How to deal with anxiety or ANY negative emotion
How to deal with anxiety or ANY negative emotion
If you guys have been following along with me on Instagram, you know that I've really been working on getting more in tune with my body and it's messages. I've been working on feeling into my body and being present with it So this morning when my alarm went off at 7:30 I decided to press snooze. My body was craving more sleep and since I haven't been sleeping well the last couple months, I decided it was OK to sleep in a bit more.
I slept for another hour and heard my alarm go off again. I decided to press snooze again. I was just luxuriating in the feeling of good, solid, sleep! I just did NOT want to get up.
I guess thats another upside to being an entrepreneur that I love - you get to create your own schedule. I knew what I had planned for the day and I knew it wasn't imperative for me to get up then. What I had on my schedule could wait.
I slept another 30 minutes and as I woke up I almost immediately felt some resistance in my body.
I felt pangs of guilt and anxiety in the pit of my stomach. Oh, I hate those feelings! But instead of resisting them like I used to, I dug into them deeper. I wanted to find out why they were there.
Why was I feeling anxiety when I hadn't even done anything yet today?! I've come to understand that our feelings come from our thoughts. It's as simple as that.
Most people believe that our circumstances, events, people, situations, etc., cause our feelings. That's actually not the case. It's our interpretations and thoughts about our circumstances that cause us to feel a certain way. So our thoughts actually cause our emotions, not our circumstances or events in our lives.
Knowing this I just had to ask myself one question: "what thoughts are causing me to feel anxiety or guilt?" and address then them.
It wasn’t me sleeping in that made me feel guilty or anxious, it was the thoughts I was having about sleeping in that caused me to feel this anxiety.
So what were the thoughts?
“Successful entrepreneurs wake up at the crack of dawn!”
"If you’re not busy you’re not working hard enough!”
These are beliefs I’ve held about what it takes to be successful in work and business. It’s that hustle and work hard, play hard mentality. This hard work and hustle mentality is pervasive in our society, especially in the business and entrepreneurship world. It kind of wreaks havoc on our happiness if you ask me! And not living in alignment with these beliefs causes anxiety.
As I’ve been working on my mindset the last year or so, I’ve come to realize I've always viewed work as stressful and something that needed to be hard. These are beliefs I’ve been working on changing because they don’t serve me or my happiness, or even my success. And like I said, it just causes anxiety when I don't live in alignment with these beliefs (and I don't want to!).
So I’m rewiring my thoughts to be more serving for me. Now I’m working on maintaining the belief that work is easy, work is fun, and the less I work, the more I make. Don’t those sound like much better beliefs to hold about work and money?! Heck yes!
And the crazy thing, is changing these thoughts has been working wonders for me!
I've been having more fun in my business, I've been WAY less stressed, I've been way less "busy" and have been focusing on work that matters, and I've been growing my business and bringing in new clients much more than ever before!
So as I lay in bed feeling anxious and guilty I shifted my thoughts to a simple phrase that I’ve been coming back to over and over again the last few weeks. “I love myself.”
It’s like a catch-all thought that makes everything feel better instantly. Because when you love yourself you know that everything is as it should be. That you are worthy no matter what you do or don’t do. I could lie in bed all day if I wanted and still be worthy. I don't have to do anything or be anything to be worthy and loved. Because I love myself, I love myself, I love myself.
So the point of this? YOU should try this next time you’re feeling anxiety or any negative emotions. Ask yourself what thoughts are causing my anxiety and then just start repeating “I love myself,” instead and see how you feel. Let this be your new mantra.
Let it be the running dialogue in your head when you're brushing your teeth, cooking, cleaning, talking to friends, in the shower. Make it as pervasive as the negative beliefs that are holding you back! Let it rewire those beliefs and carve a new neural pathway in your brain for you! One that will lead to much more happiness and success for you.
