196. What's The Worst That Could Happen?
- cindyesliger
- 3 days ago
- 10 min read
Catastrophizing can quietly run our lives, convincing us that worst-case scenarios are inevitable and that risks are too dangerous to take. As we learn to see these distorted patterns for what they are, we begin to understand how much they drain our confidence, stall our progress, and keep us from opportunities that could move us forward. When we challenge these thoughts and take small, intentional steps, we reclaim our ability to act with courage and trust ourselves again.
Catastrophizing tricks us into believing we’re being cautious, when we’re actually sabotaging ourselves.
Are you constantly imagining worst-case scenarios every time you consider taking a risk at work? Are you stuck in over-preparation, hesitation, or emotional reactivity because everything feels like a potential threat? Are you wondering why your confidence and momentum stall even when nothing is actually going wrong?
You’ll learn that catastrophizing is not a form of preparation—it’s a self-sabotaging thought trap that convinces us the worst-case scenario is inevitable and keeps us from taking the bold actions that move our careers forward. By learning to interrupt these spirals, you can begin to think more clearly, trust yourself more, and take strategic risks with greater confidence.
WHAT YOU WILL DISCOVER
Why understanding the cognitive distortions behind catastrophizing is essential for breaking the cycle of fear, self-doubt, and stalled career progress
5 practical tips to interrupt catastrophic thinking
Why recognizing that catastrophizing gives a false sense of control helps you shift from survival mode to intentional action—opening the door to opportunities you might otherwise avoid
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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the Stop Sabotaging Your Success podcast, episode one hundred and ninety-six. I'm your host Cindy Esliger. This is the podcast focusing on what we can do today to take control of our careers and overcome the inevitable barriers to success that we encounter along the way.
For many of us, catastrophizing is an all too familiar mental trap. It's that spiraling thought pattern where we jump straight to the worst-case scenario and treat it like a foregone conclusion. One small risk becomes a potential disaster; one unfamiliar opportunity turns into a looming failure. This kind of anxious thinking doesn't just ratchet up our stress levels—it undermines our confidence, keeps us stuck in over-preparation or inaction, and blocks career opportunities before we even give ourselves a shot at success. When the margin for error already feels slim, catastrophizing can trick us into believing that bold moves just aren't worth the risk.
In this episode, we're naming this pattern of catastrophizing for what it is—an exhausting, unhelpful form of self-sabotage—and exploring how to interrupt it. We'll look at why our brains default to worst-case thinking, how to spot the warning signs that you're beginning to spiral, and what you can do to challenge those thoughts before they hold you back. We'll also discuss some simple strategies to help you take calculated risks, trust in your ability to recover if things don't turn out as planned, and start making decisions that could potentially move your career forward with more clarity and courage.
Catastrophizing is that anxious thought pattern where your brain skips over every possible neutral or positive outcome and grabs hold of the worst-case scenario like it's going to happen and there's nothing you can do about it. You know the one: "If I speak up in this meeting and say the wrong thing, I'll be exposed as a fraud, my boss will question everything I've ever done or will ever do, I'll get put on a performance plan, and then, watch—I'll be unemployed, I'll never get another job, and I'll be living in a van down by the river." Sound familiar? Or, am I the only one who can take something completely benign all the way to a doomsday scenario, in no time flat?
Catastrophizing isn't just some quirky overthinking habit. It can be a career-killer. Because when you're constantly scanning for everything that could go wrong, you stop yourself from doing anything bold enough to move your career forward, especially in workplaces where the risks feel amplified and the margin for error feels razor thin. We already think that we have to be flawless just to be seen as competent, and then we pile on more pressure from within. So, the idea of trying something new or taking a risk? Forget it—we'd rather not set ourselves up for more criticism.
And honestly, I have to say that hesitation makes perfect sense. We've been conditioned to believe that any misstep will confirm everyone's secret suspicion that we don't belong. So, we hold back. We get mired in anxious thoughts, cycling through every possible way things could go terribly wrong. We hesitate to go for the promotion, lead the big project, make the necessary pivot, or say what we actually think. We want a guarantee that we'll succeed before we even try—which just isn't how any of this works.
But here's the thing: catastrophizing is not protecting you. It's paralyzing you.
For years, I had this habit of jumping to the worst-case scenario and convincing myself it was inevitable. My brain would take a perfectly survivable risk and turn it into an existential threat. When something mildly uncertain happened—or I thought about doing something even slightly out of the ordinary—my brain would hit the panic button. My body would flood with cortisol, my nervous system would gear up for danger, and my thoughts would go haywire. I'd be spiraling, all because my brain confused possibility with probability.
This would then set off the stress response. Even when the situation didn't call for it, my body reacted like I was about to be chased by a saber-toothed tiger. I became hypervigilant, emotionally reactive, and creatively paralyzed. And, it disconnected me from my resilience. I'd forget that, in all likelihood, if something did go wrong, I could probably figure out a way to recover since, in most cases, I'd successfully done it before.
But catastrophizing doesn't let you go there. It fixates only on the damage, not the recovery. And when you spend enough time bracing for impact, you never get a chance to move forward. This anxiety you may be feeling isn't always about what's actually happening. It's often about what might happen which means that anxiety is rooted in your thoughts, not in objective reality. It's either past-based rumination—where you're rehashing something that's already happened and can't be changed, or it's future focused worry—where you're trying to prevent something that hasn't happened yet and it might never happen at all.
Neither of those are helpful if you're trying to make meaningful progress in your career.
When we're stuck in that anxious loop, we're less likely to take strategic risks. And in environments where we've had to fight for visibility, credibility, and opportunity, that means we're less likely to raise our hand, put our name forward, or speak up in moments that matter. Our ambition, our level of self-confidence, and our willingness to bet on ourselves all take a hit.
And just like that, our career stalls—not because we aren't capable, but because our brains have been working overtime to protect us from imagined disasters.
So, let's identify five of the most common cognitive distortions that feed our catastrophizing and make us believe that we're being logical when we're actually just spiraling:
Catastrophizing: where we think, "If I mess this up, I'll get fired and never work again." You've gone from one mistake to lifelong ruin in under ten seconds. While impressive, it's completely false.
Magnification: where we think, "My situation is so much worse than everyone else's." We're all facing challenges, but your brain is making it seem so much worse than it actually is.
All or Nothing Thinking: where we think, "If I don't do this perfectly, I'll be seen as incompetent." This type of thinking leaves no room for anything between the obvious extremes, when in fact, there's so much more nuance.
Overgeneralization: where we think, "This one setback proves nothing ever works out for me." Where we believe that one rejection means the universe has conspired against us permanently. Except, it hasn't.
Blaming: where we think, "If only they would do their job, I wouldn't be so stressed." Blaming others can feel soothing in the moment, but it distracts us from things we can control—like our own response.
These distortions keep you locked in a loop of stress, self-doubt, and stalled momentum. They make every problem feel permanent and every mistake feel monumental. And, they quietly convince you to play small just to avoid potential embarrassment.
So, how do you know you're falling into one of these patterns? Start by watching for these five red flags in your work life:
You're avoiding new opportunities because you're convinced they'll end up in failure.
You're over-preparing or aiming for perfection, to the point that it actually makes things worse because you're not getting anything else done, you've hit the point of diminishing returns, or you're headed for burnout.
You're reacting emotionally to feedback or changes, even minor ones, because everything feels like a threat.
You're looping negative thoughts that sound factual but are actually assumptions, opinions, or exaggerations.
You're discounting your wins, obsessing over past mistakes, and using them to prove that you're doomed and going to amount to nothing.
When these patterns show up, they erode your self-trust. And when your self-trust erodes, it shows. Others start to interpret your hesitation as a lack of competence or lack of confidence, or both, which then makes them less likely to recommend you for new opportunities or promotions. And around and around we go, until we do something to break this cycle.
So, now that we've dragged catastrophizing out into the light, what can we do about it? Here are five practical strategies to help you interrupt the spiral and start reclaiming your mental energy:
Do a Thought Audit: Start by writing down the fear you're feeling as a way to externalize it. Then ask yourself: Is this true? Where's the proof? Is this logical or emotional? Could something else also be true? You'll be amazed at how often your fear collapses under this type of scrutiny.
Reframe Things: For every worst-case scenario you come up with, write down the best-case and most realistic outcome. Then, ask yourself: If the worst did happen, how would I recover? Who could help me? What resources would I have at my disposal? Draw on your past experience as evidence of your capability of handling whatever life throws your way, because chances are you've already lived through worse.
Use The Magic Wand Exercise: Where you imagine that if you were to wave a magic wand and eliminate the stress, how would you show up differently? Would you speak more freely? Take more risks? Be more creative? Treat yourself with more compassion? This exercise helps you see what's possible when fear isn't in the driver's seat.
Experiment with Action: Feel the fear and try the thing you're afraid of anyway, but treat it like an experiment, not a commitment. Start small, adjust as you go, and give yourself permission to quit if it's not for you. You're not locked into a decision just because you tried it. Trying something new is just a means of collecting data.
Track Your Growth: Use a journal or a notes app to track the moments when you are able to challenge your anxious thoughts and take action anyway. What did you try? What actually happened? How did others respond? What did you learn? This builds evidence that you can face fear and move through it.
Now, I invite you to consider for a moment, what your life and career would look like if you stopped assuming the worst? Really think about that. Imagine you woke up tomorrow and that catastrophizing voice in your head was gone—or at least it got a little quieter. What would you do differently? Would you finally apply for that job that feels a little out of reach? Would you pitch your idea in the meeting instead of sitting on it? Would you start showing up as the leader you already are?
These negative thought patterns don't make you weak; they make you human. They're survival strategies that have overstayed their welcome. And while you may not have chosen them consciously, you can now choose to change them.
Now is the time to do something simple and powerful. Think of one area in your career where you've been catastrophizing. Then, write down three possible outcomes: worst-case, best-case, and the most likely. Then, pick one small step forward and do it. Then, trust yourself to figure out the next step. You don't need to know the whole plan before you experiment with taking one small action.
What many of us don't realize is that catastrophizing can become addictive, in the sense that our brains start to prefer worst-case thinking because it gives us the illusion of control. In unpredictable or high-stakes environments, imagining the worst can feel like preparation. It's our brain's way of saying, "If I rehearse this disaster enough times, I'll be ready when it happens." But, what we don't realize is that this mental rehearsal keeps us stuck in survival mode, trains our nervous system to expect a threat, and makes it harder to recognize real opportunity when it shows up.
In other words, we don't just catastrophize because we're afraid—we also do it because it feels useful. It gives us a false sense of readiness. But the truth is, constantly preparing for disaster doesn't protect us—it conditions us to no longer trust ourselves, avoid growth, and overlook the very things that could move our careers forward. Once you see it for what it is, a coping mechanism that has overstayed its welcome, you can start to choose something better.
So, let's recap three of the most important points we've covered:
Catastrophizing tricks us into believing we're being cautious, when we're actually sabotaging ourselves. By focusing only on worst-case scenarios, we convince ourselves we're preparing—but all we're actually doing is reinforcing fear, staying stuck in survival mode, and avoiding the very actions that could help us succeed.
This anxious thought pattern disconnects us from our own resilience and ability to recover. We overestimate the likelihood and severity of failure while underestimating our own ability to adapt, figure things out, and bounce back. Because we can recover, even when things don't exactly go as planned.
The antidote to catastrophizing is not avoidance, but awareness and action. By recognizing the thought patterns, questioning their accuracy, and experimenting with small, strategic steps forward, we can retrain our brains to tolerate uncertainty, trust ourselves more, and open the door to new opportunities—without needing a guarantee of perfection first.
Catastrophizing may feel like self-protection, but it often does more harm than good by fueling stress, undermining our self-confidence, and keeping us from seizing the opportunities we've worked so hard to earn. When we learn to recognize these distorted thoughts for what they are and challenge them with curiosity and self-trust, we reclaim our ability to take bold, meaningful steps forward.
The good news is—your worst-case scenario isn't inevitable, and your best-case scenario might be closer than you think, if you can simply give yourself the chance to go for it.
And that's it for this episode of Stop Sabotaging Your Success. Remember to download your Guide for Dismantling the Disaster Mindset at cindyesliger.com/podcast, episode one hundred and ninety-six.
Thank you to our producer, Alex Hochhausen and everyone at Astronomic Audio. Get in touch, I'm on Instagram @cindyesliger. My email address is info@cindyesliger.com.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, you have to come check out The Confidence Collective. It's my monthly coaching program where we dig a little deeper into what's holding you back in your career and we find the workarounds. We help you overcome the barriers and create the career you want. Join me over at cindyesliger.com/join. I'd love to have you join me in The Confidence Collective.
Until next week, I'm Cindy Esliger. Thanks for listening.
