3 Steps To Tackle Anxiety
Life is full of uncertainty.
There isn’t a moment in our life when we aren’t faced with difficult choices. Every moment of our life, we are fighting a battle with our train of thoughts, figuring out the choices best for our future self and hence accordingly deciding a course of action.
This story is same for everyone. If there is a difference, then it’s in ways of handling such scenes. But then too, one thing is clear that there isn’t an option of not moving. Hence, everyone is going to cross the river, some with quick resolutions, others going through a phase of anxiety. Yes, anxiety…
Now an obvious question that arises is…
Is there a way to bypass this anxiety while taking decisions!
Yes, there is…
But let’s first understand the word anxiety by a standard web definition.
Anxiety: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.
The definition itself has a key hidden in it. Let me explain where.
It talks about something with an uncertain outcome. This statement itself is flawed, as there isn’t a thing in this world that is not uncertain. These COVID times explain it well because nobody thought that our life will be pushed to limbo in 2020. But it did.
No one has seen the future, and hence we only try to put the best bet on it and hope for the outcomes to be in our favor. If that’s the case, then there is no point in worrying, as there are many factors in play that define our future, not just one decision at hand. Knowing this itself cut down the anxiety by half.
Another part of anxiety is linked with the worry for the near term impact of our choices. There is a three-step approach to deal with this.
- Measure the Long Term Impact: Most of the time, we are anxious about things that won’t have even a grain of impact on our future. These are petty things that consume a lot of our time and energy worrying. No need to give weight to such things. Decide quickly and move on from them.
- Assume Worst Case Scenario: For the situations with a moderate impact, consider the worst possible outcome, that will help you measure the seriousness of your choice. Put yourself in that shoe and see how bad the effect of your choice could be. Giving a thought will make you realize that most of the time we unnecessarily worry, as even the unfavorable impact is not that bad and doesn’t affect us seriously. Step up, weigh down the positives of choices, and choose the best fit in minimal time.
- Seek Guidance: For the most important decisions of your life, after following the above two steps, seek advice from the person who has been in your shoes in the past. This is the best way to understand the practical outcomes of your choices, rather than mere wishful thinking. Followed by this make a decision and put the water under the bridge. It is almost certain that new developments are gonna bring fresh opportunities and also a possible way of recourse if things went south. Have belief and move on with your life.
Remember one thing. Worrying never solves a problem; it just aids in worsening the already worse situation. Never resort to it.
Value your time and put it in preparing rather than grieving and worrying.
Start taking action. In the end, everything will be fine.
This concludes our article.
Thanks for sticking till last.
“Our anxiety doesn’t come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it” ~Kahlil Gibran
