I have a habit of spending too much time thinking about all the different ways that something can go wrong.

In my personal life, it wreaks havoc. After all, if you’re looking for problems to solve, it’s hard to appreciate what’s working.

But in my professional life, it’s one of my greatest strengths. It enables me to be predictive rather than reactive to the different challenges that large multi-stakeholder projects invariably generate. This gives me a leg up when working on complex projects with many moving parts to juggle.

Unfortunately, it often means that I’m the person worrying the most on every project. Not too bad for the short term, terrible in the long term.

Acknowledging it is the first step. Controlling it is the next.