A lot of people in our generation suffer from anxiety. It affects our emotions and messes with our daily routine. You sometimes feel stressed, scared, don’t know what to do, empty etc. Everyone feels anxiety a bit differently, but as a reader are still probably very familiar with this feeling that I am talking about.
Anxiety is usually a reaction to stress, and is associated with worry and overthinking. Sometimes when we think about our future, we will also feel anxiety eating at us. Especially when you are in the working life and everyday is stressful and uncertain.
You probably want to deal with your anxiety more efficiently. Well actually you can! Here are 4 ways you can deal with your anxiety and get back on track!
1. Let go of the past.
Anxiety happens when we keep thinking of past mistakes. You can let go of the past by reflecting on your current situation. What does your present state look like? Try to imagine and visualize a different and more effective outcome, and then another and another. The process of imagining yourself in different situations will snap you out from thinking of the past. You should try to find a friend or colleague to share ideas. If you’re struggling to find a solution to a problem, ask them what they would do, and ask for advice.When you are anxious, it’s important to let go of the past and rid yourself of the sadness from what happened before. Always focus on the present and build yourself up to your ideal future.
2. Find humor.
Laughter is the best medicine. We all know that. In order to feel good about ourselves, we have to find humor in our current life. Take your problems light-heartedly and learn to laugh at them. When you are confident enough to laugh at yourself and your problems, you will be confident enough to face them, and people will also respect you for that. By injecting humor into your life, you create a more trusting environment and put things into perspective. Plus as stated, humor is a good medicine against anxiety. When you laugh, your body releases dopamine and endorphins, which kills stress hormones.
3. Don’t be a perfectionist.
Perfection is your enemy and the leading cause of why people stress and overthink a lot. If you are a perfectionist, if anything is not perfect you will cause yourself unnecessary anxiety and stress. Failure is a part of life, and you should not be afraid of it. If you always want things to be perfect, you will close yourself off to a lot of opportunities coming your way. Instead, embrace mistakes and take it as learning experiences. By being able to handle making mistakes and failures, you will also reduce your anxiety and stress levels by a lot.
4. Build a support system.
When we’re anxious and stressed, we often don’t want to “lepak” with people and stay alone to overthink. When you’re anxious, you may avoid social events and eat lunch at your desk. The next time you’re faced with a big problem or feel anxious, try building a support system. The comfort and support of others can be the best medicine for getting back on track. With the right support system and the right people, you can not only reduce anxiety and stress, but learn from them and become a much better person everyday. Research has shown that the strength of your support network is strongly tied to stress, even enhancing your resilience. People who have emotional support evince notably lower levels of stress than people without similar access.
When we experience anxiety, we often fear the worst. Things that happen at work may affect our mood heavily. Changes in office location, speaking at meetings, layoffs, performance reviews, getting a new assignment or manager or even getting a promotion can cause anxiety. The symptoms are real and tangible, and it's okay and natural to experience anxiety. But now you are equipped to fight it. The result is a better you. And most importantly, take good care of yourself.
