Natalie Fisher shows how to neutralize "what if" fears by countering them with the most positive outcome, then backing it with concrete plans. She uses running out of gas as an example: replace the worry with visions of abundant stations, a spare canister, local repair shops, and AAA membership. This pairing of positive visualization with real contingencies leaves no room for doubt.
decide to counter those reasons, and then you take it a step further and give it the most positive thing you could have to say. So if Max says, oh, what if we run out of gas? You can say, yeah, what if we don't? And what if we just breeze through and we've got gas stations all along the way and we know exactly where they are and it's going to work out perfectly? And we can have a spare gas canister in the back and it's going to be no problem. And, you know, maybe we know someone in this city or we know where the car shops are in case we break down. We'll be able to make it there, or we'll know who to call. Maybe we'll have AAA. Like, you'll be able to call it out as what if the best happens? And if the worst happens, we have a plan for it anyway, right? It kind of gives your brain— it gives Max nowhere to go, right? He has to kind of be like, okay, well, I guess we're going. And he might still have a negative attitude, but he can't counter anymore.
How To Sound Good Without Having All the Answers (In Meetings & Job Interviews)
