Welcome back to my thoughts, straight from the Flip Your Mindset podcast. Today, I really want to talk about anxiety, and I want to give you a reframe. Let me start with something that might sound a little surprising: anxiety is actually not your biggest problem. I know that might feel really hard to believe, especially if it has been running your life, stealing your sleep, and making everything feel so much harder than it needs to be. Most people experience anxiety as intrusive. It shows up uninvited, hijacks the body, and makes small things feel huge. Naturally, people want it gone, saying they just want it to stop and want their old self back. For a long time, that is exactly how I saw anxiety: as something to fight, control, and outthink. Nothing would have made me happier than to wrap it in a really heavy chain and drop it to the bottom of the ocean. But the harder I fought it, the louder it got. A New Way to Look at Anxiety Here is the reframe that changed things for me. Anxiety is not a character flaw, a weakness, or a malfunction. What I can tell you is that anxiety is actually a protective response. It is your nervous system saying it doesn’t like a familiar feeling, it doesn’t want to be caught off guard, and it is trying to keep you safe. When we feel anxiety, we experience real physiological changes. We might feel it in our stomach, our chest gets tight, our heart races, our blood pressure goes up, and our mind races. But what you are really describing is a response to something, and anxiety does not always mean there is imminent danger. Instead of a random malfunction, anxiety is a collection of brilliant, devised coping strategies your nervous system learned to keep you prepared and safe. The strategy worked when you needed it at a specific time, and then it just became chronic. Stop Fighting and Start Listening When you fight anxiety, your nervous system interprets it as danger, so it doubles down. Anxiety does not respond well to force and elimination. It responds very well to understanding, listening, and safety. We feel as though the goal is to silence it, but the goal should actually be to understand what it is trying to tell you. Anxiety is a messenger. It is trying to tell you that it doesn’t feel like you are safe, even if you likely are safe right now. If your anxiety isn’t something to conquer, but rather something to listen to, you can talk to it differently. What if instead of asking how to stop this, you start asking what this is trying to tell you?. That single question can change your relationship with anxiety completely. It is not your enemy; it is your fiercest, most loyal protector that has not been updated yet to know that you are not in danger anymore. Discover Your Roots: The Free HURRT Assessment Are you ready to explore how your past might be affecting your present? I invite you to take our free assessment, called the HURRT Assessment. HURRT stands for Healing Unresolved Roots of Trauma. It is designed to help you see how your lived experiences may have impacted you in ways you might not have fully appreciated before. Take the free assessment here: https://www.flipyourmindset.com/hurrt Free Anxiety Masterclass If you are tired of understanding your anxiety without actually feeling any relief, I want to invite you to take the next step. I am hosting a free masterclass where we will explore how to regulate your nervous system and create the safety your body needs. * Dates: March 24 and March 25 * Time: 7:00 PM ET * Register here: https://www.flipyourmindset.com/masterclassanxiety This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flipyourmindset.substack.com/subscribe
