--- title: Dale Carnegie: 5 Ways to Overcome Fear and Anxiety description: Let your action replace worrying and talking. canonical: https://time.com/4099973/overcome-fear-anxiety-dale-carnegie/ author: Business Insider article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-04T21:31:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:11.078Z og:title: 5 Ways to Conquer Fear and Anxiety, According to Dale Carnegie og:description: Let your action replace worrying and talking og:url: https://time.com/4099973/overcome-fear-anxiety-dale-carnegie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2350228ca15208f7/69886f98196cf49709038d39/business-man-standing-looking-out.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5256 og:image:height: 2957 og:image:alt: business-man-standing-looking-out og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Ways to Conquer Fear and Anxiety, According to Dale Carnegie twitter:description: Let your action replace worrying and talking twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2350228ca15208f7/69886f98196cf49709038d39/business-man-standing-looking-out.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Ways to Conquer Fear and Anxiety, According to Dale Carnegie > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: JCrew's President On How To Give and Take Criticism [Watch (HLS stream): JCrew's President On How To Give and Take Criticism](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5rVA3aOQ.m3u8) (2:25)  _Published 2015-10-09. JCrew's President, Jenna Lyons, explains how she got started in the fashion industry, what makes a good mentor and how to gracefully take and delicately give criticism._ by [Shana Lebowitz / Business Insider](https://time.com/author/business-insider/) ## Shana Lebowitz / Business Insider Nov 4, 2015 9:31 PM UTC  Businessman looking out high rise window at view of city below, rear view Businessman looking out high rise window at view of city below, rear view Getty Images by [Shana Lebowitz / Business Insider](https://time.com/author/business-insider/) ## Shana Lebowitz / Business Insider Nov 4, 2015 9:31 PM UTC Dale Carnegie is one of the most trusted authors in the self-improvement space, thanks largely to his bestseller [_How to Win Friends and Influence People_](http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034?tag=bisafetynet-20), originally published in 1936. His 1948 book, [_How to Stop Worrying and Start Living_](http://www.amazon.com/How-Stop-Worrying-Start-Living/dp/0671733354/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442947083&sr=1-1&keywords=dale+carnegie+how+to+stop+worrying+and+start+living&tag=bisafetynet-20), deals with tactics for liberating yourself from nagging anxieties that make you less happy and less productive. The book grew out of Carnegie’s experiences teaching adult education courses at the YMCA in New York City. Carnegie realized that worry was a common theme among his students, no matter their profession or background, and set out to write a book that would inspire them to take action against their own psychic demons. In the seven years leading up to the book’s publication, Carnegie researched ancient philosophy and spoke to a range of business executives about their strategies for conquering worry. But most importantly, he conducted an experiment of sorts by giving his students advice for eliminating worry and observing what worked. We read through _How to Stop Worrying and Start Living_ and pinpointed Carnegie’s five most compelling strategies for reducing everyday anxieties. **1\. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?”** There’s a simple three-step technique that can help when you’re besieged by personal or professional worries. First, ask yourself what’s the worst that could possibly happen. Second, prepare to accept the worst. Finally, figure out how to improve upon the worst, should it come to pass. This technique is based on an anecdote from Willis Carrier, founder of the modern air-conditioning industry. While working for the Buffalo Forge Company as a young man, Carrier found that a new gas-cleaning service his company provided wasn’t as effective as he’d hoped. Carrier realized that the worst that could happen was that his company would lose $20,000\. He then accepted it: The company could qualify the loss as the cost of researching a new strategy. Finally, he figured out how to improve the situation: If the company bought $5,000 worth of new equipment, they could resolve the issue. Ultimately, that’s exactly what they did, and they ended up making $15,000. **2\. Gather all the facts in an objective way** As Herbert E. Hawkes, former dean of Columbia College, told Carnegie, “If a man will devote his time to securing facts in an impartial, objective way, his worries will usually evaporate in light of knowledge.” Carnegie offers two ways to go about collecting facts objectively. You can pretend that you’re gathering this data for someone else, so you’re less emotionally invested in what you find. Or you can pretend that you’re a lawyer who is preparing to argue the other side of the issue — so you gather all the facts against yourself. Write down the facts on both sides of the case and you’ll generally get a clearer picture of the truth. **3\. Generate potential solutions to the problem** Leon Shimkin, then general manager at Simon and Schuster (he later became the owner), figured out a way to cut the time he spent in meetings by 75%. He told his associates that every time they wanted to present a problem at a meeting, they had to first submit a memorandum answering four questions: What is the problem? What is the cause of the problem? What are all possible solutions of the problem? What solution do you suggest? According to Shimkin, once he instituted this new system, his associates rarely came to him with their concerns. “They have discovered that in order to answer those four questions they have to get all the facts and think their problems through,” he told Carnegie. Once they did that, they typically found that “the proper solution has popped out like a piece of bread popping out from an electric toaster.” In other words, action replaced worrying and talking. **4\. Remember the law of averages** The law of averages refers to the probability of a specific event occurring — and you should consult the law to find out if it’s worth fretting. Chances are good that whatever you’re worried about isn’t likely to transpire. Carnegie writes that the U.S. Navy employed the law of averages in order to boost sailors’ morale. Sailors who were assigned to high-octane tankers were initially worried that they would be blown up when the tank exploded. So the Navy provided them with exact figures: Of the 100 tanks that were hit by torpedoes, 60 stayed afloat and only five sank in less than 10 minutes, leaving time to get off the ship. **5\. Place stop-loss orders on your worries** This strategy is based on a principle in stock trading. One investor said he set a stop-loss order on every market commitment he made. Here’s how it works: Say you buy a stock that sells for 100 dollars a share and set a stop-loss order for 90 dollars a share. As soon as that stock dips to 90 dollars a share, you sell it — no questions asked. You can use this principle in everyday life. For example, Carnegie once wanted to be a novelist, but after two years of toiling away without much success, he decided to cut his losses and go back to teaching and nonfiction writing. **_Read next:_** [**_5 Ways Self-Doubt Is Holding You Back_**](http://time.com/money/4074180/ways-self-doubt-holds-you-back/) _This_ [_article_](http://www.businessinsider.com/dale-carnegies-advice-on-worrying-2015-9) _originally appeared on_ [_Business Insider_](http://www.businessinsider.com) _More from Business Insider:_ * [9 Proven Tricks For Overcoming Anxiety And Fear](http://www.businessinsider.com/tricks-to-overcome-anxiety-and-fear-2014-11) * [There’s a simple trick to quickly reduce social anxiety](http://www.businessinsider.com/simple-trick-to-quickly-reduce-social-anxiety-2015-7) * [A former FBI agent recommends a simple 3-step exercise to beat anxiety](http://www.businessinsider.com/exercise-to-beat-anxiety-2015-8) * [5 Ways To Overcome Dating Anxiety](http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-overcome-dating-anxiety-2014-9) * [How to unlearn fears](http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-unlearn-fears-2015-3) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] When I first realized I wanted to be in fashion I took a class in Home Economics. I was extremely tall and got to make something for the first time that actually fit me. A girl named Dara Peterson in my class sat next to me and she said would you make me a skirt like that. And I thought yeah, that's cool. I could do that. And it was the first time I'd been recognized for how I looked, in a positive way. [ MUSIC ] What I find valuable in a mentor is modeling. It's hard to, as you're growing up, no one teaches you management. No one teaches You how to be a good boss. No one teaches you how to motivate or impress. It is not something you learn in school. [ MUSIC ] Watching people how they treat you, what kinds of things they do to make you feel good. What kinds of things they do to motivate you? What kinds of things make you not shut down? How do you not do those things? And all of those those traits and characteristics are the things that you build on overtime and make you the person you are and make you the manager that you are and make you the boss that you are and I think I've been incredibly fortunate to have worked with some people who I've learned so much from and hopefully I don't suck. The hardest thing I had to do was learn how to not internalize everything. I think, especially in a creative field, it's so easy when someone says, oh I don't like something, to feel hurt or crushed. It's like, but I made that. [ LAUGH ] And the fact of the matter is there's plenty of times to make more things, it's not the last time you're gonna make something. And it teaches you also how to Feedback, I think learning how to take feedback, and also how to give it, is probably the most challenging thing, particularly in a creative field. [ MUSIC ] I think one of the reasons I enjoy fashion is that, it isn't this the same thing every year. I mean there's always something next and it's always something different and whether it's a button down shirt that you've seen three times but this time that button down shirt is with a sparkly jewel or the next time it'll be with a ripped up jean and maybe it's with a heel, and I think things are constantly evolving, there's constantly new ways to show and that's what I've always loved about fashion, that I don't worry that there's going to be something next. Every year, whether you like it or not, somehow things change. And your eye shifts. And it feels exciting all over again. 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