grateful Archives - The Future Mindset

My Story With Anxiety

How Practicing Gratitude Helps You fight off Anxiety

A lot of what we go through in adulthood somehow reflects on our experiences from childhood. We naturally pick up habits good or bad without knowing but some habits within the mind are always there lingering no matter what we do. My anxiety stems from bullying from my childhood from the way I walked. I had what they call intoeing where one foot, points inward instead of straight. This was a cocktail with a family history of anxiety to go outside.

Luckily, I had more domineering sides within my personality where I eventually stood up for myself against the bully’s and pushed every fear of anxiety into a challenge. But somehow the anxiety I get when I walk alone is ever-present. I just can’t shake it. It’s a battle within my own mind where thoughts spiral out of control and body parts are highly focused on. The sweat drips down my back but I still move forward. A habit I truly love that no matter the battle within my mind I still move forward.

Over the years, I’ve held objects in my hand, called people and listened to music to combat my anxiety. As good as they were more of a distraction, not a remedy to control my thoughts. Then at 31, I found a solution.

Combining Gratitude With Anxiety

Throughout my life, I’ve always focused on self-care and tried to improve myself as best I could. One part of my self-care routine has been incorporating gratitude. I’ve done quickfire gratitude in the morning and a more reflective one at night. I have witnessed first the power it can have to change your thoughts patterns and the feeling of happiness it can give you.

Then on a walk home, I felt more tense than usual and the anxiety was coming back strong. I was losing control of my thoughts then a habit I have been practising for months just kicked in and I was spouting gratitude for what the eye could see.

I was grateful for the trees, birds singing, the sun in the sky, being able to walk. Very simple things that I could see. Very quickly my mind quietened, my body relaxed and I was calm again. The panic within my mind was over and I was feeling great again.

When I arrived home I was amazed at how effective this discovery was and I wanted to test it again.

I tested it in a busy city centre, school runs and any opportunity when I could walk alone. Every time the anxiety of the mind was quietened. I now had control over my anxiety when walking alone!

Why It Works

After using this mindset habit, here are my biggest lessons learned.

With further research I have found that gratitude helps the brain release dopamine and serotonin, the two crucial neurotransmitters responsible for our emotions.
We can only think of one thing at a time, replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts is a simple strategy for control over our thinking.
It stops the imagination running wild with false observations and fantasy’s that have no truth.
You can never get rid of anxiety or negative thoughts but you can get them under control with the correct habits in place.

Where Else Anxiety Pops Up

Research has found that anxiety is a personal experience that can differ greatly from person to person. But the commonality that applies is when the mind or body feels like it’s under attack. A great feeling to know if you’re in danger. But the mind can find it hard to distinguish from its original functionality to keep us alive when humans first roamed the Earth compared to modern times now where it’s relatively peaceful in daily life.

Anxiety can pop up anywhere from a stressful situation and a triggered memory or under pressure.

In all these situations you can’t suppress the feeling of anxiety. It’s like putting a lid on a volcano, it’s going to explode one way or another. What we have to do is move away from it so it can’t affect us. We do this within the mind by moving our thoughts away from the anxiety onto thoughts that make us happy. This is why practising gratitude within your mind can do just that.

Because happiness isn’t gratitude. Gratitude is happiness.

How To Make It Work For You

Like any new habit make it as easy as possible.

First identity where your anxiety pops up.

Secondly, quickfire gratitude until the focus of the anxiety is gone. For example before public speaking, practise gratitude when you’re waiting to get on stage, not during it.

Thirdly make it a habit for life.

Lastly, anxiety doesn’t have to control our lives. When we let anxiety rule us, it takes away our dreams and purpose in life. It then becomes a habit and a cycle with every passing moment becomes harder and harder to unravel.

Develop and practice the mindset no matter the challenge and discomfort you face you keep moving forward and do it anyway. Your life will be more fulfilled and amazing moments will be created.

I hope with all my being this has helped in some way. Fighting anxiety is a battle we can win as long as we wake up every day willing to fight.

Has this helped you today? What anxiety do you go through on a daily basis? I would love to hear your thoughts and your experiences. Always remember your not alone and everything can change.

PLEASE COMMENT AND SHARE YOUR STORIES!

A Final Word From The Future Mindset

I hope you enjoyed today’s article If you’re struggling with anxiety. Don’t worry you’re not alone. Millions of people go through the same experience every day. I hope the article has helped in some way. If you need extra help or any questions answered. Don’t hesitate to contact me at adam@thefuturemindset.com

@thefuturemindset/@futuremindset_

What To Expect?

In today’s article, 5 amazing tips on how to live a happier life today I will discuss the importance of why happiness is crucial to living a great life. No one in their right mind wants to be unhappy but I do understand the different challenges we all go through that can make happiness seem far away.

So I have come up with my own 5 favourite tips that have helped me become happier when times are difficult in my life. I hope my tips help you to live a happier life today.

Why Your Happiness Is Important?

5 Amazing Tips On How To Live A Happier Life Today — Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

Happiness is something we all want. Some people are definitely happier than others. The question is why you should ask.

There you will find the habits they act upon every day that allows them to live that happy life. I used to believe when I was younger that happiness comes from great wealth, a supercar or being famous.

As I’ve grown older I know this is not to be the case. Of course, these things are great and can give you short term happiness but not the deep happiness we are discussing today. The very fact we see celebrities that have everything but lead unhappy lives has been a testament to that.

Internal vs External Happiness

We need to understand that happiness is not an external materialistic feeling. It’s something internal that we all crave for. The reason why it’s important? It’s because it fosters great mental health where it reduces stress, negative thoughts and negative outcomes.

We should aspire to live a life of happiness but it has to be on our terms of what we want not what society tells us we should want. There you find the happiness you deserve.

Some of the happiest people in the world can be seen living in nature away from the modern-day world which shows that going back to nature can be a major benefit in creating an environment that also makes us happy.

So I hope the tips below can help you take that step towards your internal happiness because no one can take that away from you. That’s yours to control and once you know that then all the external stuff you come in contact with can be enjoyed even more.

5 Amazing Tips On How To Live A Happier Life Today

1. Love Yourself

What leads to a happier life is loving yourself unconditionally. Because before we even think of loving someone else we need to love ourselves and be happy with the person we are today.

Growing up I was always hard on myself nitpicking every fault as being not good enough and comparing my achievements to others who were on different paths to myself.

This leads to unhappiness and took a lot out of my mental health along the way. When I realised this is not productive I changed to loving myself for who I am and what I have achieved. It was like a dark cloud that was lifted and the sunniest day you can imagine was welcomed.

Too many of us are hard on ourselves when we don’t have to be. Try loving yourself today.

2. Always Look For The Positives

I was once told an example of how the mind works. That has always stuck with me.

I was in a room where I was told to look at everything I could see. Then I was told to close my eyes. Upon opening my eyes, I had to focus on all the red objects in the room. Then close my eyes and remember as many objects as I could. I was then told the same thing again but this time it was finding everything blue. It was amazing that both times all I could see in a room full of all different colours were the colours I was told to look for.

This was a great example of how the brain works and what it focuses on is what it delivers.

This is the same for positivity and negativity. If we are always looking out for negatives in general newspapers, faults in people or our failures then we are going to lead a very unhappy life. Whereas if we do the opposite and find good news, the best in people and what we did well at and how we can improve. We are going to live a more fulfilled and happy life.

So I challenge you today to focus on positives in yourself and others and make sure you’re self-aware of what’s coming into your mind via external sources.

3. Be Grateful For Everything You Have

Wanting more out of life. Is something every human wants. We can though, get lost in always wanting the next thing in our life. Which can be a detriment to our happiness.

The constant of wanting the next big thing is a drain and it makes us feel like failures if we can’t attain it. But when you change that mindset to gratefulness the game completely changes.

Being grateful is a well-known strategy that has been spoken about in great length but it’s still an underrated tool that many people don’t apply each day. When we are grateful for what we have today it can actually help us move forward for a better tomorrow.

The major difference is our happiness and mental health is exactly where they should be. So today sit down and forget about the future and focus on the present of today of what you do have. For me I took for granted, running tap water, a home that keeps us safe and the oxygen that keeps me alive.

We have so much to be grateful for in our life we just have to make that the launchpad that propels us to progress and overall happiness.

4. Forgive Your Past

Forgiving yourself and others are crucial for happiness. When we don’t forgive we resent and this lives within us weighing us down. The longer we leave it the weight gets heavier and heavier. That’s why we need to find it within ourselves to forgive others for what they have done to us, not for them but for ourselves.

More importantly, we should forgive ourselves for any past failure mistakes we have made. It’s not worth it holding on to the past as it only destroys our present and future.

Today to unlock your happiness. Sit down and write everything you can think of about yourself and others that you haven’t forgiven and one by one start forgiving.

Release that negative emotion, cry, shout, speak to that person. whatever you need to do. Once done happiness will flow throughout you. I did this myself and it was literally like a weight off my back.

5. Surround Yourself With Happiness

What stops anyone from being happy is the environment we surround ourselves in. We have people who bring us down or we live somewhere where we don’t feel safe. This can affect your happiness greatly.

That’s why it’s your duty to have people in your life that make you happy and lift you up. Live in a home you love and live in an area you feel safe in.

Make it your duty today to write down a list of what makes you unhappy about the external forces in your life. Then right next to it a solution to change it. Now go all in to have a life where you are surrounded by happiness.

Over To You

I hope you enjoyed today’s article, 5 amazing tips on how to live a happier life today.

I enjoyed writing this article and has given me great happiness passing this on to you.

If you feel someone in your life needs this. Please share anyway you can and pass on happiness.

IF YOU BELIEVE SOMEONE CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS ARTICLE PLEASE SHARE BELOW!

Hi, I’m Adam

I’ve spent over 10 years coaching and mentoring people within sport and business. I have many life skills that I have developed and I want to pass these skills on so people can find their best self. I believe it all starts in the mind and I write about valuable tools and strategies to help people grow in this area.