I work as a regional representative for a small, service-based company.

I’m responsible for prospecting, sales, AND providing top-notch service.

I ran a sales meeting with a prospect recently that went very well. They didn’t sign up on the spot, but I sensed they would.

As I was driving home from the meeting, my mind started racing with negative thoughts about the future:

• I’m not sure if I can make this client happy.

• Did I over promise what I can deliver?

• Was I honest enough?

• The possible outcome and likely outcome are much different. Did I explain the difference well enough?

• I hope they don’t sign up.

As I expected, they called me while I was driving home and told me they want to move forward.

The thoughts intensified. I was full of anxiety by the time I arrived home.

The thoughts were still churning when I went to bed.

I eventually fell asleep, but woke up in the middle of the night with the thoughts still there. I fell back asleep, but they started again as soon as I woke up in the morning.

I slept plenty, but did NOT feel rested.

Future Tripping

What I described above is called “future tripping.”

Here’s how my therapist defines it:

Future tripping happens when we get caught up in worry about possible future negative outcomes. A subtype of this is when we predict that things will turn out badly and are convinced that our prediction is an established fact.

Predicting what may happen in the future can be useful:

• It keeps us safe when dangerous weather is forecasted

• It’s the reason we wear seatbelts when we ride in a car

• It motivates us to prepare for upcoming events and presentations

But when we attach anxiety and worry to the predictions, we’ve gone too far.

Consider my work example from above:

Was my anxiety and worry useful in this context?

No.

How To Manage Future Tripping

It’s unrealistic to expect yourself to never take “future trips” in your mind, but you can improve at managing the trips when they happen.

Here’s what my therapist recommends:

A key tool for coping with future tripping is to regularly remind yourself that you will do the best you can and regardless of the outcome, you will find a way to deal with it.



Surely you can think of examples of times when things turned out much better than you had anticipated.

Each of these examples provide evidence that you can, in fact, find a way to handle whatever comes your way.

Here are five steps to manage future tripping that will reduce your anxiety about the future:

Awareness

You can’t fix a problem without knowing it exists in the first place.

The first step to manage future tripping is to notice when it’s happening.

Reading this post should help. Now that you know what future tripping means, you’re more likely to notice when your mind takes trips.

Practices to increase your general awareness, such as meditation, mindfulness, solitude, etc., will also help.

When you’re able to catch your mind in the midst of future tripping, you can then employ strategies to manage it.

Affirmations

When you catch your mind future tripping, start with my therapist’s advice from above:

• Remind yourself that you will do your best.

• Remind yourself that no matter what happens, you will find a way to deal with it.

You might write these reminders on an index card. Keep the card with you at all times. Whenever you start future tripping, pull the card out and read the reminders. Do this over and over again until the repeating the reminders happens naturally.

Also, remind yourself of examples from your past for which things turned out better than you anticipated.

Indentify Controllables

Next, ask yourself the following question:

What about this situation do I control?

The answer to this question will be a very short list.

For my personal example from above, the only thing I can control is doing my absolute best for the client. I can’t COMPLETELY control the outcome or whether they are happy with my service.

Make a Plan

Once you’ve determined the controllables, make a plan for giving your absolute best effort on those things.

Identify the most desirable outcome, then reverse engineer the process to determine the steps you need to take to make that outcome as likely as possible.

With your mind focused on creating a plan, it doesn’t have the bandwidth for more future tripping.

Execute the Plan

Finally, execute the plan.

Once you’ve identified the actions you need to take, start with the first one and do it to the best of your ability.

After each step (or whenever it makes sense), reassess your plan and make any necessary adjustments to the desired outcome and/or the actions steps you need to take moving forward.

Your anxiety about the future won’t completely go away by following these five steps, but they’ll help you manage your future-tripping thoughts.

You’ll gain the necessary perspective to catch them when they arise and transform them into an action plan that will bring you back to the present moment.

Thank you for reading!

Matt