LETTING GO: WILL THIS MATTER IN 5 YEARS?

I read interviews all the time where the interviewee is asked what advice he would give to his younger self? Most of the time the answer includes not taking things so seriously.

Things have a way of working them self out and worrying excessively is just an enormous waste of energy. When I look back at my life and monumental periods of growth, I see that there were huge periods of worry. But, these periods have also been the best periods of growth for me. What I was worried of most of the time was fear - fear of change, fear of failure, fear of being out of control etc....

Learning to live with that fear and out of my comfort zone pushed me to new levels in my career. I applied for new jobs and got them, I learned what worked and what didn't work for me in ways of organization, and I learned valuable lessons in communication as I waded through the fallout of misunderstandings,

If you can't control the outcome, don't spend any more time worrying. If it's not going to matter in a year (or five!), don't worry. That missed question will not impact your overall career success. That jerk who cut you off in traffic shouldn't be able to ruin your day. The patient yelling at you about insurance problems just needs to vent and it's usually not about you! So, focus on what you can control and let go of what you can't.