Most people and this seems surprising - most people have no idea what causes their worries. For example, an accomplished architect is asked to do a drawing for a new building. He is a man of experience and achievement but when he is assigned to this new job he begins to worry about it. When he realizes that he has become anxious, he stops and reasons with himself, pointing out to himself that this job is not unlike others which he has done successfully. He has a good background of training. He has had years of successful experience. Technically and professionally he is sure of himself. But still he worries.
A salesman has an appointment with a client and he is anxious about the meeting. He thinks to himself, “I have a product to sell in which I have the greatest confidence. The person that I am meeting is not unlike other clients to whom I have spoken. I know how to present my ideas with ease but still I am worried."
Now, in these illustrations this important factor is revealed: there is no apparent reason why they should be worried or if there is a reason they are unconscious of it. This leads to the important conclusions that most of the things we are worried about have no relationship to the worrying.
In the case of the architect, the assignment of the new job and the fact that he was anxious about it, must stand as two separate things if we are to understand the nature of his worry and arrive at a place where he can overcome it. He must understand that these two factors have no relationship to his worry. Therefore we are led to the conclusion and we now know that anxiety is rarely related to what we are now doing but arises out of certain mental tendencies of which we are not aware.