Episode #124 - Preventing&Managing Anxiety with Andrew Pearce - a podcast by WordPress business specialist Troy Dean featuring Seth Godin, Michael Gerber, Guy Kawasaki, Joe Pulizzi, Andrew Warner, James Schramko, Brian Clark, Ed Dale, Dan Norris and many more.
from 2017-05-18T01:59
Watch the video of this podcast here.
Andrew begins the interview by explaining the varied symptoms of anxiety including: sweats; a fast-beating heart; feeling shaky; overthinking; doubt and/or worry.
He points out that the ‘fight and flight’ response is hardwired into our DNA, which is why these reactions can come about. There’s an important differentiation that he points out though when Cath asks him about what to do when you just “can’t handle” a problem or situation...
“I can’t handle this,” actually means, “I don’t want to have to handle this.”
We are creating the experience in the first place with what we tell ourselves and the way we frame our thoughts. Much food for thought there based on the cognitive behavioral therapy way of thinking.
Preventing Anxiety
Cath asked Andrew for some helpful tips on preventing Anxiety. He had two main strategies:
- Be aware of how and why you are doing something in the first place
- Look at the big picture and then break it down into smaller sections - this approach creates a different experience from where you’re at. (Go to the 7:45-minute mark for more detail on this.)
Cath adds weight to this by giving an example of how she breaks things down herself - almost be ‘tricking herself’ to get through her feelings of overwhelm.
Self-Care
When asked about self-care, Andrew's response was emphatic - you must prioritize it by making it valuable.
Entrepreneurs always ‘just have to get stuff done’ before they relax, so they sabotage their self-care more often than not. You need to put time aside and then commit to it. Something will always come up, so unless you set this time on your calendar and honor that booking, it won’t happen.
Ironically, you’ll be more productive by doing less work.
The final part of this process is to just slow down - “You go faster by slowing down,” claims Andrew. Otherwise, you spread yourself too thin and aren't working to your full potential.
It’s well worth heading to the 15:50-minutemark of the interview where Andrew goes deep on explaining how we often sabotage the one thing we’re chasing as entrepreneurs because on a deeper level we’re actually resisting the success or higher income. Ultimately, we need to feel worthy of and open for the results we want to happen. He’s currently developing a program called “Entrepreneurs in Flow” all about this.
“If you do the work on yourself, you can cut your working hours down and increase your money! “
Managing Expectations
Finally, Andrew offers some tips on how we can manage expectations.
He explains that the process of putting an expectation on ourselves, is actually what creates the stress and anxiety around that expectation in the first place.The belief of, “If I don’t meet this, I’m not good enough” is now set up. Then when you do reach that target that you wanted to reach, it’s
The belief of, “If I don’t meet this, I’m not good enough” is now set up. Then when you do reach that target that you wanted to reach, it’s still not enough.
Having an expectation is outcome dependent. Andrew suggests instead, making a goal that is ‘input’ dependant. Avoid self-judgment by aiming to give your best each day. If you give your best day in and day out, there’s not too much more than you can ask than that! Remember that your best will vary from day to day. If you’re feeling sick, your best isn’t going to be as good as when you’re feeling 100 percent well.
Andrew uses a great ‘house’ analogy to explain this concept at the 26-minute mark, which makes the concept crystal clear.
Finally, Andrew recommends that if you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed or worried, the first thing you need to do is to take responsibility for where you’re at. If you’re ready to make a decision to do something about it, take action that you feels right for you - see your GP, tell a friend, buy a book. Don’t wait for things to happen - take responsibility and take action.
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