Seems like a silly question when you think about it. Why would I want to keep track of all the bad things that might happen to me? But, when I read Seth Godin’s suggestion to keep a Catastrophe Journal a few week back, it intrigued me.
According to Seth, it works like this:
“Every time you’re sure you’ve blown it, completely blown it, that you’re certain you’re going to get disbarred, fired, demoted—becoming friendless, homeless and futureless—write it down in your Catastrophe Journal.”
This seemed to fit me because at night, all my dreams have the same theme; a pending catastrophe. I am late for class (or my flight, or my speech, or my deadline). In my dreams, whatever I do, I can’t get there. While I am very much an optimist when it comes to other people’s businesses and lives, when it comes to me, I always prepare for the worst.
So I took Seth’s advice and started writing things down. My first entry was the fear of what my property tax bill on our new apartment would really be. I was not sure how much we would owe in this first payment with all the credits and debits at the closing. I had the sealed envelope sitting on my desk for weeks afraid to open it. Today, I was forced to unseal it since taxes are due August 1st. The amount was what I had hoped it would be and certainly not the catastrophe I was envisioning.
Seth was right about keeping this kind of journal:
“What you’ll find, pretty certainly, is that two things happen: 1. You will realize over time that your predictions of doom don’t occur, and 2. As soon as you begin writing down the details, the cycle we employ of making the details worse and worse over time will slow and stop.”
Give it a try- it may help keep those catastrophes in perspective!
