Thread by @AlexAndBooks_

Letting anxiety control your life isn't fun.

It can stop you from meeting new people, traveling to new places, and accepting new opportunities–fortunately, there are tools you can learn to manage your anxiety.

Here are 12 lessons from "The Anxiety Toolkit" by @DrAliceBoyes:

1/ Know You're Not Alone

"Anxiety disorders affect 40 million Americans over the age of 18, and 'everyday anxiety' affects a far greater number."

2/ Remember The Opportunity Cost of Not Taking Action

"If you're restricting how much you're living your life due to feelings of anxiety, you'll miss out on unexpected opportunities to achieve your goals."

3/ Think of 1 Positive Outcome For Every Negative 1

"Whenever you're feeling anxious, use this feeling as your cue to practice articulating your negative prediction and an alternative. Try prompting yourself to think of the best possible outcome, instead of just the worst."

4/ Slow Down Your Breathing

"The best way to instantly feel less anxious is to slow your breathing...Slowing your breathing will automatically slow down your heart rate."

5/ Stop Being So Hard On Yourself

"People who are in a pattern of trying to use self-criticism as motivation often fear that reducing it will make them lazy. It won't. In fact, giving yourself a compassionate rather than a critical message will often lead to working harder."

6/ Avoid Taking Negative Interactions This Personally

"Personalizing is when you take something more personally than it was meant in reality."

7/ Practice Meditation

"Mindfulness meditation is like Tylenol, in that the same treatment is capable of helping with multiple issues: decreasing anxiety-induced overarousal, boosting your focus, and improving your ability to detect rumination."

8/ Reduce Overthinking By Capturing Ideas

"Use a note-taking app to capture ideas as you have them. Doing this relieves the stress of trying to remember them later. It prevents the frustration of remembering you had a great thought but not being able to recall what it was..."

9/ Use Your Anxious Nature To Your Advantage

When making plans and thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong, make contingency plans.

Take an extra credit card when going on an overseas trip in case your main card doesn't work for some reason.

10/ Procrastinate Wisely

"Procrastination isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes the urge to procrastinate is a cue that you need a mental break, so that when you restart a task, you're refreshed and more productive."

(note: take breaks AFTER you've done some work, not before)

11/ Scale-Down A BIG Task Into A Small One

"Try doing a simpler version of something you've been putting off...shrink the task rather than just spreading it out."

12/ Avoid Becoming A Self-Improvement Addict

"Reading new self-improvement materials can become a crutch for some people...You need to make sure you're translating your most important insights into action rather than just doing more reading."

Enjoyed this thread and want more:

-book reviews
-book recs
-reading tips

Then follow @AlexAndBooks_ 👈

Want to learn more about "The Anxiety Toolkit"?

Grab a copy of the book here!

amzn.to/3h8517F

Key Lessons from "The Anxiety Toolkit":

1. Meditate more.
2. Avoid personalizing.
3. Procrastinate wisely.
4. Slow down your breathing.
5. Scale-down big tasks into smaller ones.
6. Reduce overthinking by capturing ideas.
7. Think of a positive outcome for every negative one.