On this episode, I talk about how you can use your anxiety to overcome your fears. (not a typo!)
We have to remember that anxiety is a biological signal that is simply an alarm, letting us become more aware of our surroundings and current circumstances. The anxiety we feel when we wake up late for work, or when we have an exam coming up, for example, are nothing but signals our body is telling us to MOVE and get a job done! It's only when we stay still, and try to "think" our way out of the anxiousness, that we find ourselves stuck and even more crippled.
We've all felt anxious about something and it's paralyzed us in the past. That's normal, but I personally grew tired of being paralyzed by my fears. So I decided to start paying attention to what was actually giving me anxiety to move past it. When I started paying attention, I saw that I could pinpoint my anxiety to a certain person, object, or event. By doing so, I was able to focus on that ONE thing and try to find a way to un-psych myself out of being anxious. Yes, I reverse engineered my own anxiety to finally overcome it and the more I practiced this, the better I got.
I'm not saying I'm invincible to anxiety now, but what I am saying is I treat it differently when it comes up. Today I know how to recognize when I feel anxious and pinpoint to source, then figure out a way to see it as less harmful and move toward it.. (not a typo either!) I like to move toward what makes me anxious because I want to hurry up and figure out that it's not as scary as I thought.
Most of us who have been scared of one thing then experienced it fully, for what it truly is, realize that it isn't all that bad after the fact. Whether it be a scary rollercoaster ride you decided to give a shot, or an exam you took and ended up actually being fine, you've experienced going through the fear and living perfectly normal once it's all over.
The secret is to listen, and not react when anxiety hits. It's an alarm. A pretty good one too!
Even if you don't get the chance to listen to the podcast, I've purposely summed my point here to hopefully shed light on a refreshing perspective for your next experience with anxiety.
If you're not convinced, perhaps take a listen? Thanks!