The Pen Warrior fight with the pen for it is mightier than the sword

I stumbled upon this post on a blog that I am really starting to like called Life from this Suburban Scene. The author was going on about being a packrat and not letting go of items that connect him to good memories. Then he really got into it:

But spiritually, and emotionally I find myself doing just the opposite.  I seem to collect the things I don’t want, don’t need, and shouldn’t have.  All my failures, my shortcomings, the times I’ve let someone down or hurt somebody. My insecurities, my disappointments, my doubts, my worries.  They all pile up and weigh me down from being able to fully move forward and embrace and live the life that Christ came to give.

I thought: that sounds like me. I dwell on bad things that have, or could happen to me and let the fear and anxiety paralyze me and cause me to make bad decisions. I'm sick and tired of it and I want to change because this habit has a negative impact on my life.

Now, saying that and quoting scripture is a lot different than actually changing. I need to learn how to move from knowing what I should do in my mind and feeling empowered to actually doing it. How do I move from the mental to the real? I'm asking not just because I like spilling my brain to friends and strangers on the internet, but because I figure I'm not the only one who has to deal with these problems. What do others do? How do you get freedom? How have you seen God's work come to life for you. How have you moved from the mental to the real?