“Worrying is an active, liberating activity” – Stephen Schwarzman, What It Takes: Lessons In the Pursuit of Excellence
Stephen Schwarzman, famed private equity guru, eloquently said on a Knowledge Project podcast, “Worrying is liberating, if you are constantly worried about what could go wrong and have a pretty good idea of what it might be, you are more cautious on taking activities that put yourself in peril.”
In a world where anxiety about the future is seen as a major health issue, is it such a bad thing to be worried about the future or anxious about the decisions we make?
I believe it takes a healthy balance of worry to counter our decision making, as if we worry too much it can paralyze us with fear.
On the flip side, acting recklessly in a blinded risk-taking manner can place our futures at risk of meeting a crippling adversity that threatens our very survival, be it personal or professional.
So embrace the worry about the decisions that impact your future, from buying a home to acquiring a business. Let your worry create cognitive models that help you anticipate problems that could exist in the future and devise strategies to pivot accordingly to avoid disasters.
In the end, worrying is not the devil some make it out to be, it can actually be a liberator and lifesaver.
