on the excitement - instead of the anxiety - of the unknown. Maybe the point is to look forward, but just a step or two ahead - toward the next.This article was originally posted on CareerContessa.com.