Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 211 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! I hope you’re enjoying your coffee or your drive or whatever you’re doing while we chat, I’m glad we are able to spend these 10 minutes together!
How many of you ever feel anxious? Is that even a question? I don’t know anyone personally who doesn’t get anxious at least once in a while.
I woke up the other day with this blanket of anxiousness and fortunately my morning routine is such a habit that I automatically do it even when I don’t feel like it so I meditated and then I journaled and then I did my thought download. I realized quickly from my journal and my thoughts downloading what was making me anxious.
We were leaving for Belize the following day and my brain was giving me all of these negative thoughts because we have to test negative 24 hours prior to leaving to get to go, we plan these trips a year in advance and one little pink line could be the difference between being on our annual sailing trip or not. And then we still have to test negative to come home and what if we don’t and there are eight of us going what if one of the group gets sick and what if this happens and what if that happens.
My thought download was so heavy it would sink a ship of course I’m feeling anxious with all that hanging around. I let myself get to the point where I was even questioning if we should be going at all which is unlike me. I was letting My brain run away with all the things that I was worried could happen but then my training kicked in and I told myself to ask better questions. The first question was not so great because it was why am I so anxious today? That question compounds the anxiety because now I’m back to listing all of my reasons for anxiety.
So I find a better question that will give me better answers. I came up with What can I do to be less anxious today? Yeah that felt better. Now I’m thinking about the fact that I’m ok, I’m safe and the universe is always working in my favor. Remind myself that something like 95% of our fears never come to fruition and I have proof to back that up if I think of some of the fears I’ve had in the past. Then I asked myself what IS good right now? And once I started that list those answers flowed from me so easily. I realized I was creating my own anxiety. None of the things I was worrying about were currently happening and most of them would never happen. I completely changed my state by doing that.
This is a really good practice.
- We control more about our experience than we think. If I had kept on the trajectory I was on I would have been a ball of anxiety the entire day. If I had started my day by going on to social media well we all know the joy that brings. Hahaha. Now on top of anxiety I can add frustration, and that feeling of not being good enough or far enough along, comparing myself, instead of learning about all the new things out there today to be even more anxious about, I took control of my day.
I took control by acknowledging the role my thoughts were playing in my anxiety and by also limiting what I was allowing in.
This works with most things. Maybe you wake up and feel anger. Continuing to think the same thoughts that got you angry that’s only going to keep you there. We often say it’s true so I have to think about it. It’s true we need to work out our feelings. It’s important we don’t avoid it but it’s also important to not make it worse than it is and in fact work to see if you can somehow make it better. Studies show that people who are optimistic are often healthier as they get older than those that are not optimistic. Studies also show if it’s not your innate nature to be optimistic there are things you can do to change that too.
Happy, successful people know this. They wake up feeling a way too but they don’t stay there. They don’t compound it, unless of course you’re in a really good place. Then by all means we want to compound that!
I’m not talking about diagnosed depression. That you have to work through with your dr. I’m talking about self induced negative feelings and most of them are if we’re being honest.
When people say we create our reality. It’s true. We do. We see the world through our very own lens. We all have a filter that defines this life.
We know this because how many times do we talk to people and each person has a unique perspective on any given topic. It’s all in how they’re perceiving it. So how can you perceive it better? How can you make it better?
This life is too short for you to be going through it with a chip on your shoulder. The things you do today are going to affect your tomorrow.
We get thrown curve balls. That’s life! If I lived life hiding from anxiety and fear, I would never leave the house. In fact that’s how some people live. Safely in their house never leaving so they can feel safe and they think we are the crazy ones. Even though I felt anxious I still managed to do my morning routine (because it was already a habit) and that made things so much better because I got to the bottom of why and then I figured out a way to make it better by guiding my thoughts and asking myself better questions that lead to better answers.
Quick update…I made it to Belize and I’m recording this in Belize. You see…most of our worries never come to fruition…
My challenge to you today is when you have a negative emotion. Get to the bottom of why and then start asking yourself good questions. Get out in front of it. Don’t compound it. Thinking the same thoughts that got you angry or anxious or scared whatever it is, thinking those same thoughts just compound those feelings. How do you make it better? I read once that leaders help people see themselves as better than they are. I believe you are a leader and the tools you’re learning through all of the good things you’re taking in will serve not only you but everyone around you as well. If you never had negative emotions you would never have good ones either. Life is a combination of both, and that’s normal because you’re human.
I love you guys. I’ll talk to you in a few days.
