and	concludes:	“I’ll	never	meet	the	right	one.”
Overgeneralizing	causes	you	to	seal	the	deal	on	your	fate.	In	your	mind,
you	render	your	future	chances	of	success	or	getting	what	you	want	at	zero.
And	perhaps	most	importantly,	overgeneralizing	means	an	end	to	trying.	For
example,	if	you	stop	believing	you	will	ever	get	promoted,	you	stop	putting	in
the	extra	effort	at	work.	
If
	
you	believe	you	won’t	find	a	romantic	partner,	you
stop	trying	to	engage	new	acquaintances	or	actively	date.
The	second	component	of	the	anxious	mind	is	that	we	underestimate	our
ability	to	cope	if	what	we	fear	actually	happens.	We	tell	ourselves	we	can’t
possibly	manage	the	frightening	situation	our	mind	is	generating:	“No	way,	I
wouldn’t	even	know	what	to	do,”	“I	won’t	be	able	to	deal	with	that,”	“That
would	kill	me,”	“I’d	go	crazy.”	In	the	face	of	a	possible	adversity,	we	imagine
ourselves	melting	into	a	puddle	of	anxious	fear.	This	reinforces	the
superstitious	notion	that	worry	itself	will	keep	us	safe:	“If	I	worry	enough,	I’ll
be	okay,”	“If	I	obsess	over	this	project,	I’ll	work	harder,”	“If	I	keep	myself