How to Transform Anxiety into Your Secret Weapon

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Why does your brain treats a mildly awkward social interaction like a life-or-death situation?

Anxiety levels are skyrocketing lately as our primitive brains struggle to cope with modern stressors like social media, constant notifications, and relentless work culture.

In this episode, learn how anxiety manifests in different forms, discover practical techniques for managing anxiety in the moment, and understand why your brain reacts the way it does to perceived threats. This episode provides actionable strategies for befriending your anxiety and regaining control of your thoughts.

Press play to transform your relationship with anxiety and learn why your prehistoric brain might be making modern life harder than it needs to be.

Topics Discussed:

• Evolution of anxiety from survival tool to modern-day challenge
• Different types of anxiety disorders and their manifestations
• Physical and mental symptoms of anxiety
• Impact of modern technology and social media on anxiety
• Practical anxiety management techniques
• The role of sleep and caffeine in anxiety
• Overthinking patterns and how to break them
• Grounding techniques for panic attacks
• The importance of self-compassion in anxiety management
• How to distinguish between real and imagined threats

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Episode Transcript

(00:20):
Hey there, my overthinking, caffeine addicted, sleep deprived champions of stress.
This is Zach.
This is the Fit Mess.
It's a solo episode today and I wanna talk about anxiety.
We're gonna do a little bit of a deep dive into the fun, unpredictable, and utterlyexhausting world that is anxiety.
So buckle up.
I know right now that voice in your head, it won't shut up and you're having heartpalpitations.

(00:45):
You think you're having a heart attack.
You're replaying embarrassing moments from 10 years ago at two o'clock in the morning forno particular reason.
Any of sound familiar?
Anyone who listens to the show knows that I run hot on the anxiety scale.
So I'm just going to go into some general overviews here.
Look back in the caveman days, anxiety was a survival tool.
Imagine you're a prehistoric dude chilling out in a cave and suddenly boom, a saber toothtiger shows up.

(01:09):
Your brain immediately floods your system with adrenaline, your heart races, your musclestense, and you decide, I got to fight, flight, or freeze.
Right?
That is anxiety.
So fast forward to today, guess what?
No more saber-toothed But instead of shutting up, your brain decided, hey, what if wereacted like we're being chased like a wild animal, but instead of a tiger, it's just a

(01:31):
mildly awkward social interaction or an email or literally nothing at all.
And bam, now you're out here sweating through your shirt because you sent a text with aperiod instead of an exclamation point.
I mean, come on.
Alright, well let's talk about the symptoms or as I like to say how your brain gaslightsyou for Anxiety doesn't just live in your head.
No, this little gremlin is an all systems operation.

(01:53):
Racing thoughts?
Check.
Heart pounding like a drum solo?
Yup.
Feeling like you forgot something important even though you didn't?
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Overanalyzing everything you said in a meeting three weeks ago?
Welcome to the club.
Panic attacks, fun surprise feature, like an Apple update no one asked for.
And let's not forget about the best part.

(02:13):
Sometimes anxiety doesn't need a reason at all.
You could be laying in bed perfectly relaxed and your brain just goes, hey, what if youforgot how to breathe?
Seriously, we've all been there.
And suddenly you're hyperventilating over a bodily function that you've been doingliterally since birth.
So let's talk about anxiety's greatest hits because there's a couple of different flavorshere.
Not all anxiety is created equal, folks.

(02:35):
no.
comes in many fun varieties.
Generalized anxiety disorder.
Everyday life feels like a nerve-ending exam you forgot to study for.
Social anxiety.
The is secretly judging you even though they're probably thinking about what's for dinner.
Panic attack, when your body decides to throw in a full blown meltdown at completelyrandom moments.

(02:55):
health anxiety, Googling a headache and concluding that you have five minutes left tolive.
OCD, when your brain makes you do the same thing over and over just to make sure realityisn't crumbling.
It's like a toxic little relationship, except the toxic one is your own nervous system.
So I learned to make friends with my anxiety a long time ago.
So I actually root for it for the most part, but I do tell it to calm down.

(03:19):
But if anxiety had an Olympic event, it would definitely be overthinking.
And my friends, we are all gold medalists at it.
That anxiety friend does so good.
Tell me if any of this sounds familiar.
You text someone, they don't reply.
Your brain goes, they hate you.
Reality is they're just busy.
Or maybe...

(03:39):
You say something slightly awkward in a conversation.
Your brain goes, congratulations, you've ruined your entire reputation forever.
Reality, no one even noticed.
The problem is, is our brain is really bad at telling the difference between real threatsand imaginary ones.
We treat, no, I forgot to send an email, the same way as we treat being on fire.

(04:00):
So how do we stop?
Well, I wish I had a magic fix, but here's what actually helps.
Number one, question your thoughts.
Not everything your brain tells you is true.
Number two, ground yourself in reality.
Take note of five things that you see, four things that you feel, three things that youhear, and distract that brain of yours.
Number three, breathe.

(04:21):
It sounds dumb, works wonders, box breathing.
We talk about it all the time.
Number four, move your body.
Exercise, dance, go outside, flail around like a muppet, whatever works.
five, stop doom scrolling.
Your phone is a panic attack.
in a little tiny rectangular package.

(04:41):
So we got a couple of tips and tricks on how to manage your anxiety.
Obviously it's much easier said than done.
I've spent the better part of 20 years managing mine.
And while I still have it under control, I have it under control for the most part and I'mable to manage it, I was at the hospital the other day thinking I was having a heart
attack and it was just a full blown panic attack.

(05:01):
So no matter how good you think you get at managing your anxiety, it's still gonna bethere.
So remember to become friends with that little devil.
and make sure that you know how to talk to it.
So, let's ask a bigger question.
You ever wonder why anxiety seems to be at an all time high?
Anyone have a guess?
Anyone?

(05:22):
Well, I can't hear you, so even if you are guessing, it doesn't matter.
Look, we've got things in our world that no other generation has seen.
We've got social media.
Nothing like consistently comparing your real life to someone else's heavily editedhighlight reel.
Work culture, right?
It's so crazy.
If you're not hustling 24-7, you're failing.

(05:44):
Spoiler alert though, you're not failing.
You're doing great.
The news cycle, breaking.
Everything is on fire, always and forever.
Sleep deprivation.
Fun fact, anxiety is way worse when you're running on three hours of sleep in a latte.
Basically our brains were not built for this much input.
We're cavemen living in a world with notifications, deadlines, and And an algorithm thatknows what we're afraid of better than we do.

(06:09):
Alright, so we've established anxiety is a total buzzkill, but what can we do about it?
Here's some actually useful tips.
Talk to someone, a therapist, a friend, your dog, just get out of your head.
Try and limit your caffeine.
I know, I'm sorry, but jitter juice does not help.
I've had three cups today and I'm a little wired right now and things are going crazy.

(06:30):
Sleep, your brain needs rest.
You are not a smartphone, you can't function on 1%.
Try meditating, sounds woo woo.
actually rewires your brain.
Takes time, but it will help.
Laugh.
Anxiety hates laughter.
Watch a stupid movie.
Make a dumb joke.
Be ridiculous.
There is a reason why most of the things that come out of my mouth is from a 12 year oldboy's perspective because I just want to have fun.

(06:57):
I just want to laugh.
And most importantly, be kind to yourself.
Look, anxiety sucks, but beating yourself up over it just makes it worse.
So anyway, my anxious amigos, let's recap.
Anxiety is your brain trying to keep you alive, but being really bad at it.
Overthinking's a sport, and we're all champions.

(07:17):
Just because you think something bad will happen doesn't mean it will.
Social media, caffeine, and sleep deprivation are not helping, and you're not alone inthis.
And remember, your thoughts are not you.
You are not your anxiety.
You're a badass human who sometimes gets stuck in a thought.
tornado and that's okay.
Now, go drink some water, stretch your legs, and if all else fails, distract yourself withcat videos.

(07:42):
Science says it works, so I mean, can't argue with science.