In this video on my YouTube channel, I chat about my experience with anxiety and freaking out about big decisions in my twenties (especially this last year).
We all have our own experiences, but I thought it might be helpful to share some of mine to help you reflect on your own and also see that you’re not alone!
I’m still learning a lot and riding the waves of self-doubt and anxiety but it’s part of growing and developing in your twenties so I’m doing my best to lean into it and overwhelm my fears and doubts with action! I’ve also written out a few of the key things I was trying to get across in my video below, just in case you need a little help deciphering my ramblings haha.
And if you’re struggling with anxiety or depression or any kind of mental health issue, please be brave and reach out to get professional help!
Here’s what I’ve learned:
EXPECT TO FREAK OUT
When it comes to making big life decisions, freaking out (doubting yourself, wanting to back pedal on a commitment, wondering what the hell you’re doing etc) is part of the process. When it comes, don’t take it as a sign that you’ve made the wrong decision but a sign that you’re growing as a person and you’re moving up to the next level.
FREAKING OUT MAY HAPPEN IN UNEXPECTED WAYS
When I quit my full-time job for blogging, I didn’t actually have any kind of doubt around the decision itself and was quite pleased with myself that I was handling it all so well. But at exactly the same time, I began to experience a lot of anxiety around my health (which I’d never really experienced before).
When it was happening I didn’t realise it was related to me leaving my full-time job (I thought it was to do with my birthday and feeling ‘one step closer’ to a breast cancer diagnosis) but with the benefit of hindsight I could see that I was becoming extremely anxious about my health because my life felt like it was too good to be true. I definitely recommend reading The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks if you want to know more about how this (it’s called the ‘upper limit problem’)!
OVERWHELM FEAR WITH ACTION
In my experience, the best way to deal with fear and doubt and anxiety has been to overwhelm it with action. I move on decisions as quickly as I possibly can so that I don’t end up feeling crippled by fear and doubt (a surprisingly small amount of information/planning is needed to make an informed decision) and when it came to my anxiety, I booked an appointment with my doctor to talk about it and see what I could do.
I hope you’ve found this video helpful!
Sam xx
GIVEAWAY
Make sure you enter my giveaway if you haven’t already! It’s open worldwide and the lucky winner will get a prize that will help them on their own person growth journey:
A paperback copy of my 5 favourite personal development books:
- You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero
- Mindset by Dr Carol Dweck
- Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
- Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
- The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr David Schwartz
and my online course Dream Habit: A 28-Day Habit Bootcamp For Perfectionists (valued at $197)!
The giveaway closes at midnight on Thursday, 30 September 2017 and the lucky winner will be announced and contacted on Friday, 1 October 2017.
HOW TO ENTER
Click here to enter – it only takes a minute!
Good luck!