Feeling anxious sucks. Whether you’re starting a new job, think you’ve failed a test, or are even just meeting your boyfriend’s parents for the first time, anxiety is never fun. Then when someone tells you it’s going to be all right, you kind of want to scream at them – because how do they know that? Well, these TedTalks actually have some good, concrete advice that will hopefully bring a little more comfort to you.
1- How To Make Stress Your Friend
I was about to say anxiety and stress are a match made in heaven, but a match made in hell is probably more accurate. When you stress out, you get anxious, and then when you’re anxious, everything is more stressful. But psychologist Kelly McGonigal challenges this unhelpful cycle and shows how stress can actually be a positive thing.
2- Why Success Is A Continuous Journey
We often worry too much about whether we’re successful or not. But Richard St. John reminds us that we only really fail when we stop trying. Though it’s so much easier said that done, just try not to be so hard on yourself - cue Jess Glynne.
3-Try Something New For 30 Days
Anxiety can sometimes stop you from taking on something new. Everything seems like a massive challenge, particularly when you’ve set resolutions for the whole year. But Matt Cutts approach is just to try something for 30 days. A whole lot less daunting, and much easier to achieve.
4-How To Make Hard Choices
When you’ve got to make a tough decision, it’s easy to worry that you’re going to make the wrong one. But Ruth Chang suggests that the way we think about decision-making is wrong, and offers an alternative approach, that’ll (hopefully) be less anxiety-provoking.
5- The Battle Between Your Present And Future Self
Making decisions that’ll affect your future are a daily occurrence. But it’s easy to worry you’ve made the wrong call. ‘What if?’ has to be one of our most asked questions, and also one of our most dangerous ones. But Daniel Goldstein has developed these tools to help us imagine what we’ll be like over time, so we can help future us out.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.