Doubt spirals used to DESTROY me! đ„”âčïžđ
When I first started in grad school, the professor asked us how undergrad writing was different than grad level writing. So, I raised my hand and gave my opinion, and watchedâ in horrorâ as the professor slowly shook his head, âno.â
I was DEAD wrong! đđ«đ„”đ±đ
My face turned fire-engine red and I felt like the dumbest person on the planet.
Immediately, my brain started to spiral:
đ§ Clearly, admissions made a mistake.
đ§ I donât deserve to be here.
đ§ Everyone is judging me.
đ§ I am an idiot.
đ§ That was such a stupid comment⊠I bet theyâll take away my teaching position⊠and then I wonât be able to pay rent and then Iâll be in real trouble⊠wait, noâ I bet thatâll actually kick me out of the program⊠and then, Iâll have to go home and live in my parentâs basement because I donât have any money⊠and they wonât be proud of me anymore⊠andâ
Needless to say, I was spiraling way way wayyyyy down! It was like Iâd picked at one thread on a sweater, and then, before I knew it, I had a metaphorical pile of yarn on my lap. đ§¶
If youâre an anxiety-prone person like me, this kind of thing happens, right? It can be so easy to get swept up into a doubt spiral that takes you to the WORST possible scenarios in the blink of an eye.
So, what can we do about this?! How can we support ourselves & not let the doubt spiral destroy our confidence and sense of self-worth snd peace?! đ€·đŒââïž
The best thing Iâve learned about anxiety management is to inject LOGIC into the anxious thoughts!
Of course, this is easier said than done sometimes, but⊠itâs so helpful to remind us that just because we THINK a worst case scenario is coming DOESNâT make that true! As much as our brain thinks that weâre gunna get fired or to get in trouble or to lose all our friends or that everyone hates us, 99.9% of the time, itâs just not true.
Take away the spiralsâs power with LOGIC! đ„°
If you want to hear more, listen to todayâs episode of The Power Within Her podcast! đïž
XOXO
Meggy
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