Fear and Anxiety

Fear and anxiety are not things that one deals with only when unemployed or looking for a new job. These are things we all deal with to some degree or another on a regular basis. Granted some handle this better than others.

Some of us are planners and worriers and spend a great deal of time thinking about all the horrible things that could possibly happen and some of us even take steps to reduce some of these risks. Most of us just worry without taking any action.

Someone I worked for a long time ago once told me "Worry is just wasted emotion.". Easy to say.

Anxiety as Energy

Somewhere along the way I learned to treat anxiety as energy - nervous energy. I thought why not put this to use. Take this energy and convert it into action. Do things that will occupy your time and mind and help in someway to reduce the risk you are worried about. Take a class, learn some new thing, workout, learn yoga, martial arts. If you tire your self out at least you might sleep better.

Change the scope 

Then while reading some book I came across this quote from the Dalai Lama and it really resonated with me.

"If we think only of ourselves, forget about other people, then our minds occupy very small area. Inside that small area, even tiny problem appears very big. But the moment you develop a sense of concern for others, you realize that, just like ourselves, they also want happiness; they also want satisfaction. When you have this sense of concern, your mind automatically widens. At this point, your own problems, even big problems, will not be so significant. The result? Big increase in peace of mind. So, if you think only of yourself, only your own happiness, the result is actually less happiness. You get more anxiety, more fear."- Dalai Lama XIV

This change of focus is much harder than treating Anxiety as Energy. This requires mastery of ones ego - for many of us this is a life long endeavor. Having said that - knowing this, that your context drives your anxiety helps. Focusing on helping others helps you get out of your own mind and your own worries. As a bonus you get to have a positive impact on the world.

Gratitude

I feel the best way to deal with Fear, Stress and Anxiety is the method recommended by Tony Robbins. Tony says everyday when you wake up think of 3 things that you are grateful for. This is mostly easy, specially if you are one of the lucky people who have access to the internet. Think about what that means, it means you have some computing device, electricity and a wifi signal. This by extrapolation generally means you have access to running water a roof above your head and most likely food in your belly. Right there you are better of than millions of people around the world.

When you change your focus to what you are grateful for - it is hard to continue to be afraid or anxious. Think about all the good things that have happened in your life that make your life what it is right now in this moment.

Seek Help

A lot of companies provide counselling as one of the benefits as an employee or as a benefit of the outplacement services. Talking things over with a trained professional is helpful and can provide you more tools with which to handle, stress, anxiety and fear. Do not dismiss this option at the very least try it out.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, rationality does not help deal with all emotion. This is where you pull out the big guns - your friends! A cup of coffee, a drink, an evening just shooting the breeze - amazing how much of an impact time with friends have on you. If you don't have any friends - see my article here on how to network - same approach can be used to make friends. In fact if you think of networking as making friends you will enjoy it more!