Worries are entirely every day. It is adaptive (beneficial) to worry about things sometimes. It helps us identify potential problems. However, worry can become problematic when it is persistent. Excessive worrying can hurt your well-being and lead to a state of chronic anxiety or stress. It can also stress relationships, harm self-confidence, and hurt your career. However, stopping worrying is not always easy.

Worry involves negative thought patterns—patterns we have repeatedly used, making them hard-wired in our brains. Stopping worrying involves confronting our beliefs, values, and emotions. Here are five steps to take to put an end to worrying.

1.   Explore the origins of your worry

You can tell whether your worry is about your situation or how you think by exploring whether the worry is general or specific. If you worry about one specific thing (e.g., work, kids, money) but do not worry about everything, you should consider taking constructive action to change your situation.

However, working on your worrying thoughts is an excellent first step if you are like me and worry about everything. Either way, it is good to investigate the origins of your worry so you can become self-aware of it.

2.   Identify your unique worry patterns

Here are some thought patterns that lead to worry. Some people have all of these patterns; others have just a few. By understanding what thoughts cause our worries, we can more easily resolve them.

Catastrophizing is when we expect the worst possible outcomes.

Minimization is when we downplay the good things.

All-or-nothing thinking is when we interpret a situation as all good or all bad.

Overgeneralization is when we believe that having one negative experience means we will always have this negative experience.

Negative attention is when we focus on the negative things that went wrong rather than the positive ones.

Rumination is when we think about something distressing over and over again.

Mind reading is when we believe we know what others think even though we have not asked them what they think.

3. Stop worrying by moving your body

When you worry, your sympathetic nervous system (the fight-or-flight system) is activated. Even if you completely stop worrying, it will not immediately get those neurochemicals out of your body. That is why cardiovascular exercise can help with worry.

Exercise activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which relieves stress and helps calm the body, returning it to its emotional baseline.

4. Try mindfulness to calm worries

The next step to stop worrying is by cultivating mindfulness. By sitting quietly, noticing your thoughts, and letting them go, mindfulness can help redirect worries. Over time, mindfulness can train the mind to calm the body without getting stuck in worries.

To practice mindfulness meditation, all you need is a comfy spot. A meditation video helps me stay focused.

Here is a helpful mindfulness meditation video for a worried mind:

5. Talk to someone about your worries

Talking with a trusted counselor or friend can help you gain more perspective on your worries. Is it worth worrying about? How can you think about this situation differently? Keeping your worries to yourself can lead to their building up and becoming overwhelming.

However, be cautious about who you talk to about your worries. Other worriers may worsen things, so be thoughtful about whom you share your worries with.