Carol Kershaw - The Worry-Free Mind: Train Your Brain, Calm the Stress Spin Cycle, and Discover a Happier, More Productive

Praise for The Worry-Free Mind

In The Worry-Free Mind, Carol Kershaw and Bill Wade offer solid clinical experience, case studies, clear explanations, and many simple exercises to show readers how they can live worry-free lives full of possibility. Accept their invitation!

Robert B. McNeilly, MBBS, coauthor, Healing With Words

The Worry-Free Mind is a delightful book filled with wisdom, insight and tips for dealing with our everyday problems. So many of us deal with worry, stress, and the problems of life that tend to slow us down and put us off-track. If you want to understand yourself better, find more control and satisfaction, this is a must read!

Jeffrey L. Fannin, PhD, author, Thought Genius

TRAIN YOUR BRAIN, CALM THE STRESS SPIN CYCLE, AND DISCOVER A HAPPIER, MORE PRODUCTIVE YOU

Carol Kershaw, EdD and Will Wade, PhD

Copyright 2017 by Carol Kershaw, EdD and J. William Wade, PhD

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

THE WORRY-FREE MIND
EDITED BY STACEY FISCHKELTA
TYPESET BY PERFECTYPE, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Cover design by Brian Moore
Cover photo by nevodka/shutterstock
Printed in the U.S.A.

To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press.

The Career Press, Inc.
12 Parish Drive
Wayne, NJ 07470
www.careerpress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP Data Available Upon Request.

To our family

W e wish to thank Joni Rodgers for helping us get this project off the ground. Our very best to Jill Marsal, our literary agent, who supported this project and found our publisher. Thanks also to Stephanie Land, who provided invaluable editorial assistance.

Our appreciation to Roxanna Erickson-Klein, Jeff Zeig, Michael and Diane Yapko, Steve Lankton, and Alex and Annellen Simpkins for their invaluable support through the years.

Thanks to Ann Byrd for her priceless executive assistant help and to Richard Byrd for his video and artwork for this book.

Thanks to Michael Pye and Lauren Manoy at New Page Books. We appreciate your support throughout this project.

Finally, to our family and friends who always had positive and supportive comments, you have always been there for us.

T his book is not designed to replace medical or psychological treatment for a serious health condition. Please seek professional help if you have questions about your physical or psychological health.

I s that bathroom faucet dripping again? Are you sure those documents will get to your client before noon? Does it seem like your moms health is going downhill lately? Can you afford any of those colleges your daughter is applying to? Whats up with that check engine light on your dashboard? Why doesnt your spouse understand thatwait. Did you remember to sign those documents before they went to your client?

At 3:30 a.m., the hamster wheel in your head is going 90 mph. At 4:30 a.m., you tell yourself, I could still get two hours of sleep. At 5:30 a.m., youre still hoping for a catnap. At 6:30 a.m., your alarm clock jolts you awake to face another exhausting day. Multiple stout coffees power you through nine hours at the office. At home, a glass of wine helps you unwind for the evening. After a few hours of fitful sleep, though, your thoughts are spinning, and youre staring at the clock. Again.

The day-to-day demands of work and family will always be there; the fear, uncertainty, and stress, however, is a choice you make or unmake. How would it change your life, health, and relationships if you replaced your fatigue, self-doubt, and constant worry with energy, confidence, and calm? If youve been wondering why the negatives in your life seem to overwhelm the good things, or why your mind wont turn off that incessant worrying, its time to take control.

With our easy-to-implement tools and exercises, you can:

Shatter the illusions that keep you in a constant state of worry.

Meet everyday challenges with clarity and confidence.

Free your mind for the larger, more joyful task of being fully, gladly alive.

Well help you think outside the rules and boundaries youve set for yourselfconsciously and unconsciouslyand upgrade your beliefs and habits to break the cycle of worry thats been wearing you down.

How do you go from worry and rumination to a calm and peaceful mind? Tim Ferris, New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, said, You dont have to be Superman to get Superman results; you just need a better toolkit. Weve got that toolkit right here, filled with transformative tools and practices that are exploding peoples expectations of what is possible. Groundbreaking research in neuroplasticity, epigenetics, and quantum physics has revealed that you dont have to be a victim of genes, circumstances, or your mind. The construction of your physical and emotional reality depends on where you choose to place your attention. If your mind focuses on the negative, your reality will look pretty negative, too, which can cause you to live in a constant state of worry. But now the ability to heal your negative thinking, enjoy the present, manage your mind, and change the harmful habits, perceptions, and behaviors that fuel your worry is at your fingertips.

In The Worry-Free Mind, well teach you how to quickly calm yourself whenever worry or fear threatens to overwhelm you, and how to set up your environment to support the change you desire. Through easy, approachable applications of the latest neuroscience, well enable you to tangibly, quantifiably retool the way your brain works so you can break free from damaging patterns and wake up to a happier, healthier, more vibrant life.

Together, we have more than 60 years of experience helping people just like you calm their fears, ease their worry, and take steps to create a better future. The Worry-Free Mind is for anyone who finds that incessant worry is ruining his or her quality of life. By identifying the main factor in the brain change process and developing ways to harness the dynamic and healing capabilities of the mind, weve been able to help thousands of patients overcome difficult circumstances and devastating life shocks, as well as cope with the ordinary day-to-day troubles that can wear a person down. We expect youll be as surprised and delighted as they were to discover that its possibleand not even that complicatedto rewire your mind and transform your life.