Useless Pattern 1. Predicting the Future and Catastrophizing

The Futile Task of Predicting the Future

One of the most useless and stressful thinking patterns is the tendency to constantly try to predict the future in a negative way.

If you truly want to live your life in peace, tranquility, and harmony, it is absolutely necessary that you stop trying to guess what will happen next.

When we focus solely and exclusively on trying to predict the future, all we achieve is filling ourselves with deep and unnecessary anguish in the present.

The mind becomes obsessed with ideas such as a business failing or not making the money we need to make ends meet.

This type of negative thinking about what will come fills us with stress because our mental focus is permanently stuck in a future that does not yet exist.

The Mechanics of Catastrophizing

This pattern often manifests as catastrophizing, which is the habit of taking something very seriously. small and turn it into a huge problem.

For example, if you miss your bus in the morning, your mind may create a chain of thoughts in which you will end up being fired from your job for being late.

In the same way, a small argument with your partner can immediately be interpreted as a sure sign that the relationship is over for good.

Even a simple refusal from someone you like can be transformed into a personal catastrophe that makes you feel completely miserable and worthless.

In all these moments, what we do is start to build catastrophic situations from events that, in reality, are very small and perfectly manageable.

Living like "Zombies" in the Present

When we fall into this pattern of thinking, we practically live as if we were zombies, going about the tasks of the day but with our minds completely elsewhere.

Although our body is in the present, our attention is static fixated on how things won't work out and all the possible future failures.

This state of disconnection prevents us from fully living in the present moment, as we are constantly worried about events that may never occur.

We become mere spectators of our own lives, unable to enjoy positive experiences because we are too busy imagining tragedies that aren't real.

The Stress of Unfulfilled Goals

This way of thinking also applies to our life goals, generating constant stress about things that haven't happened yet and may never happen.

We wonder what will happen if we reach thirty-five without having found a partner, or if we reach forty without having a stable job.

We walk around all day with our minds set on a future that we don't even know if it's possible, carrying the weight of expectations that suffocate us.

This habit of focusing on what could happen Evil is what fills us with stress and prevents us from acting with confidence to build the future we desire.