Imagine being selected for a second round of interviews after you’ve applied for your dream job. Do you congratulate yourself on your success and start preparing for the upcoming challenge? Or do you already envision getting turned down?

If you can relate to this situation, you might be prone to catastrophizing, a mental habit in which you mistakenly assume that terrible things are more likely to occur than they actually are. Catastrophizing can happen at any moment in our lives, but it can have a negative impact on our mental health. Regardless of the root cause of your catastrophizing, therapists say that it is possible to break negative thought patterns. The first step is to acknowledge your anxiety and pause thinking for a moment. Recognize that failure is a possibility rather than a guarantee and that you can take proactive steps to raise your chances of success. If you fail, you can still learn from the situation and do better next time. Create a balanced point of view by evaluating the situation with evidence over the unfavorable scenarios that are beginning to take shape in your head.

This doesn’t call for blind optimism, but it can all be done with a basic awareness of all the possible consequences. Disaster isn’t always just around the corner.