How To Calm Anxiety NOW (In Three Simple Steps!)

Choosing the Positive, Productive and Beautiful

Taking care of everyday business leads to all kinds of situations we don’t expect or plan for. Traffic, crowds, outages and inconvenience come in a million different variations, from all different angles. Over the course of a normal day, stress may creep up on our attitude and make it hard to see things in a positive way.


However, getting angry, defensive or trying to justify our own level of irritation leads to making ourselves feel worse! Instead, honestly recognize what’s happening. Then, get out of that bad mindset and restore your focus with these three simple steps to calm anxiety!

When Anxiety Attacks!

Recent studies in major (American) population centers clearly show an increase in everyday tensions among almost every demographic. You are definitely not alone if you’ve noticed tempers getting a little shorter – including your own! Putting all these stressed people into stressful situations with lots of external stressors and, well, you may have to navigate some stress, when anxiety attacks!

Anxieties are Worse Than Zombies, When There Are No Zombies!

However, don’t resign yourself to living in a nightmare of one emotional crisis after another. Here, as promised, is a simple, 3-step process to calm down anxiety right away, wherever you are. You won’t need any extra products or space to do it, and you’ll get valuable traction on maintaining a more calm, positive state of mind throughout every day!

Step 1: Recognize Your Disrupted Mindset

When you start getting buried in a bad attitude, it’s a little like the frog in heating water – you may not recognize what’s going on, you just know you’re not happy. You can’t be happy all the time, but recognizing a bad mindset before it escalates into a full-blown problem is crucial to a productive day. And of course, achieving your goals.


If you’ve gotten into the habit of responding to an offensive situation with anger or retaliation, look at that response clearly and reasonably. You’ll probably see that it doesn’t help in the moment, or in the long run. Making a conscious decision to step back a moment when some offensive thing happens gives you the power to recognize your disrupted positive outlook.


(As a side note, mindfulness exercises during meditation lay the foundation for handling emotional stressors throughout the day)

2. Refocus On Your Immediate Goals

Everyone’s walked into a room knowing what they wanted to do, only to look around and say “Why did I come in here?” If, upon walking into a room for a good reason, you discovered it was full of angry people, on fire and starting to collapse, you could be forgiven if that good reason suddenly left your mind. Well, the same thing happens when you get someplace you need to be and disruptions or conflict make you forget why you came.


But drill down a little, and you may find that minor irritations can alter your state of mind so that, even if you don’t forget what you’re doing, you have lost your positive outlook. Maybe you’re dwelling on bad thoughts from a rude encounter and your serenity got quashed. To let go of negativity, acknowledge it, let it go and refocus on your immediate goals. You need a calm, clear head to get your next step finished, and this upset has to go. So, focus on what you’re going to do next, in the plainest, most concise terms you can, while picturing the best possible outcome.


Use a phrase like, “That made me mad, but it’s past and doesn’t matter any more, so now I can finish ————-.”

Step 3: Take Action To End Your Anxiety

Immediately after stating your position and with a clear goal in mind, take the next step toward that goal. Even if you’re stuck in line or in traffic, you can mentally move yourself forward, as you do when you meditate, through the process of what you need to finish.


Take a series of deep breaths, write some notes in your phone or notebook. (If you’re not carrying a notebook with pencils or pens, think about doing that!) Dictate some notes into an email message to yourself. Or, just re-arrange your clothes or hair, using your hands in a familiar chore.


It’s important to separate your situation from your mind, or your deeper self. All of us have a place in our heads where we are alone and in control. Go there if you need to and reestablish that control. Once you’re clear on letting go of the negative influences and what you’re doing next, all you need to carry on successfully is to take simple, focused action, however small.


Anxiety, doubt, fear and confusion can not thwart you when you're taking action. When you recognize, refocus and move, you can't help but take action. That’s the power of these three simple steps!

Remember: The Power Is Yours

Of all the wonderful things life can show us, understanding our own agency is really the most wonderful. As scary as it can be to embrace, we must remember that no one else is responsible for our choices.


When you meditate, you’re laying the foundation for mindful, lucid decision-making skills in your daily life. As you get better at separating emotions from choices, you get better at making decisions that will advance your goals and lead to success.


In this article, you’ve learned how to step back from an emotionally fraught situation and look for the best path forward using 3 simple steps to calm anxiety. Making choices free of negative influences, while keeping your life goals clearly in mind, makes the journey you’ve set on more joyful, humane and simple.


We get comfortable with our habits and maybe don’t see that some of them are harmful and need to go! Meditate on past successes, past failures, and write down your insights on what causes what. You’ll discover new ways to improve literally every aspect of your life, the more you learn.


With that in mind, leave a comment here on what habit you have that maybe needs to change, or be sent packing! You’ll help others see more clearly as well!

Mark Schneider

After a full, but empty career of writing, editing, producing and directing, Mark has settled into a life of sharing and learning, hoping to make many experiences into a teachable wisdom.

What do you want to believe? The power to choose is both wonderful and terrifying - this is a space for clarity and self-discovery. Thanks for visiting!

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