How I deal with fear, anxiety + doubt...

Fear of (blank), anxiety for (blank), doubtful about (blank) — pick your context.

These emotions are everywhere.

A fear of looking stupid, failing or saying the wrong thing; anxiety about trying something new or making enough money as a digital nomad; having doubts about your skills and abilities…

These freaking villains pop up all over the place and they’re a serious buzzkill.

Fear, anxiety and doubt prevent you from living a truly chill, creative, happy and aligned life.

Bastards!

Luckily, I’ve found a way to transmute these things into something more positive, fun and adventurous.

This is simply what works for me.

Because the truth is, I still deal with these emotions — just in a much smaller way now.

Don’t Stop or Avoid Negative Emotions — Transmute Them

To solve fear or anxiety, I don’t try to get rid of them.

After all, a little bit of fear response is good in situations that are actually precarious.

So instead, I transform these emotions into something lighter — something more helpful.

I shift my fear and anxiety into curiosity.

Maybe it’s my love for travel, but curiosity transforms anxious, fearful contexts into more adventure ones to be explored.

This works for me.

I imagine myself as Indiana Jones or Dr. Alan Grant embarking on a great adventure. Fear and doubts abound, but my curiosity takes over.

Life is like an grand experiment and I’m simply a researcher, testing things out and learning like a student.

With this mindset, situations that used to give me anxiety are WAY easier.

Curiosity replaces stress with a more lighthearted naiveté.

It’s like saying “well well well, what do we have behind this door?? f it, let’s see!”

It takes some practice, but it’s a subtle shift that works for me (even if only sometimes).

How to Be Chill With Fear, Anxiety + Doubt

1. Become aware of what triggers your fear, anxiety and doubts. What causes these emotions and how do they pop up for you?

2. Consciously choose a different perspective. You can use curiosity like me, but are there any other positive shifts you can make?

3. Push yourself little by little. Work on fear, anxiety and doubt within your “zone of proximal development”. This is the area that’s not too easy but also not too hard, and it’s where growth happens.

4. Take breaks. While breaking past personal barriers is good stuff, living in a perpetual state of fear, anxiety or doubt isn’t. So take breaks and enjoy your comfort zones too. It’s all about balance.

• *The Creative Travel Guide (how to travel like an artist)

• *What to Do When It Rains On Vacation (staying chill on rainy trips)

• Goodby Creative Imposter Syndrome

• The Dark Side of Too Much Modesty

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