Most of us have experienced it at one point in our lives or another; shortness of breath, increased heart rate, sweats and even an overwhelming sense of impending doom. All signs that you're having an anxiety attack and your life for the near future is going to be miserable.
Life comes at each of us differently but one thing that it brings us all is struggle, in one form or another. Very few things come off perfectly no matter how well we plan and often, as the old saying goes, the best things in life take the most work. One of the keys in life is having a mindset that sets you up to win; that helps you see a way through the struggles to the goals on the other side, that helps you move through the obstacles and towards your goals and that helps you enjoy the process along the way.
However, when you don't have that type of mindset the struggles and obstacles we face in life can become overwhelming. The regular, recurring things that the majority of us face can become hurdles that we dread and find ourselves barely able to tolerate every day. New or inconsistent events can become insurmountable mountains of fear that we begin to fixate and obsess on days, weeks and even months in advance. These can lead to an overwhelming sense of fear and dread that can combine to make even the act of getting out of bed fear-laden and seemingly impossible.
While deep seated, long-term anxiety can be a sign of serious mental distress that's beyond the reach of coaching, it is very often possible to prevent the first signs of anxiousness from growing into something more dangerous and life altering.
"Action is the antidote to despair." is the way that Joan Baez, famous singer/songwriter/activist and all-around good person put it. In EgoFree coaching we present it like this "Work your way through anxiety, literally." In short, do something. Anxiousness is normal. We often feel anxious when we are about to participate in something that we've been preparing for. That's a good, physical and mental reaction designed to get us ready to perform our best. It's the instinctual "Fight or Flight" response preparing for a situation in which we've already decided our response is going to be "fight". As an athlete I felt this anxiousness often. In fact, before nearly every game I would get butterflies and sometimes if it was a particularly big game or if my role was particularly big within the gameplan I might even feel sick to my stomach. Those feelings would leave as soon as I stepped onto the court, onto the pitch, onto the field or onto the diamond. All feelings of anxiousness left as I began to do what I'd been preparing to do. I had planned, prepared and practiced and I was as ready as I was going to be and it was time to put myself to the test. Win, lose or draw I was ready to give it everything I had and accept the outcome knowing that there was a good chance I'd win but that if I didn't I would still come away better for having prepared and done my best.
EgoFree coaching incorporates this ideology as a central part of the process. When we feel anxiousness in our lives it is vital to have a feeling that it is normal and that we have prepared for it. Knowing that we've put in the work, that we have an actionable plan that takes obstacles into consideration and moves us towards our goals, what our next step in that plan is, having the belief that we are capable of not only taking that step but that regardless the outcome we'll be better off for having taken it and actually taking that next step is at the core of keeping anxiousness from becoming anxiety.
We must DO something and when we have built the trust and belief within ourselves that the something we're doing will help us move towards success, we keep anxiousness in its positive, useful place and keep anxiety from ever becoming a part of our lives.
If you're experiencing anxiety and you don't have a mindset that facilitates that process mindset coaching just might be the thing you need to make anxiety a thing of your past and keep you feeling capable, prepared and positive.
Comentarios