Hey friend,
Have you ever found yourself lying awake at night,
Your mind racing with what-if scenarios,
Or felt a knot in your stomach as you face an uncertain situation?
If you have,
You are not alone.
Worrying is something we all experience.
It's part of being human.
When we face uncertain situations,
Challenges,
Or potential threats,
Our minds naturally start to dwell on the what-ifs.
Worry is how our brains try to anticipate and protect us from potential threats.
But when worry becomes overwhelming,
It can take a toll on our mental and physical wellbeing.
The more we worry,
The better we get at it,
As we reinforce the neural pathways in our brain associated with stress and anxiety.
In other words,
The more our brain becomes adept at it,
Worrying then becomes an automatic response.
So today,
We'll be exploring three simple strategies which you can immediately put into practice which I hope will reduce the worry that you face.
The first one is to acknowledge it.
When anxiety happens without resistance,
It often becomes less intense.
Ironically,
When you try to suppress it or avoid it altogether,
It is always going to come around as you've never learnt to deal with it.
So when you notice you are becoming anxious,
Try to establish how your body feels.
You may notice sweaty palms,
Chest discomfort,
Queasiness in the tummy,
Or any other sensations unique to you.
Tell yourself,
I am feeling tense in my tummy,
Or whatever it is that you are feeling,
And I am feeling worried about,
And you can name whatever that is.
Reassure yourself that this is a normal response,
And it is okay to feel this way.
The second one is to ask yourself,
Is this real or imagined?
And here are some prompts to guide you.
Think about the probability that it is going to happen.
Is this going to be a very likely or a very unlikely situation?
Do I have valid reasons to believe something will go wrong?
Is it possible that I'm worrying too much?
What is the worst that could happen?
Will it matter one year from now?
And sometimes,
Through these answers,
It will help shed some perspective on the worry and its magnitude.
The third one is the worry space.
Trying to suppress your thoughts would more likely cause it to persist.
So why not offer it a worry space?
Pick a 15-minute window during the day to think about your anxieties.
During this time,
Let your anxious thoughts flow freely.
But for the rest of the day,
When worries arise,
Don't dwell on them.
Simply jot them down to temporarily park them,
Telling yourself,
I'll think about you later during worry time.
I'll think about you later during worry time.
Lastly,
Talking face-to-face with a trusted friend,
Family member,
Or therapist who listens without judging or getting distracted can really help calm your anxiety and offer additional perspective.
When your worries start spiraling,
Discussing them can make them feel much less scary.
You have more power over your anxious mind than you think.
I hope that these tools and techniques will help you keep your worries in its place so you can experience more daily peace and focus.
I'll leave you with a quote from Dale Carnegie.
Remember,
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
