Use Your Anxiety as Fuel

Anxiety drains our energy and gradually affects our health. So what can we do to stop it - or even make use of this intrusive feeling?

Please note that this text refers to anxiety in everyday life situations and should not be taken as a medical approach to treating anxiety disorders.

Let’s try to understand what anxiety really is. Dr. Arthur Brooks, who has explored anxiety both scientifically and through his own experience, explains that anxiety is closely related to fear. However, while fear is intense and occasional, anxiety is milder but more chronic. You may feel afraid, worried, or uneasy for no clear reason. It triggers stress and often feels deeply uncomfortable.

Anxiety is a feeling ingrained in human nature, making it impossible to eradicate from our existence. Feelings such as sadness, regret, and fear are part of the same spectrum. They are often viewed as negative, yet we must learn to understand and coexist with them.

Anxiety itself is not dangerous. Yet, if someone feels anxious most of the day, they often fall into a pattern of fixing compulsions: "I’m anxious, and that’s unacceptable - I must get rid of it right now."

Commonly suggested ways to relieve anxiety include deep breathing, magnesium supplementation, CBD oil, calming medications, or meditation - all aimed at suppressing the feeling of anxiety.

Paradoxically, constantly checking whether the anxiety is gone only makes us more stressed and disappointed, creating a vicious cycle. Resisting the feeling can entangle us further in overthinking - a cornerstone of most anxiety disorders.

Joshua Fletcher, known as Anxiety Josh, a psychotherapist and an author, explains that we can never observe the exact moment when anxiety disappears - yet anxious people try to do so constantly through various coping techniques.

The wiser approach is to practice being anxious. To develop this skill, self-compassion plays a central role. By quieting your inner critic, you become your own ally, able to tolerate whatever emotions arise. When you can live with anxiety, you gain control. Anxiety becomes just an intrusive thought - just a feeling. Accept it, make use of it, and rewire your brain to see yourself not as a flawless superhero, but as an emotional human being.

Nevertheless, it’s helpful to learn how to change the way you think and feel to quiet persistent anxious thoughts and cultivate a sense of calm and balance.

Seeing calmness as the opposite of anxiety can make emotional conversion difficult - jumping directly from one to the other rarely works. Instead, think of anxiety as a sibling to excitement, producing similar sensations in the body: the same rapid heartbeat, the same warmth, the same surge of energy. The difference lies in focus - anxiety looks at risks, while excitement looks at rewards.

When anxiety arises, don’t try to suppress it. Transform it into a closely related, more positive emotion. Ask yourself: How can this thought be useful to me? What can I gain from this situation? Simply redirect that energy in a better direction. Use your anxiety as fuel.

Be aware that anxiety is not you, and you are not anxiety - you are simply a person experiencing it. Create space between yourself and the feeling so you can reclaim your power whenever you choose. Anxiety is only a temporary emotion that intensifies, reaches a peak, and eventually fades away.

Proper visualization can help you avoid identifying with it. Imagine that you are a surfer and the wave is your anxiety - don’t let it pull you under. Flow with it, stay on top of the wave, and guide it. It will pass anyway.

Surround yourself with people who help you feel calm, and avoid drama or overreaction. Emotions are regulated through our interactions with others, so it’s important to choose wisely and connect with those who maintain a balanced, steady presence.

By sharing your thoughts with empathetic and open-minded people, you can gain perspective and feel less alone. Recognizing that others also face similar challenges can make the experience less isolating. Over time, you’ll become more familiar with these intrusive thoughts and reduce their impact, allowing them to disturb you less.

Self-trust connects to the next valuable technique, which, in my view, is only truly powerful when supported by it.

Imagine a situation that makes you feel anxious. Then, go through the worst possible outcomes one by one, either finding wise solutions for each or accepting that the results may not be as frightening as you first thought.

For example, imagine you start worrying about a potential health problem — perhaps recurring pain or the fear of a serious diagnosis. First, picture the worst possible scenario: the doctor confirms your concern. It sounds terrifying, but then you begin to explore solutions - treatment options, lifestyle changes, and support from family or friends. You might realize that even in the most difficult case, you wouldn’t be helpless. There would be steps to take, people to rely on, and ways to adapt.

Imagine you’re afraid of being fired from your job. First, picture the worst possible outcome - you lose your job. At first, it feels devastating. But then you start addressing it calmly: you could update your CV reach out to contacts, and apply for new opportunities. You might even realize this could be a chance to find a position that suits you better or to start something of your own. And if there’s a period of financial difficulty, you could plan ahead by cutting expenses and using your savings wisely.

The next example may be the fear of losing someone important, a romantic partner. You imagine the breakup, the loneliness that follows, and realize you’d still find ways to heal -spending time with friends, focusing on self-growth, and eventually opening to new connections.