fbpx ;

How to Make Anxiety One of Your Greatest Strengths

Feeling anxious isn’t fun. But what if, instead of wishing you didn’t have anxiety, you could see it differently and actually use it as one of your greatest strengths and sources of energy?

That’s the whole premise of Notable Life founder Julian Brass‘ book Own Your Anxiety: 99 Simple Ways to Channel Your Secret Edge — and it’s damn inspiring.

As one of the 45 million people in the United States and Canada who live with anxiety, Julian decided to embrace these challenges that come with anxiety, and view it as not an epidemic or weakness, but rather of his greatest strengths.

“I want people not to just live with it but literally to like living with anxiety,” he says. “And eventually, they’ll even learn how to channel it into a positive stream of renewable energy that will help them achieve their goals. Then one day, if they’re like me, they might even appreciate it for what it is, this thing they used to see as holding them back — it’s their gift.”

Today, we’re sharing an excerpt from his book that shows you how simply sharing your journey can help you to take your power back from anxiety.

Why Sharing your Journey With Others Can Help You Take Back Your Anxiety, by Julian Brass

When we give, we grow. And giving can take many forms, like sharing our experiences — especially with those who need guidance or a sense of belonging.

So much anxiety comes from fear of the unknown or of being alone. When we share our knowledge, we build trust and community. We create a group of like-minded people around us who can guide us on our journeys and give us a sense that we’re being accompanied. Also, others in your midst might see things that you don’t and offer some good advice.

When we share, we feel better about ourselves because we self-reflect and are encouraged to trust others. We feel more confident when we help others, and we feel grounded when we receive guidance that we really need. This makes us happy and evokes positive self-talk, which, as you know, has been proven to help us take ownership of our anxiety.

I’ve tried to turn sharing into a regular habit. I’m always amazed and grateful when others do the same for me. During tax season, my father, who is normally very calm, goes into high gear. But even so, I’ve seen him turn it all off and share with me a life story that quickly relaxes both of us. I’ve watched my mother, during her bout with cancer, go from worried to chilled out and in control just by sharing lessons she’s learned from her ordeal. And I’ve watched myself go from a state of anxiety to a state of centered calm by sharing my truth.

Who might you be able to share with? Perhaps you have a friend who would truly benefit from your story. I bet you that there’s a local community group that would deeply appreciate it.

Sharing isn’t just verbal, either. Maybe you have it in you to share more of your story, authentically and vulnerably, at same time judiciously, with your social media network — care to give that a shot? Another thing you may consider is simply writing more. Try it! You may have an uplifting release just by writing. By doing that you’re in essence sharing with the Universe, even if nobody else sees it.

Crazy, right? But it’s possible. Anything is possible.

To give is to get. When we give, we often get in return more than we ever imagined possible. –Julian Brass

FTC disclosure: We often receive products from companies to review. All thoughts and opinions are always entirely our own. Unless otherwise stated, we have received no compensation for our review and the content is purely editorial. Affiliate links may be included. If you purchase something through one of those links we may receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!

Comments

7 Comments
  1. Thank you for this excellent bit of advice. I find my anxiety is relieved and channeled into something useful when I share it through my blogging or in face-to-face conversations. For one thing, expressed emotion definitely dissipates quicker, and I often talk myself through the situation that is stressing me out and find resolution. And if my message is useful to others, that just feels good. I will be interested to read your book. Thank you.

    ~Christie

  2. saad shah says:

    thanks for this article i hope it will help me. content like this always give me strength

  3. Indal says:

    Useful article!

  4. Thanks for such a beautiful post, very informative and useful article, how long did the work take?

  5. techlite says:

    thanks for this article this was really needed and i think it should be most discussed topic

  6. Nowadays anxiety is a common problem. this article needs everyone. You do a good job. Thanks for giving me this information. really I need this article.

  7. Thanks for giving such great information. I mostly remain depressed, but now your article helped me to overcome.

Comments are closed.