Anxiety is usually caused by lack of control, organization, preparation and action.

Worry often shows up when we feel exposed: something matters, and we sense we can't influence how it turns out. Kekich suggests that much of this feeling is less mysterious than it seems. It grows in the gap between what we face and what we have done about it. Where there is disorder, no plan, and no movement, the mind fills the vacuum with imagined disasters. Restoring some control, even a small amount, tends to quiet it.

The idea fits his own world as an American entrepreneur and an advocate of self-improvement and life extension, where problems are treated as things to manage. It also echoes the Stoic habit of separating what is up to us from what is not, and it resembles modern cognitive-behavioral approaches, which encourage people to replace rumination with concrete steps. It isn't a full theory of anxiety, and some anxiety has nothing to do with being unprepared.

Suppose you're dreading a money problem. Instead of lying awake, sit down, list your debts and due dates, draw up a simple monthly plan, and make one call today to the lender. The problem hasn't vanished, but you are now acting on it.