I recently wrote about feelings of anxiety I had been experiencing since I up and quit my job with no plan B. I got a lot of feedback from that post, and I want to say I’m extremely grateful for everyone who read and reached out.
Some of you have guys have firsthand experience with anxiety and offered some solid tips to help me out and that’s why you guys rock.
I did a short YouTube video to discuss my take on anxiety and offer my favorite tips that I have been using when I feel the anxiety become too strong.
The tips I offer are basic and include:
BREATH – Simplest and most basic: Big deep breaths, 4 seconds in, 6 seconds out.
Visualize – Go to your “happy place.” Use your senses and ask yourself what you see, taste, feel, and hear. Personally I like to place myself on the beach or imagine where I’ll be in a year if I DON’T GIVE UP.
Music – Listen to something that soothes and relaxes your thoughts. Sometimes I actually listen to very aggressive music when I’m stressed and just bask in it. To each their own.
Avoid Stressors – This one was so obvious to me that I forgot to mention it up front. Stressors are external stimuli that agitate us. Learn to avoid or mitigate your reactions to stressors if you’re already dealing with anxiety.
Distract yourself (BONUS! Not in video) – I completely forgot about this one when I recorded. Distract your thoughts when you find yourself getting anxious. I like to play video games or watch TV, something mindless so I can give my brain a minute to relax.
Accept – This is the most profound solution. Anxiety is caused by things outside of your control. But maybe some things you weren’t meant to control? You can’t control what everyone thinks of you. You can’t make everyone happy. You can’t control so many things, so let some of them go.
If you put yourself out there, there will always be people with something negative to say. Do it anyway.
For me, I was anxious over this post. Will I just look stupid up there with my whiteboard and crappy graph? Will people think I’m a big jerk for trying to talk about dealing with anxiety when I haven’t even had it two weeks? I think the answer to both is yes, probably. But I don’t do this to offend anyone. I have the best of intentions. So I’m going to post it anyways. I accept that I can’t make everyone happy.
That’s what being all99 is.. Letting go of the fear and the worry and doing what you want when you want. That’s living an all99life.
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