Image Not Found On Media Library

River Street, Blue Building
5690-970 New York City

GET CONNECTED
INSTAGRAM FEED
Instagram connection not available.
TOOLKIT
Image Not Found On Media Library

Type and hit ENTER
Hi Mark, Do you have an email list you can subscribe to? Thanks for all of the great content. AUTHOR: John AUTHOR EMAIL: johnmchenry4@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: markfreeman.ca Contact Form IP: 98.122.164.68 Array ( [1_Name] => John [2_Email] => johnmchenry4@gmail.com [3_Message] => Hi Mark, Do you have an email list you can subscribe to? Thanks for all of the great content. [entry_title] => Contact [entry_permalink] => https://www.markfreeman.ca/contact/ [feedback_id] => 2ac250ef4cfa0b349ab4329506168cf1 )
Image Not Found On Media Library
  • Coaching
  • Keynotes
  • Journal
  • Books
  • Contact
GET CONNECTED
  • Home
  • Journal
  • Coaching
  • Keynotes
  • Books
  • Brain School
  • Contact
Be yourself

Anxiety infiltrates everything (but you can beat it at everything).

January 12, 2014
-
Posted by Mark

If you struggle with anxiety, you’re very likely going to work in a way that’s built around trying to avoid anxiety. So you’ll do things like:

  • Not delegate or let other people handle things for you.
  • Try to fix problems alone before anybody finds out.
  • Avoid leading because you’re worried about things going wrong.
  • Avoid leading because you like to correct others.
  • Avoid leading because you think you’re not good enough, or people will think you don’t deserve it.
  • Create systems that clog up with checking.
  • Do everything reactively instead of proactively.
  • Procrastinate.
  • Blame others for everything that goes wrong because the only thing worse than things going wrong is getting blamed for it.
  • Work really, really hard on something you know isn’t going to work and keep telling people you’re just a victim of your boss’s dumb ideas.
  • Not talking to people because you just need to get work done!
  • Building your relationships at work around being busy. You’re a busy person!
  • Not asking questions so nobody will know you don’t know what’s going on.
  • Check and recheck emails to make sure you didn’t say something offensive, or something that makes you look incompetent, or something that’s going to get you fired.
  • Hope everyday that nobody finds out you’re not good enough to be doing your job.
  • Avoid asking for what you really want because you’re afraid you’ll get fired.
  • Hide your personality and your interests. What if people found out who you really are?!
  • Believe in a separation between work and life. There isn’t. Wherever you’re breathing, that’s your life.
  • Avoid doing things outside of your comfort zone even though they’ll help you do the job better or accomplish more. Tell people you’re just not that type of person. You have your own way of doing things!

And the list could go on.

Before recovering, work was just a way to fuel my anxiety disorder and make it worse. I would work tons of long days to avoid all sorts of uncertainties and that just stressed me out and made me sicker. Now I actually work much more and get much more done but I work totally differently. In the past, I worked only in reaction to fears. Now I work to create things. And that’s a significant difference.

The old way of working was all about trying to not let things happen in the future. The new way of working is all about trying to make things happen in the future. Being creative is just so much more fulfilling. Instead of trying to take things out of the future, try to put things into it.

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related News

Other posts that you should not miss.
Be yourself, Testimonials

Pedalling out of Bike Anxiety and Panic Attacks

October 21, 2018
-
Posted by Mark

Anxieties around panic attacks triggered by exercise, and specifically issues with riding bicycles, have been popping up frequently …

Read More
October 21, 2018
Posted by Mark
Be yourself

How to deal with Real Event OCD

August 31, 2018
-
Posted by Mark

It’s easy to get caught up in compulsions around things that really happened. In fact, over the years, …

Read More
August 31, 2018
Posted by Mark
Be yourself

Recovery is Heroic

September 4, 2014
-
Posted by Mark

Recovery is heroic. And I don’t mean that just because recovery is a journey best taken in spandex …

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Read More
September 4, 2014
Posted by Mark
← PREVIOUS POST
Anxiety Disorder Relapse Prevention (video)
NEXT POST →
Follow your mind with a meditation journal.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

ABOUT ME
Author. Coach. Facilitator. CEO at TOOLKIT. I create tools that help people make and sustain difficult changes.
TOOLKIT HQ

And this is a good mug. Click the image to grab yours from the Toolkit Store. FREE SHIPPING through the holidays. I can verify that it does an exceptional job at hold coffee, tea, Red Bull, water, and kombucha. Goes excellent with cookies and donuts (sold separately).

SEARCH
FOLLOW ALONG
RECENT POSTS
  • Online Mental Health Writing Workshop
    January 11, 2021

    I’m teaching another round of my writing workshop! The Write Your Brain mental …

  • Life after recovery
    November 19, 2020

    I always enjoy collaborating with OCD UK because they have such a helpful …

  • The Tune-Up on Twitch – Mental Health Recovery Q&A
    October 10, 2020

    Bring your brain by the Toolkit Shop for the Tune-Up twice each month …

  • What is quality treatment for OCD and Anxiety Disorders?
    March 10, 2020

    One of the reasons I originally started to share about mental health and …

  • 5 Tips for Taking Mental Health Workshops Online
    June 20, 2019

    I’ve been facilitating workshops for years, in mental health and business strategy. Adapting …

POPULAR TAGS
recovery
OCD
anxiety
mental health
video
Acceptance
compulsions
therapy
mental illness
change
psychology
skills
fear
systems thinking
mindfulness
treatment
workshop
Everybody has a Brain
practice
meditation
design thinking
work
intrusive thoughts
travel
blogging
Vintage
Trends
Shopping
Party
Music
Social
LifeStyle
Kids
Family
CBT
stigma
Love
Exposure & Response Prevention
ACT
health
mental health at work
goals
lived experience
peer support
interview
Knives out. Dice up a recovery salad. #mentalhea Knives out. Dice up a recovery salad. 

#mentalhealth #tweet #recovery #knives #anxiety #psychology #therapy #mindfulness #cooking #mentalhealthawareness #recoveryispossible #contamination #OCD #health #recoveryquotes
You don't have to listen to your brain's reasons! You don't have to listen to your brain's reasons! This isn't different. You know it was going to pull this trick. Where do you want to go? What do you want to give your time and energy to?

#mindfulness #recovery #mentalhealthquote #mentalfitness #stress #reasons #thinking #psychology #addiction #anxiety #fear #control #compulsions #habits
This also applies if it did happen. You can do stu This also applies if it did happen. You can do stuff differently up there!

#thinking #ruminating #brain #mindfulness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthnotes #quote #reminder #psychology #therapy #recovery #cognitive #acceptance #fear #anxiety #control #writing #brain #writersofinstagram
From last night's Twitch stream exploring examples From last night's Twitch stream exploring examples of Exposure Therapy vs ERP vs ACT. No actual cookies were harmed in the making of this theoretical example. Obviously, in reality, you would gather up every crumb of that cookie and eat it (while contacting the closeness of death and the wonders of life in that moment).

#mindfulness #ERP #ACT #recovery #therapy #psychology #science #cookies #Twitch #acceptance #death #stoicism #reality #life #mentalfitness #fear #anxiety
Don't turn into a ruminating centipede. It'll feel Don't turn into a ruminating centipede. It'll feel like you're going somewhere. If you just think a little more about it, you'll finally solve it! But not really...

Illustration by @pupik.love

#ruminating #illustration #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #thinking #mindful #mindfulness #happiness #psychology #therapy #mentalhealthart
Don't get stuck on the smelly pile of crap this we Don't get stuck on the smelly pile of crap this week. Yes, it smells. Yes, it's a crap disorder. Yes, you hate it and want to chase solutions to make it go away. But focus on changing the big systems producing the pile of crap symptoms you hate. What's feeding that system?

#mentalfitness #mentalhealth #Twitch #psychology #recovery #anxiety #intrusivethoughts #fear #depression #diagram  #mentalhealthnotes #science #TOOLKIT
Closure smosure. We have experiences that are pain Closure smosure. We have experiences that are painful. We can touch that pain, be honest about it. It can be painful and we can do things in the present that matter to us. It can be painful and we can make choices in the present that align with what we value, that create and build the things we want to see in the world.

#recovery #regret #fear #pain #mentalhealthnotes #mentalhealth #psychology #mindfulness #emotions #community #closure #falsememory #guilt
You still trying to avoid human experiences? How's You still trying to avoid human experiences? How's that working out for you?

#recovery #psychology #mentalhealth #therapy #mentalhealthquotes #ocd #pureo #fear #phobia #erp #mindfulness #mentalfitness #mentalhealthmatters
All of the stuff you're doing in your head: that's All of the stuff you're doing in your head: that's practice. Whatever you're doing up there, you're getting skilled at that. What do you want to get skilled at today?

#mindfulness #recovery #mentalhealthnotes #mentalfitness #practice #judgment #nonjudgment #psychology #fitness #skill #focus #goals
You don't wait to feel strong before lifting weigh You don't wait to feel strong before lifting weights. The strength comes after, and even then, you'll just keep on pursuing more exercises that make you feel weak, that make you sweat and gasp for breath. You go towards the difficult experience. You fuel that and support that. So why would you take the opposite approach with emotions?

#mentalfitness #emotions #mentalhealthnotes #psychology #sweat #fitness #recovery #weightlifting #failure #success #anxiety #socialanxiety #fear #depression #love #guilt #mindfulness
If I’m trying to be optimistic that good things If I’m trying to be optimistic that good things will happen, I’ve actually thrown away any power I have. I’ll need things I don’t control to magically turn out in my favor. It’s a lottery mentality.

So I bring power back to me. I’m optimistic that I will learn and build skills to handle the dumpster fire in a shit storm that is this world. I will practice skills and nourish my needs so I’m prepared for whatever happens. I want challenging situations that don’t go “right” so I can learn to handle them. I’m optimistic about my capacity to try new things, to discover limits, to enforce boundaries, and make difficult changes that help me thrive in any situation.

#mentalhealth #happiness #optimism #positivethinking #lawofattraction #recovery #fear #anxiety #mentalhealthquotes #psychology #goals #fitness #sweat #challenges #life #reminder #mentalfitness
It is so useful to recognize how seemingly "normal It is so useful to recognize how seemingly "normal" checking and controlling fuels the symptoms we hate. If you're struggling with things like derealization / depersonalization, or fears around sexuality, losing your mind, developing psychosis, and anything else that involves losing control of you and your identity, look broadly at how you interact with uncertainty in your life. The brain is simply being logical. If I react to uncertainty about a door lock, or an email, how can I not react to an uncertainty about my existence?! The time we spend on uncertainties that don't trouble us much is what causes the uncertainties that do trouble us.

#uncertainty #fear #anxiety #depersonalization #derealization #recovery #checking #YouTube #pureo #ruminating #realization #mentalhealth #mentalfitness #mentalhealthquotes #psychology

LATEST TWEETS
Twitter
thepathtochange
Follow
Telehealth access to ineffective psychotherapy isn't an innovation.
About 1 hour ago
- thepathtochange
RT @hwitteman: “Ontario & Quebec constantly fretted about doing too much, too soon [...] they repeatedly did too little, too late. Nova Sco…
2 hours ago
- thepathtochange
Mindfulness is not hard work. It is not some great burden to practice mindfulness. All of the judging, ruminating,… https://t.co/ZZuPcRZRxP
20 hours ago
- thepathtochange
Brain Tech Support Live is back for the first show of the new year on YouTube today. Starting momentarily:… https://t.co/VczGL0neyb
22 hours ago
- thepathtochange
RECENT POSTS
  • January 11, 2021
    Online Mental Health Writing Workshop
  • November 19, 2020
    Life after recovery
  • October 10, 2020
    The Tune-Up on Twitch – Mental Health Recovery Q&A
  • HOME
  • GET IN TOUCH
  • BUY SHOUT THEME
MADE IN PORTUGAL. WITH LOVE.
Anxiety infiltrates everything (but you can beat it at everything). | MARK FREEMAN