Anxiety, doubt, and fear often stop us in our tracks.

I know this all too well, being that my natural disposition is anxiety and nervousness.

And, while I don’t like labels such as “I’m an anxious person”, which creates a negative feedback loop and identity that shapes our lives, I do think some people are “hardwired” to be more anxious than others. Some of it is probably genetic, while other parts are formed through our life experiences.

Having done my fair bit of self-inquiry, I’ve come to realise that I fall into this camp! 😬

I’ve also realised that this doesn’t mean it is or has to be a negative. Every trait and characteristic has its positives and negatives, and it’s all about our perspective and how we use our traits to either help or hinder us.

Self-awareness is hugely important in this game.

For example, let’s take my experience of anxiety…

When I feel overly anxious, my mind starts to run wild. I start to think of all the things I need to do, all of the potential outcomes, and how they might not turn out the way I want, and I start to question if I’m capable of achieving what I want to achieve and doing the things I want to do!

I start to question my worth which subsequently brings up a spiral of negative emotions and before I know it I’ve been sucked up in this negative spiral.

However, when I’m able to deploy self-awareness and realise “uh-oh”, the negative spiral is approaching I’m able to stop it from happening before it commences.

It’s here where I’ve learned thataction is the antidote to anxiety, nervousness, doubt, and most, if not all, of our fears.

Action is what breaks the cycle and helps to cultivate clarity.

It would seem not.

It would seem that we need clarity to act so we know what action to take.

And that’s true in some instances…

The famous quote by Lao Tzu sums it up best…

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”

That’s all we need. To know the next step.

And, in my recent experience, the more I focus on and just take the next step, take an action no matter how small, the more I realise that it’s indeed the antidote to anxiety, doubt, and fear!

You may be thinking, but what if the action/s don’t lead to the outcomes I want…

I used to think the same. Sometimes, I still notice those thoughts come up.

But then I realised that this is where we learn and grow.

And it’s what led me to create the ‘learn and grow feedback model’, which states that every action we take has an outcome. This outcome has valuable information that we can use to learn and grow.

So if we take an action that doesn’t lead to the outcome we want or envision, it could give us valuable information to what we need to change to get the result we desire and therefore, through this process we get to learn and grow, which I think is part of what life is all about!

I understand that it’s often harder said than done, and that’s because we’re talking about behavioural change, which is hard.

But, through the practice of conscious living and self-awareness, it’s totally possible.

So, if you are someone like me who has a natural disposition towards anxiety and nervousness or maybe doubt and fear, the next time you start to feel it emerging, stop, take a deep breath, and take one action, no matter how small, in the direction that you want to go before the negative spiral commences!

This has helped me massively. I’d recommend that you try it!