Questioning Worry and Action

THE BOLDER WAY™

QUESTION ANYTHING

QUESTION RESOURCE 0023

THE QUESTION

What am I doing because I am worried?

Worry can move attention toward action.

I may prepare, check, ask, wait, avoid, intervene, postpone, monitor, decide, or keep doing something because I am worried about what might happen.

Sometimes the action addresses something that genuinely requires attention.

Sometimes the action changes how I feel without changing what I am worried about.

Questioning worry and action does not require me to stop acting.

It allows me to Question what is directing the action.

A QUESTION TO HOLD

What action actually belongs here?

BEGIN WHERE SOMETHING GETS YOUR ATTENTION.

You do not have to answer every Question.

THE BOLDER WAY™

QUESTION ANYTHING

QUESTION RESOURCE 0023

BEGIN HERE

WHAT AM I DOING?

What am I doing because I am worried?
What am I preparing for?
What am I checking?
What am I monitoring?
What am I asking someone else to do?
What am I avoiding?

What am I postponing?
What am I trying to prevent?
What am I trying to make happen?
What am I trying to make stop?
What am I doing again?
What am I considering doing next?

WHAT DOES THE ACTION ADDRESS?

What situation does this action respond to?
What do I know before I act?
What am I assuming before I act?
What possibility am I responding to?
What can this action actually change?

What can it not change?
Does the action address the situation—or the feeling of worry?
Could it be doing both?
Would this action still make sense if I felt differently?

WHAT CHANGES WHEN I DISTINGUISH AN ACTION THAT ADDRESSES THE SITUATION FROM AN ACTION THAT ADDRESSES MY WORRY?

THE BOLDER WAY™

QUESTION ANYTHING

QUESTION RESOURCE 0023

GO FURTHER

WHEN ACTION BECOMES A WAY TO MANAGE UNCERTAINTY

Am I acting because something needs to be done?
Am I acting because doing something feels better than not knowing?
What am I hoping this action will settle?
What am I hoping it will prevent?
Can the action actually provide that certainty?
Am I doing more because I still feel worried?

How would I know when enough has been done?
What would make me stop?
What would make me do more?
Does continued worry make me believe continued action is required?
If the worry remains after I act, do I assume the action was insufficient?

CHOOSING WHILE WORRIED

What choice is actually available to me?
What belongs to ACT even while FEEL remains worried?
What would I choose if I did not use the intensity of the worry to decide?
What consequences belong to the action I choose?

What consequences belong to not acting?
Am I willing to own either choice?
What action can I take without knowing the outcome?
What action can wait?
What action is no longer mine to take?

QUESTION TO GO FURTHER

Does the worry need to remain for the action to remain necessary?

THE BOLDER WAY™

QUESTION ANYTHING

QUESTION RESOURCE 0023

LET THE QUESTION MOVE

AFTER I ACT

What changed because I acted?
What did not change?
What information became available?
What remains uncertain?
What responsibility remains?
What worry remains?
Does the remaining worry point to another action?

Or am I assuming that because I am still worried, I must still do something?
What would tell me that my part is complete for now?
Can I act without controlling the outcome?
Can I stop acting while the outcome is still unknown?
What remains outside my action?

LOOK AGAIN THROUGH THE THREE LENSES

SELF

What do I use action to tell me about how I am handling my worry?

Do I believe taking action means I am responsible, prepared, capable, or in control?

What do I tell myself when there is nothing more I can do?

SYSTEMS

What action belongs to me—and what action belongs to the System?

What process, decision, protection, response, or correction is the System responsible for?

What happens when I begin doing what I believe the System should be doing?

SOCIETY

What have I learned about what a worried Human should do?

When is action praised as responsible, vigilant, prepared, or caring?

When is waiting, not acting, or allowing uncertainty treated as unacceptable?

RETURN TO THE QUESTION

What am I doing because I am worried?
What action actually belongs here?
What does the action address?

What remains after I act?
Does anything else belong to me now?
What remains a Question?

What does this reveal about Being Human?

Answers can come from anywhere. Questioning remains yours.

Questioning Worry and Action — QR-0023