How to Deal With Anxiety and Bring Back Peace of Mind

6 minutes read -
Matt Coates
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Summary: A thought is just a thought, so they say. But when it's attached to stress, it can cause a real panic. Here are tips on how to overcome anxiety.
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Life is meant to be easy.

When you live it one moment at a time, you won’t need to worry too much. However, if you do let all the busyness, negative thoughts, and fear of the future get to you, anxiety takes over. In order to be free from all this, you will need to know how to overcome anxiety. The following tips will help you to be calm throughout the whole day and live life fully.

Learn How to Overcome Anxiety by Being Present

Let’s talk more about the wonderful benefits of mindfulness. You know about meditation and focusing on the now, but let’s get to the bottom of this.

What is mindfulness really?

It’s an attitude towards life you should aim to achieve. It can (and it will) make all problems disappear, because problems are usually related to overthinking, worrying about tomorrow, having doubts, being insecure when the result of something isn’t sure, and the like. However, all of that loses its power when you just focus your mind on what’s going on right now and give the present moment your full attention.

All ways to deal with anxiety boil down to this – be here, right now, and take action.

overcome anxiety

You can effortlessly take control of your thoughts and guide them in the right direction. In this case, you can do so with awareness and positive thinking.

You can also make better decisions by not considering other people’s opinions, what happened in the past, or what scenarios your mind may be creating. You don’t need to go through all of this, it is unnecessary. Life becomes better and simpler if you spend it in the present moment —that should be your next goal.

Anxiety means worrying about what’s to come. It’s usually followed by fear, which is only your reaction to what might go wrong; or, it might be stress (one of the main causes of anxiety). It’s not hard to activate the stress response of the body and to experience its unpleasant side effects. . . All of this exists because we let too many harmful thoughts enter our minds.

Let go of all that. Come back to the present moment, and stay here. It’s where life happens, and where you don’t need to worry about anything.

Even better, become action-oriented. This way, you’ll have peace of mind knowing you’re working on improving your life.

Slow Down and Enjoy

One of the reasons why you might often be feeling anxious is because you feel too much in a hurry. In fact, there’s a real syndrome called the hurry sickness.

It looks something like this:

There’s a lot to be done at any moment of the day, so we try to get it all done. We take no breaks. We constantly aim for more. We say yes to everything and fill our days with even more tasks and activities. As well, we experience information overload, the fear of missing out, and the desire to keep ourselves busy.

Wait.

Stop.

If you are looking for ways to deal with anxiety, take a deep breath. Then, think about this: Is this taking you anywhere, or are you just living in an unnecessary rush?

Hurrying too much makes you stop paying attention to what really matters. If you live like this every day, you become anxious; you can’t get to sleep, can’t shut off your brain even for a second during the day, and feel drained all the time. In this case, you can’t do focused work and you can’t reach your goals.

There’s another way of life you can choose, though: the slow approach.

Take it slowly for a change and see how it goes. Chances are, you’ll like it so much, and will realize that it leads to better focus and productivity— you’ll want to leave the rush behind forever.

If you’re determined to know how to overcome anxiety once and for all, this is the path to take.

How to Overcome Social Anxiety (a Couple Little Tricks)

Then, there is social anxiety.

One of the several different types of anxiety, but a serious one. Social anxiety occurs when socializing scares you to the point of avoiding it. It might be because you’re insecure and approaching new people terrifies you, or perhaps you might even be afraid to be in public for too long.

Unfortunately, this type of anxiety means missing out on meeting some awesome people and forming great relationships. It’s also a barrier to networking, advancing in your career and more.

This type of anxiety is often considered the least understood one. As much as it might have been part of our lives since childhood, there are some easy steps on how to overcome social anxiety. . .

Take action

In order to face your fears of socializing, you must take action to see that it’s not as scary as you thought. You’ll get better every next time you approach new people.

Put yourself out there

Look people in the eyes on the street. It’s uncomfortable, yes. However, it’s an important little step to take to realize it’s not that scary. In time, you will get better and better at doing this.

peace of mind

Start a conversation

After you put yourself out there, starting talking to people more and more.

Maybe there are some neighbors, people in the gym, employees in the stores nearby, or colleagues, that you meet with on a daily basis. You might have smiled at each other or said ‘Hi!’ a few times, but that was it. This is an easy way to begin your journey of becoming a better communicator. Simply ask them how they are doing the next time you see each other.

You will be surprised at how often people are open to a friendly chat, especially since you’re already a familiar face to them.

Confidence affirmations

You can use confidence affirmations to learn how to overcome social anxiety. This means to simply repeat over and over in your mind that you believe in yourself, are becoming more social, and have a lot to talk about. This self-talk is one of the best ways to deal with anxiety. With this, you will soon overcome the mental patterns from the past that have been blocking your social skills.

How to Reduce Anxiety in the Morning and Evening

Another solution for how to reduce anxiety is to maintain some rituals at the beginning and end of each day.

These rituals are little tricks for relaxing, clearing your mind, retrieving your focus, or just being mindful . . . All of which will help you learn how to overcome social anxiety, win the day, and do your absolute best.

In the morning, for instance, you can wake up and journal your thoughts. Write about your worries and try to look at them from another point of view. This will help you to be more realistic and realize that most of these are not really something to waste time on. As well, once the thought appears on paper, you can free it from your mind.

Then, meditate for a few minutes. This is a simple mindfulness practice that helps you let go of the clutter in your mind and focus on your breathing. It will bring you to the present moment and cause you to be calm and peaceful.

One of the biggest ways to reduce anxiety is to focus on your breath. Learn about some deep breathing exercises and try a few. This can easily be your backup plan if you feel anxious later in the day.

A workout at the beginning of the day, or a walk outside, can also be encouraging in many ways and help reduce anxiety.

When the day is over, though, take your time to relax and get your brain ready for proper rest. That means no technology before bed, no eating or drinking, and no arguments or worrying about tomorrow.

Meditate again if you enjoyed it in the morning. Stretch and read something inspirationalTake a soothing bath and declutter your room.

All these bring will allow you to go to bed with a smile on your face, ready to let go and be excited about tomorrow.

Watch the First Lesson of the Quest

World-Renowned Cognitive Neuroscientist, Dr. Caroline Leaf, Teaches How to Rise Above Anxiety and Depression With the Proven 5-Step Neurocycle® Process

A 20-minute-a-day program to reclaim your personal power, reignite your inner spark, and gain a newfound sense of freedom and happinessGet started for free

Matt Coates

Matt Coates

Matt is a copywriter for Mindvalley. As a professional word putterer, he can be found constantly squeezing his creative juices to concoct personal growth narratives to transport people to a place where great potential knows no bounds. He is also on a quest to be seriously funny.
Written by

Matt Coates

Matt is a copywriter for Mindvalley. As a professional word putterer, he can be found constantly squeezing his creative juices to concoct personal growth narratives to transport people to a place where great potential knows no bounds. He is also on a quest to be seriously funny.

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