Daily Lab: Why worry?

Short Snippet:

• Draft a “Worry List” to detail marketing-related anxiety
• By writing them down, they become less daunting
• Counting worries helps create strategies for addressing them

Why read the rest:

• Get insight on the psychological benefits and practicality of confronting your marketing worries head-on

Before we finish a project, we have our clients compile a “Worry List.”

It may sound strange, but we get them to write down everything they’re worried about when it comes to the project.

Are they worried about having the time to put it in place? Are they worried about getting a return on their investment? Are they worried about how their peers, colleagues, or clients will react? Are they worried they won’t stick with it?

Whatever it is—and however many there might be—we get them to write them down.

And you know what, even when the lists are long—and they can be!—our clients almost always remark that there were fewer than they’d imagined.

It felt like they were worried about a lot of things. But, once it’s on paper, it’s really not all that much.

As U. S. Grant once said about the literal and figurative wolves that stalk us: “There are always more of them before they are counted.”

So, even when it’s hard–even when it feels like it’ll just make things worse—count your worries. Do an Honest Assessment of what you’re working on, and identify ways it could go wrong.

Because here’s the thing: Not only will you feel better once you’ve counted them, you’ll have a way to deal with the ones that are left, too.