When your anxiety pushes you on the what-if train, what if you had tools to change your perspective?

How would your day-to-day life change?

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you feel paralyzed in an anxious state as you anticipate an upcoming date, a promotion, a family event… 

You can’t stop finding and ruminating over the what if’s.. 

• What if it doesn’t go well?
• What if my family members ask/say/do something and then I have to set a boundary? 
• What if I totally embarrass myself? 
• What if I’m not capable of doing that job?
• What if…what if…what if…

What is this accomplishing for you? 

What is ~what-iffing~ doing for you? 

More importantly, what if you weren’t doing this at all….

• How would your day be different? 
• What would you have accomplished? 
• Who would you spend time with? 

When you recognize your anxiety is getting loud, you can validate the anxiety—”Yes, I am nervous about this!”—without letting it take over. 

Our challenge, for you, is to recognize your anxiety when it pops up. 

When it does, pause in that moment and: 

• Identify how you feel. 
• Ask yourself: “What actions are the feelings causing me to take?”
• Notice what limiting belief has shown up.
• Hold compassion for yourself and reframe what you believe. 

For example, this might look like this: 

I am aware that I am anxious about an upcoming event with my family. What if my aunt brings up my weight? What if my family asks me why I am not eating more? What if.. 

Deep breath and pause. I feel anxious because my family tends to talk about things that trigger me. This is causing me to try to predict the future around what will happen and bringing up the belief that I am fat. 

I know that I am not able to control the future and I know that my body is strong, healthy, and mine.

Anxiety has helped you survive over and over but that doesn’t mean it has to run your life.

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