- [Narrator] Hey Psych2goers, welcome back.
When was the last time you felt completely at peace
with your life and self?
Sometimes our minds can linger in dark spaces
with negative influences, like anxiety.
Are there times when the voice of anxiety
is louder than your own?
Does it become difficult to discern
between thoughts based on reality
and thoughts that are merely lies,
clouding your mind?
Identifying which thoughts are fear-based and false
is the first step in shifting your mindset,
which then helps you shift your self image
and life as a whole.
So with that said, here are six common lies
your anxiety may try to trick you into believing
and how you can reframe those thoughts instead.
Number one.
Everyone is focused on your flaws.
First time gym goers are often hesitant and timid
due to the lack of experience
and confidence in a new environment.
They think they'll stick out as the least experienced person
in the room or that other gym goers
will judge them harshly over their body.
What they don't realize,
is that everyone there is too focused on themselves
and improving their own bodies to worry about others.
Replace the gym with other social settings
and you'll realize the same applies.
Remember that everyone has insecurities of their own,
including the person you're interacting with.
Reclaim your mental space by focusing on being present,
present with your setting
or the people you're sharing time with.
You'll find that the less you focus
on internalizing those negative feelings
and the more you focus on being yourself,
regardless of those insecurities,
the more confident you'll feel.
Number two.
You're not ready.
Think of someone you admire,
whether fictional or not.
If they refuse their call to action,
whether that be accepting an invitation
to a magical wizarding school
or volunteering themselves as a tribute
in the "Hunger Games",
all because they felt like they weren't ready.
Their world would be deprived of an important contribution.
When faced with a choice to take a leap of faith,
remember that greatness comes when you act
before you feel ready.
Trust yourself to learn along the way
and trust that your path will unfold gradually
as you carry on.
Number three.
Your self-worth should be earned.
The only factor that changes how connected you feel
to your level of self-worth is belief,
which is influenced by what you've been taught.
Sometimes it's not about adding more to your life
through money, accomplishments
and material possessions to feel self-worth.
Sometimes it's about removing limiting thought patterns
and unlearning the beliefs that convinced you
to think less of yourself.
Throughout life, you may be conditioned
by negative experiences, people or trauma
to believe that self worth is something you must earn
before you're allowed to claim it,
but that isn't true.
While there are things you should work hard to earn in life,
like a dream job or financial independence,
self-worth is a feeling you innately deserve to have.
Number four.
You must complete X by Y time in your life to be successful.
Are you telling yourself you must reach a certain goal
at a certain time in your life to be deemed successful
or do you have a checklist with milestones you'd like to hit
and are hard on yourself for not making those goals
when you plan to?
This lie is exaggerated even further
when you look around and feel as though everyone
is more successful than you
or doing better in life than you are.
The truth is, everyone is on their own timeline
and life is not a race.
What looks like immediate success on the surface
could actually be a goal that was years in the making
for someone you admire.
A successful goal is worth celebrating
no matter how long it takes.
What matters most is your determination and persistence
in making it happen.
Number five.
It or you will always be this way.
Anxiety can trap your mind in a loop,
causing you to believe that its presence
will be a constant all your life.
Your anxiety will lie to you by recalling all the times
you failed to overcome it.
You might think that you'll always feel weak
in the face of your fears or insecurities,
but all of that is part of anxiety's negative influence.
Bad memories are more easily remembered than good ones
due to survival and evolution.
When undergoing a negative experience,
the two emotion processing regions of the brain
alerts you to what feels dangerous.
In an attempt to protect you,
your brain imprints these negative feelings
into your memories so that you can better prepare
for future possibilities of similar experiences.
For every negative memory that you have,
try thinking about two other positive memories as well.
This practice will help reframe your past
in a positive light
and can encourage a more optimistic view of your future.
And number six.
Change is bad.
Are you afraid of change?
Many of us are.
We're scared of change because of its uncertain nature.
Anxiety brings this fear to a new level,
sometimes to the point where you feel paralyzed.
A bad breakup two years ago might leave room
for the love of your life to arrive later on.
Not making the baseball team now
could lead you to discover a passion for a new sport
and a conflict with a friend
could be what deepens your bond with them
in a way you couldn't have imagined possible.
Change can be good, as long as you allow it.
So did you relate to any of these?
When these thoughts or lies arise,
don't force yourself to fight them off
if that proves to be a challenge at first.
Allow them to appear like clouds forming in the sky,
watch them pass through your mind and let them float away.
You don't have to believe or hold onto any of them.
With practice, you'll find they float
into your mental space less and less.
Know that these thoughts are not your own
and that there is an inner voice encouraging you
with positivity underneath those fear-ridden thoughts.
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Thank you for watching.
Until next time.
(calming music)