How to make anxiety and fear work for you

Anxiety and fear arise from uncertainty in the future, and this is a completely normal human reaction arising from the instinct of self-preservation. But if your anxiety gets in the way of achieving some goals, it becomes a real problem. It turns out that even fear and anxiety can be beneficial, of course, if used correctly. How can you become more active and active through anxiety? Read about it below.

Take Your Anxiety As Fact

The first thing to do is to understand that anxiety is quite natural for a person, and to accept it. The feeling of guilt for your anxiety only intensifies this state, and if you blame yourself for cowardice and indecision, then it will not lead to anything good.

Remember that fear is a natural reaction of the body to the unknown, and there is nothing wrong with this feeling. So the first step is to acknowledge your anxiety, and the second is to understand what is causing it.

Write your fears

Transfer your worries to a piece of paper, let the worry come out. As long as the anxiety is locked inside, thoughts can be confused and you will not have a clear idea of what exactly you are nervous about.

Putting your worst thoughts down on paper will help you understand exactly what you're worried about. Write the worst and most terrifying future.

Now in front of you is exactly what does not allow you to live in peace. And now is the time to find out if this future depends on you.

Useful and useless anxiety

A person can be anxious for various reasons, and in one case his fear can be useful, and in another it is completely useless. If you are worried about global events or other people, this is useless anxiety because you cannot change anything.

For example, if you realize that the subject of fear and anxiety is an unlucky but beloved relative living in another city, or global warming, then realize that there is nothing you can do and try to get the reason out of your head.

Rewarding experiences are fears about the outcome of the events in which you are involved. For example, you are worried about how the interview will go.

If so, you can take proactive steps to prevent your biggest fear - epic failure. You can prepare more thoroughly, learn more about the company and think over the answers to common questions.

Defensive pessimism

A particular way of thinking and acting, which might be called defensive pessimism, can be very helpful. A person who evaluates life with defensive pessimism sees the most unpleasant scenarios of events, and then thinks through each item that can lead to such an end, and tries to eliminate them.

An example is the fear of public speaking. Let's say you are anxious the day before your speech and think about the worst outcome for you: the equipment will break down and you will not be able to show your presentation, you will forget it at home, or stumble in the middle.

So that your pessimistic forecast does not come true, you can throw the presentation to a USB flash drive and at the same time to a cloud service in case you forget it at home.

Then you can carefully study the presentation, saying several times all the dubious places in which you may stumble. Finally, you can come early to the presentation room and check if the equipment is working.

It turns out that due to pessimistic thoughts, you exclude unpleasant accidents, think over your actions more carefully, as a result of which the quality of work only grows.

Fear increases energy levels

Fear is an adrenaline rush and increased energy levels. This means that while you are experiencing fear, you can do more than in a calm state.

Use it wisely: instead of nervously pacing from corner to corner or tossing and turning, trying in vain to sleep, do more useful things that will help avoid unpleasant developments.

Anxiety and agitation

Anxiety and anxiety are about the same thing. Both conditions are accompanied by an increased heart rate and keep you collected, alert. But anxiety is considered a negative stimulus, and anxiety is a positive one.

To change your mindset, try to think of anxiety as anxiety, which will help you avoid negative consequences. This will help you switch to a more optimistic mood, calm down a little and do more for a positive outcome.

Get away from the problem for a while

Anxiety and even the first signs of panic suggest that it is time for you to move away from the problem you are struggling with. When you dwell on one problem, it is almost impossible to see the solution.

Better to allow yourself to be distracted, think about something else, take a walk or chat with someone. When you tackle the problem a second time, rested and with a fresh mind, the solution will be found much faster than under the waves of rolling panic.