This is a guest post by Ryan Rivera who has a website dedicated to ridding yourself of anxiety called Calm Clinic.
I lived with anxiety the majority of my adult life. It affected me in ways I didn’t even realize until years later. It caused social issues, it affected my life experiences, and overall I found that anxiety played a role in nearly every goal I tried to accomplish.
It was possibly the single most profound personality trait I had, and it was one that caused immense personal pain. It was only after I realized how much it was affecting me that I dedicated myself to beating it – and it can be beaten.
Anxiety may have some genetic components, but it’s also manageable, and it’s manageable without heavy medications or addictive behaviors.
If you want to eliminate anxiety, start integrating the following tips:
1. Dedicate Yourself to Beating It
Anxiety is as much a lifestyle as it is a mental health disorder. You need to be truly dedicated to beating anxiety. Embrace the idea that your anxiety is like a prison, controlling your way of thinking and altering who you can really be.
It’s not something that you cure overnight. It takes time, effort, and more time. But once you’re really ready, you accept that there will be roadblocks, and you believe in the importance of curing anxiety you’ll give yourself the best chance to live free of it.
2. Exercise Regularly
The single, most important natural tool you can use to beat anxiety is regular exercise. It sounds cliché – maybe even a little far-fetched – but the truth is that exercise affects the mind and body in ways that science is still discovering.
There is a reason that anxiety prevalence has grown with our increasingly inactive lifestyles. Jogging every day can make a world of difference in how you deal with stress, how your anxiety symptoms manifest, and how you regulate your mood.
3. Sweat the Small Stuff
What fuels anxiety isn’t always something grand, like a mother that yelled at you in your childhood. Something as simple as watching a horror movie can increase the anxiety you experience every day, as well as how you cope with it.
Part of dedicating yourself to beating anxiety involves remembering that there is nothing in your life that should be ignored simply because the anxiety feels less important. It’s time to cut out horror movies, gamble less, and drink infrequently to make sure that you’re not inadvertently making your anxiety worse.
4. Face Your Fears
There are two exceptions to rule number 3 – and the first is that you need to be able to face your fears. Every time you avoid something that causes fear, your brain subconsciously fears it more, because you’ve rewarded yourself for avoiding the fear and simultaneously justified it. You need to be ready to face your fears if you want to beat them forever.
5. Fun/Happy/Productive Anxiety Can Be Healthy
The second exception is anxiety that isn’t negative. A great example would be playing sports with people you’re close with. It’s a friendly game, you’re having a great time with your friends, and while you may be a little anxious when it’s your turn to bat or someone passes you the ball, the ability to bond with your friends is something with multiple advantages. As well, healthy amounts of anxiety allow you perform at your peak and remain focused.
6. Remembering You Only Have One Life
Imagine you hate your job, but you cannot afford to quit. You have two options. You can let your job make you miserable, or you can find ways to make your job more fun for you, and find additional ways to make sure your anxiety filled job doesn’t affect your personal life.
You are the most important person there is, and when you find something causes anxiety that you can’t control, look for ways to make it better.
7. Be a Little Selfish
Finally, remember that while it’s always important to be a good person, donate your time and money, and care about the needs of others, you are always the most important person in your life. You can only give back to others what you have yourself.
So, if you’re presented with an opportunity to be happy, you should take it. Your happiness should be your priority, and the happier you choose to live your life, the less the anxiety you experience will affect you.
Find Your Anxiety Cures
You can beat anxiety. But to do it, you need to be ready to motivate yourself towards being anxiety free, and dedicate yourself to whatever it takes to eliminate anxiety altogether. Anxiety cures are possible, and while they’ll take time, you’ll find that your life becomes increasingly better.
About the Author: Ryan Rivera lived with anxiety for decades, but today feels liberated every day now that he’s free of anxiety symptoms. He has a website dedicated to ridding yourself of anxiety called Calm Clinic.
