Anxiety is an interesting dilemma. You can't see it. It's hard to measure. It's illusive in its cause and its affect.
Anxiety is different for everyone, but it happens to us all.
Everyday we feel anxiety at some level. Think about your commute this morning, or the meeting you have with your boss this afternoon, or figuring out a gift you want to buy for a loved one. These things can cause anxiety. Anxiety can take different shapes and forms. Some people can be shot at in a war zone and deal with it perfectly fine. That same person could be put in a social situation and feel completely out of place.
There are a number of remedies people have developed at antidotes to anxiety. Exercise, rest, drinking less caffeine, consuming less alcohol, and even breathing exercise have been shown to help us. However, all of these antidotes focus on our physical bodies.
A mindset shift can also help us deal with anxiety. A lot of our anxiety can come from the negative stories we tell ourselves. We can make things worse in our minds than they are in real life. People make up stories all the time about things that haven't happened yet or the stories we tell ourselves when we're trying to make sense of the situation we are in. We even make up negative stories about ourselves, telling ourselves that we aren't smart enough, good looking enough, or skilled enough.
Most of the time, these stories aren't true, be we take them as the truth because they are coming form a very trusted source: ourselves.
We need to be able to establish a new mindset and put on a new lens through which we can view our world. We can positive and use a strength-based focus to reduce anxiety.
Trust yourself.
Every conversation you have with yourself is moving one of two directions: positive or negative. Use positive communication with yourself so that you start moving in a positive direction. Instead of thinking too much, have a positive, affirming conversation with yourself, then take action Build momentum in a positive direction. You will see that you can change the situation and reduce your anxiety.
If you'd like to hear more, please listen to the Crucial Talks Podcast where I talked about the antidotes to anxiety: