How do you feel this festive season? Do you feel so much excitement? Are you about to detty the December? Are you freaking out because you don’t have sufficient funds? Does your anxiety overwhelm you sometimes? Bills to cover. Responsibilities to fulfill. In a comprehensive statement, I know you will agree with me that it is safe to say that you are anxious. Like you already know, anxiety doesn’t come during festive seasons alone. It can come at any time of the year. People you love can get sick. People you care about can die. You can receive rejection letters more than a hundred times. You can lose a job you love. Your business may crash. Sometimes, you are anxious for the future. Many “what-ifs.” Nothing is certain in life and many things can bring you so much anxiety. Do you see the reason why this post is for you? You are about to know the three not popular ways to deal with anxiety. Don’t let anything distract you. We are about to get very practical. You may need to get your pen and paper ready.
- Identify what you can control
- Address what you can control
- Choose your own journey
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL.
The first things first, let us talk about the things that are within your influence and the things you can control. Do you know that some of the things you worry about are just unlikely to happen? Wait. I am not trying to underestimate your concerns, but not all your worries are likely to happen. For example, if you don’t swim, your concern that one day you may drown in a pool is not tenable. Why? Because you don’t swim. Some of the things you worry about are possible, but not likely, some are likely to happen, others are inevitable. Once you highlight these different categories, go ahead and categorize all of your worries and give them the appropriate tags. You see, the tags help you to pay more attention to the things that are within your power to control. The strength you need to overcome your anxiety comes from knowing the things that exist in your imagination (unlikely situations) to things that in fact, exist in reality and then accepting those things as reality. Do you get the logic? Calm down. I can almost hear your answer to that question. I agree with you. You need to read this point again. Take your time.
ADDRESS WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL
It is one thing to identify the things you can control. It is a different thing to work on the things you can control. If you don’t do these two actions simultaneously, you may not be able to deal with your anxiety. The best way to address the things you can control is by getting honest with yourself and knowing your realistic ideal outcome (RIO). Wait. I know that can be a whole lot to take in, but, stick with me. Are you still with a pen? Let us illustrate this point with an example. What will you do if your bus breaks down on your way to a million dollar job interview? Uhhmm? Don’t tell me you will start crying. First, take stock of the situation. What time is it now? When is the interview starting? Are there other means of transportation? Your stock answers will determine your realistic ideal outcome. If you decide to take another means of transportation, you may get to the interview in time. In another scenario, you can decide to reschedule the interview for a more convenient season if that is in your power to accomplish. Then, you can prioritize whatever your RIO is about and make a right decision from there. You see? You just dealt with a situation that gets you anxious.
CHOOSE YOUR OWN JOURNEY
Yes. It all starts and ends with you. The question starts with you. The anxiety starts with you. The control starts with you. As you know, overcoming anxiety is all in your control. You hold the ultimate guide to choose how you respond to any anxious situations. If you react anxious, give your anxiety the fingers by snapping your fingers a hundred times. If you react to anxiety with sadness, you can use the laughter solution to overcome your anxiety. You can go online and browse up something funny. See amazing comedy skits that make you forget about your problems for more than five minutes. Every time you react to anxiety with anger, you can choose to exercise and release serotonin, the happiness hormone. Another way you can react to anxiety is through avoidance. You see, the worse thing about avoidance is that it will never, ever, solve your problem. The practical solution to this kind of response is for you to take one practical step, no matter how small toward acknowledging your problem. Recognize your unhealthy reactions and begin to reverse them.
Don’t distract your attention here. We are almost done.
Anxiety is not a child’s play. I am very sure you won’t disagree with me. Your ability to deal with anxiety starts from you. The fact that you are reading this blog post till the end is a proof that you have a desire to deal with anxiety. Pick up your book and write again. There are three astounding ways to deal with anxiety. Read them again if you wish. First, identify what you can control, address what you can control and choose your own journey. Till next week, I wish you an anxious free week.
See you in the comment session.