I’m not a doctor, but I want to talk about anxiety. I used to have a lot of anxiety, and it used to get in my way a lot when I tried to present myself and make a good impression as I was interacting with professionals. Over the course of my existence with Sage Presence, I have been practicing what I preach, and I’ve been applying the lessons that we offer our clients when we coach and train them. Probably the most powerful one that I have experienced is the power of appreciation.
Now, what I’ve come to understand firsthand is you can’t experience anxiety and appreciation at the same time. When something is coming up, a presentation opportunity is coming up, it’s very common to get hit with a wave of nervousness and anxiety. And it, on the surface of things, can feel really awful, or it can seem to feel really awful. And you can resist it, and it can kind of make things worse. You can try to ignore it, and it’s just a terrible relationship that you start to create between you and this feeling. This terrible relationship generally makes it all worse for you.
When I started to apply the lesson of appreciation to my anxiety, what happened was I would ask myself, “Okay, what can I actually appreciate about this feeling?” And after a time, I started to have thoughts and ideas about this feeling that were actually positive. I started to recognize, “You know what, there’s a lot of energy in this feeling, and this energy can actually help me.” Because, in a presentation, I want energy. I don’t want to come across as low energy. I don’t want to come across like I don’t care. Energy helps you communicate that you care, that you’re interested, that you’re engaged, that you’re in the moment.
And over time, as I have experienced this, what’s happened is the negative feelings that I had about this feeling that hit me, these pangs in my stomach that hit me, these negative feelings started to fall away. And instead of anxiety, I would start to call it excitement, which is still a certain kind of fear, but it’s a good kind of fear. What I started to recognize is anxiety plus appreciation creates excitement, and excitement is great. Excitement enjoys the moment. Excitement makes the most of the moment. All of this is a product of asking the question, “What can I appreciate right now?”
And whatever you’re experiencing right now, you can find something positive. Get into that practice. Ask yourself the question, “What can I appreciate right now?” and notice what change it makes for you in the moment.
One Reply to “Transform Your Anxiety”
Great article! I really appreciate the clear and detailed insights you’ve provided on this topic. It’s always refreshing to read content that breaks things down so well, making it easy for readers to grasp even complex ideas. I also found the practical tips you’ve shared to be very helpful. Looking forward to more informative posts like this! Keep up the good work! YouTube Downloader Online