Yes! We create our own anxiety. It’s true! Maybe you think it’s the situation. Maybe you think it’s about your health, money or relationships.
You’re thinking… “If the situation just got better, everything would be okay.” But the truth is that while you are going through a stressful situation, the thing that is causing your anxiety is what you are thinking.
It’s your own thoughts.
One thought leads to another, which leads to another, and the result is anxiety.
Now you’re feeling…
- Overwhelmed
- Scared
- Nervous
- Distracted
It’s Not Me, and I Can’t Control It!
A few years ago, I would have blamed my anxiety on the unsettling situation I was experiencing. I thought anxiety just happened; it seemed so. I thought I couldn’t control it! My mind kept repeating the same scary, negative thoughts. I was miserable and exhausted! All I wanted was to stop the threatening voices in my head, relax and find peace.
Do you feel the same way? Do you want to…
- Calm down and relax.
- Get a good night’s sleep.
- Turn off the noise in your head.
What You Can Do About Your Thoughts
I discovered that while the situation I was experiencing was challenging, it was my negative thoughts that were causing my anxiety and upset. Xanax was a temporary fix. Changing my thinking patterns was the solution.
If you want to calm down and relax, follow these steps.
Pay Attention to Your Thoughts
This means becoming aware or conscious of what you are thinking. Our minds generate thoughts automatically based on a lifetime of experiences. Be intentional. Pause and ask, “What am I thinking about right now? What’s going on in my head?” Experiment with this several times a day. Make it a habit.
Evaluate Your Thoughts
Get clear about the kinds of thoughts running through your mind. Ask: How are these thoughts helping me or troubling me? What feelings are these thoughts producing? How do these feelings prompt me to act?
Asking the question, “How real or true is this really?” helps bring objectivity and clarity to what’s actually happening. Getting a clear perspective based on reality brings relief and calms you down.
Change or Reframe Your Thoughts
Pinpoint negative and unhelpful thoughts. Change these thoughts into positive and helpful thoughts. Be intentional and deliberate. Repeat the new thoughts and phrases over and over in your mind. Say them out loud.
Notice What Happens
With practice, identifying and changing negative thoughts to positive thoughts makes a difference. Observe how your feelings change and you start to feel calm, less worried and more at peace with your situation. It will affect your behavior, too. A positive, clear mind makes better decisions. It makes it so you can handle those stressful situations.
I recently worked with a client who contacted me about the anxiety she experienced when she left her house. Anxious thoughts kept her from meeting friends and going places. After noticing her negative thought patterns and reframing them to positive ones, she started to calm down and became more at ease with leaving her home.
You, too, can calm down by changing negative thoughts to positive ones!
You can stop creating your own anxiety! I hope you follow these steps to become aware of your negative thoughts and reframe them into positive thoughts to stop creating anxiety.
But if you are truly struggling with anxious thinking that’s keeping you overwhelmed and distracted, watch my FREE 10-minute video on How to Stop Anxiety to learn the exact 3 steps you can take to Become Anxiety Free.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Who do you blame for your anxiety? Do you blame others or the situation you find yourself in? Have you considered that your own thoughts might be causing you to feel anxious?
