A potential-based mindset frames events as opportunities for growth, transforming our energy into excitement. A fear-based mindset frames events as threats, turning our energy into anxiety. Very different responses. Very different experiences. Very different outcomes. But exactly the same events. It’s us who change.

So, don’t be afraid of fear. But don’t try to be fearless, either. Learn to love fear. Seek it out. Make it the fuel that energizes you. Become fear-hungry.

In my twenties, I relied on my routine to have an immediate impact on my thinking for that day. It did, but it was short-lived. Today, I have zero expectations for my routine to affect my immediate thinking. It’s designed to categorically change my subconscious and physical interpretation of the world. And that, I believe, will lay the foundation for long-term, sustainable impact on my thinking.

So, what does this look like? Again, it sounds super woo-woo, but it’s working

Putting a name and description to anxiety has helped make it more manageable. Anxiety is most powerful when it is an amorphous force that feels like it is operating on a different dimension than you are. One where we have no agency to combat it. 

Describing it in your own words gives it shape. Gives you a chance to deconstruct it, poke at it, and find its weaknesses, absurdities, and errors