Do you suffer from an anxiety disorder? If you do, you’re not alone. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. They affect 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.
You may not know exactly why you feel anxiety, but when you do, you probably think something bad is about to happen. Today’s tip will help put your anxiety at ease and reduce your stress greatly!
Since anxiety is not a healthy emotion and is difficult to ignore, the trick is to manage it and put it to your use, rather than trying to ignore it.
The first step is to acknowledge anxiety—since you cannot initially change it. The next step is to visualize it as a positive source for motivation. This can be likened to a soldier about to go into battle. The soldier uses courage to act regardless of the anxiety.
An Anxiety Success Story
As articulate as my father was, he greatly feared public speaking. This anxiety is very common. In fact, it’s estimated that as much as 75% of the population fears public speaking to a certain degree. That means approximately 238 million people feel nervous about talking to others. This fear crosses all educational levels and all personality types.
I was no exception. As a severe stutterer most of my early life, I knew the only way to improve was to practice speaking in front of people. I was willing to undergo intensive embarrassment to overcome my problem. In college, I took radio announcing classes, was on the debate team, and was very active in student government. Today, I earn much of my income speaking around the world. I have had the honor of being invited to speak in 25 countries in five (5) continents.
If public speaking causes you to feel stress, look for a Toastmasters International group near you. They specialize in teaching people how to become a successful platform speaker—regardless of a person’s anxiety.
Tip: Think of anxiety as a motivational prompt. Put it to your use. You will be amazed at how it can motivate you to improve your skills.
You can get many more empowering tips like this one in my award-winning book, Live Without Stress: How to Enjoy the Journey. Buy one and get one free as a gift. You will not want to depart with your own copy. Be sure to check out the Without Stress Facebook Group where you can connect with other life-minded people on a journey to reduce stress.
