The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable.

Dread charges you in advance for something that may never be delivered. The body cannot tell the difference between a hard event and a vivid rehearsal of one, so a mind running the rehearsal on a loop pays the full price many times over. None of that makes anxiety a failure of character; it is what a protective mind does with nothing solid to hold.

When the loop starts, ask what the next actual step is and whether it can be taken today. If it can, take it. If it cannot, the honest answer is that you are waiting, and waiting is easier to carry than pretending you are solving something.