Anxiety is a feeling of fear and worry, typically about an event or an uncertain outcome. When anxiety and its resulting depression overtake our lives, it can impact our health, our relationships and even our personal and professional success. Anxiety has become a major roadblock to a healthy and productive life.
While anxiety is a normal event in most of our lives, it is important that we learn to cope with it. While there is no one way to completely eliminate anxiety, there are healthy coping skills that you can develop. Short of taking medication to control anxiety, a healthy way to manage anxiety is to develop self-control.
What is Self-Control?
The ability to handle your emotions in the face of difficult situations is called self-control. Self-Control is the battle between the cognitive and emotional brain. Fear and worry are part of the emotional brain, while logic and reason are part of the cognitive brain. It is important to learn how these two parts interact with each other. When you do, you will understand and recognize how they control your reactions to stressors in your life.
Self-Control & Anxiety
Have you ever been in a situation where you acted in a way that later made you feel less than proud? Perhaps you were under a lot of stress or felt out of your element. Of course, you can make excuses and find something or someone to blame for your poor behavior, but if you had shown some self-control during the situation, chances are you would not have to make any excuses at all. When you learn to control your emotions in difficult situations, your actions reflect that, leaving you with little reason to make excuses.
This is why self-control a critical factor in learning how to manage stress and anxiety. When you realize that your emotional brain is reacting to a certain situation with fear or worry, you can better control your thoughts and, instead, use logic and reason. This is how self-control makes it possible to take responsibility for your actions and be proud of how you deal with situations rather than have to make excuses for your behavior.
Improving Self-Control
It is possible to improve your self-control. But it is true that self-control involves your thought processes, which sometimes are difficult to control due to a lack of discipline and effort. Although it can be difficult to improve your self-control, there are simple things you can start doing today to help you.
Here are some ideas you can use to start improving your self-control:
- Start taking responsibility for your actions.
- Stop blaming others.
- Set and meet goals.
- Believe in yourself.
- Have a positive attitude.
- Recognize when you are in a stressful situation.
- Meditate.
- Use breathing exercises to calm down when you experience anxiety.
- Develop good habits, like eating well and exercising.
- View failure as a learning experience.
To learn more about improving self-control and our Anxiety Management program, click on the link to our Anxiety Management program brochure.
