How to Break the Cycle of Anxiety: A Mindset Approach Pt. 2

In last week’s article How to Break the Cycle of Anxiety: A Mindset Approach Pt. 1 we looked at why it’s important to understand the cycle of anxiety and why mindset is so important when working to overcome this issue.

We also looked at the first two steps to breaking the cycle of anxiety in your life: Step 1: Recognizing the Triggers and Step 2: Interrupting the Loop.

This week, we’ll continue with the last few steps you can take today to disrupt the cycle of anxiety and begin living the life you want to live.

Step 3: Reframing Your Thoughts

Reframing your thoughts, or Cognitive Reframing, is an essential component when learning how to break the cycle of anxiety. As discussed last week, you can often get stuck in a loop of anxious thinking, so as you follow Step 2 and disrupt the loop, where do you go from there? The answer is to reframe your thoughts. 

This means you must first become aware of your unconscious thoughts, challenge them, and replace them with more constructive ones. Doing so can allow you to see situations from a different and often more balanced perspective.

Examples of Reframing

• Anxious Thought: “I’m going to fail this presentation, and everyone will think I’m incompetent.”

• Reframed Thought: “I’ve prepared for this presentation. Even if I stumble, it’s a chance to learn and improve.”

In his book The Power of One More, Ed Mylett discusses the mindset a Navy Seal adopts when entering an unknown situation. The mindset essentially boils down to this: They look for what they can control right now.

They’re not worried about what might happen in a few weeks, tomorrow, or even within the next hour. They’re only concerned with what is happening at that moment and what they can influence or control in that moment.

It’s essential you begin to understand this concept as well because the only thing you can truly control is your mind and how you think and feel about a given situation. 

This is why reframing is so important.

Tips for Effective Reframing

• Think about what you’re thinking and feeling. Be conscious of it. Allow yourself to be present with it and objectively observe if what you’re thinking is factual or not. 

• Challenge your thinking. Consider best- and worst-case scenarios and the most likely outcome. 

  • If you give a presentation, what’s the worst that will happen? Someone laughs at you? They debate you on your point?

  • You walk into a room full of people you don’t know; what’s the worst that will happen? What’s the best that could happen?

Just because you’re doing something out of your comfort zone doesn’t mean you’re in peril, unless maybe you’re BASE jumping. 

Recognizing the triggers, interrupting the loop, and reframing your thoughts are all well and good, but how do you break the cycle of anxiety for good? Are you destined to live out the rest of your days constantly going through this process?

The answer is, No! Thankfully, you can develop a mindset that frees you from the cycle and allows you to move forward with aplomb.

Step 4: Cultivating a Resilient Mindset

Resilience is needed to effectively bounce back from whatever challenges you may face, allows you to adapt to adversity, and keeps you moving forward.

It helps you break the cycle of anxiety by causing you to become impervious to its effects. 

Strategies to Build Resilience

• Daily Mindset Practices: Start each day with affirmations or gratitude journaling to reinforce a positive outlook

• Visualization: Imagine yourself successfully navigating difficult situations

• Mindfulness: Regular mindfulness practice helps you stay grounded and less reactive to stressors

Strategies to Lock in Resilience

One of the best things you can do is put your body through controlled stress-related activities. When you couple this with the Strategies to Build Resilience as listed above, you can quickly break the cycle of anxiety you might be struggling with.

• Exercise: Workout, run, swim

  • You don’t have to start big; all you have to do is start.

  • Take a 10-minute walk every day for the next 30 days, and while doing so, practice the above strategies to build resilience.  

• Cold Showers: Yes, they are cold, but they do a great job of forcing you to deal with something difficult in short, controlled bursts.

• Meditation: This is a great way to learn how to recognize thought patterns and to cut them off when they occur as you consistently bring yourself back to stillness

Step 5: Building a Support System

Isolation can amplify anxiety, so learning to build a robust support system can provide reassurance and perspective.

How to Build Your Support System

• Friends and family: Be open about your struggles. Your loved ones want to help but won’t know how unless you communicate.

  • Don’t overdo it, though. If all you do is complain about the issue without working toward a resolution, you could end up driving people away. 

  • People want to help, but they also want to know you’re working to break the cycle of anxiety yourself as well.

• Professional Support: It can be challenging to understand some of the issues you’re dealing with, and having an outside perspective can help direct and guide you as needed. A therapist or counselor can be helpful, especially if anxiety significantly impacts your life.

• Community: Join support groups, whether in person or online, where others share similar experiences and can offer insights on their own journey.

Step 6: Practicing Self-Awareness

Anxiety often operates on autopilot, but as we saw last week in Steps 1 and 2, awareness is extremely important. You must become conscious of your unconscious thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations, which allows you to recognize patterns and take control.

How to Foster Self-Awareness

• Mindfulness Meditation: Set aside 10 minutes daily. Do some gentle breathwork and observe your thoughts. Don’t judge the thoughts; allow yourself to be a 3rd party observer. 

• Self-Check-Ins: Pause throughout the day and ask, “How am I feeling right now? What thoughts are dominating my mind?”

• Avoid Rumination: Reflecting can be productive; however, ruminating on potential outcomes that may or may not happen is not. You need to become good at catching your thoughts.

Step 7: Long-Term Strategies for Growth

Whatever you do, whatever issue you’re struggling with or endeavor you’re trying to accomplish, you need to understand that things take time. You need to be okay with playing the long game.

• Reframe Failure as Growth: View setbacks as learning opportunities rather than signs of inadequacy. 

  • Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this experience?”

• Goal-Setting: Set realistic, incremental goals for managing anxiety (e.g., walking for 10 minutes a day for a week)

• Track Progress: Celebrate small wins, like handling a social situation without spiraling into anxious thoughts

Wrapping Up

I know anxiety can be difficult to overcome, but the great news is it’s not impossible. If you want to break the cycle of anxiety, you can, and it all starts with one small step.

However, you must be willing to take action, whether journaling, breathing exercises, therapy, or daily walks. Regardless of what you do, you must also ensure consistency.

Remember, anxiety doesn’t define you. It’s something you can conquer if you put in the time and effort to do what’s needed to overcome. With the right mindset, you can regain control of your life. 

If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends and family. As always, thanks for reading.

Josiah

For more information and resources, visit josiahthibodeau.com