In this solo podcast episode, Rob Anderson of Stand Sure Coaching shares a personal experience of recovering from COVID and observing his wife's prolonged illness, using it as a springboard to discuss health anxiety. He explains how the easy access to medical information—through Google, AI tools, and constant news—can trigger a cycle of symptom checking, catastrophic thinking, and escalating worry, especially in a post‑COVID world where vigilance is heightened. Anderson clarifies that while severe anxiety requires therapy or medical care, coaching can serve as a bridge between awareness and action for many people. He outlines a four‑step coaching framework: (1) breaking the anxiety loop by pausing and inserting calming practices such as breathing; (2) building resilience through consistent routines (sleep, movement, hydration, journaling, mindfulness); (3) shifting focus to controllable factors to redirect energy from worry to purposeful action; and (4) ensuring sustainable change through accountability and ongoing support. A client case study illustrates how grounding techniques, routine design, and reframing thoughts transformed a client from panic‑driven avoidance to intentional response, restoring freedom and energy. Anderson emphasizes that health anxiety is fundamentally about uncertainty and interpretation, not health per se, and that coaching equips individuals with tools, structure, and support to stand steady amid fear. The episode concludes with a clear disclaimer that he is not a doctor or therapist, an invitation to schedule a discovery call at StanStewartCoaching.com, and a motivational message that peace of mind is a choice built one decision at a time.
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Hey, welcome to today's podcast. This is Rob Anderson with Stand Sure Coaching. Hey, I'm going to ask for a little bit of grace today. Today's the first day I felt a little better because of coming in on the tail end of having COVID. You know, this is only the second time I've had it. The first time went by really, really fast. I think in this case it would have stayed a lot longer. However, I got some scripts from my doc that helped to reduce the length of COVID So I'm only about, I guess, I guess maybe day 4 into this thing, day 5. Feeling, feeling much, much better. Whereas my wife has— is— she's like on day 11. Didn't do the meds, and is feeling much, much worse. But that's we went out, we did a little bit of research, and that's actually how she found out about the medication. But I want to talk about how doing your own medical research can cause a little bit of anxiety. A lot of people experience this, but they don't put it into words. It starts out small. Maybe you feel your heart skip a beat, your stomach doesn't feel quite right, or maybe it's tight. You get that dull headache and you start, you start analyzing that sensation. You go out, you Google the symptoms, maybe use some ChatGPT. You're checking your body over and over again. For a few minutes, there might be a little bit of that reassurance, but then you got that doubt that creeps back in. And a lot of people experience this, but they rarely ever put it into words. And that— it's the cycle of health anxiety. And as I talk to different clients, they find themselves getting caught up in this. And, you know, it's a two-edged— you know, it's really a double-edged sword or a two-edged sword. You know, there's so much information out there. It's good. We can we can find out information. We can Google the symptoms. We can use AI, and we start getting some information on it. But pretty soon, we start thinking worst case scenario, and that's the cycle of health anxiety. And we're finding more and more people as I talk to more and more people; they're getting caught up. I actually have someone in my life who gets caught up in this. And there's so, there's so many reasons why it is becoming common today. And like I was iterating to a moment ago, it's information overload. We've got instant access to health information 24 hours a day. And it can be helpful. But can— it can also fuel that fear. And the more that we search, the more frightening the possibilities become. I think in today's age, we have much more awareness of not just health, but everything going around us. There's this heightened awareness. If we look at the events over the past few years, it's it's made all of us super hyper aware of different symptoms, and in the brain, that vigilance is never really turned off. There's a lot of stress and uncertainty when your life feels unpredictable. The mind often looks— it's going to look inward, searching for problems in the body as a way to explain that uneasiness that's going on. Sometimes we're going out looking for reassurance and that backfires on us. Checking with others. Checking, you know, Google articles or blog articles that are out there, looking for different opinions, maybe even if it becomes repeated doctor visits, they calm that worry for a moment, but the relief doesn't seem to last. And oftentimes it makes that anxiety much, much stronger. And when all this is left unchecked, What happens is that cycle can steal peace of mind. It deteriorates your confidence. And overall, it just, it makes life exhausting. You can find yourself not wanting to participate in things. You're fearful participating in things. Depression can sink in. Yeah. Self-imposed separation from others. It can make life exhausting. And that's where coaching makes a difference. Now, before I jump into this part, I want to make sure that I'm very clear about this. If you are experiencing severe anxiety or or symptoms that are disrupting your daily life, therapy, counseling, or medical care is essential. Coaching is not going to be a replacement for that. But for a lot of folks, coaching becomes that missing link. It's the bridge between awareness and action. It's where you move from, hey, I know I'm anxious about this. To here's what I'm doing to respond differently. What I do with clients that are dealing with this is number one, breaking the cycle. As a coach, what I've done. As I help my client recognize that loop sensation, the catastrophic thoughts, recognizing the anxiety. And then I'm challenging them to pause. And instead of running back into that loop again, to learn to insert calm, doing things like breathing exercises, doing things that, you know, make them look at it from a new perspective. The second way that we have grown Is helping my client build resilience through routine. Just simple practices. Getting consistent sleep, getting consistent movement, hydrating, journaling, mindfulness, lowering overall stress. And as a coach, not only do we discover together What works to build those routines and building that resilience is being there to be an accountability partner with them. So those routines begin to stick. Number 3 is shifting focus of what they can control. You see, anxiety feeds uncertainty. And coaching helps separate what's within your sphere of influence, what you can control, from those things that aren't. And that way your energy is going to go into action instead of going into the worrying. And again, coming back to accountability, number 4. Is making sure that the change is sustainable. That is different than reassurance. Reassurance fades. Reassurance goes away because reassurance is more tied to emotion, whereas coaching, coaching offers steady support. As a coach, I walk alongside my client, celebrating progress, asking the tough questions, helping reframe setbacks, helping to discover different resources. And what that does is it builds tools that last. So, I'm going to give you an example of a client that I've had in the past. And honestly, this is— can be very generic or kind of a broad brushstroke of a lot of my clients. Because I've worked with people who've told me that things like every time they feel something unusual Going on in their body, they start to panic. They can't concentrate at work. They avoid activities. They don't go out. They isolate. They hang out. They watch TV. They spend time alone in self-seclusion. In coaching, it's important that I don't dismiss those fears. What I do with my client is we work together, we explore them. In this certain case, there was, there was a lot of exploration that I did with that, with that particular client. Look at what thoughts show up when that sensation appears. Working with them on grounding techniques, designing simple daily routines that strengthen the calm, that promote, you know, that gets them being active, getting out and walking, going outside, watering the garden, watering the lawn. But just different things that provide grounding and building a routine around that. Working on reframing the thought from, wow, man, something must be going on in my body, to, this is my body responding to stress. And over time, especially with that specific client, over time, they shifted from reacting automatically to responding very intentionally. And we broke that cycle of spiraling that now they take a breath, they use one of the tools, and they move forward. And what we were finding was It didn't just reduce anxiety, but it really restored that freedom because that's what they were bound down by. Feeling like that they always had low energy or they're always sick or something else was happening. You see, coaching works because health anxiety isn't really about health. It's about uncertainty. It's about interpretation. And how we will respond to fear. We're looking at things at future-focused so that, you know, if you're in this case, it helps you see the patterns, all those patterns that are holding you back, and replace them with strategies That move you forward. It's not about avoiding fear. It's about building resilience so that when the fear shows up, it's not in control of you. If health anxiety or any kind of anxiety has been taking your energy, know this: you don't have to live stuck In that cycle. Coaching gives you the tools, structure, and support to help you stand steady when you're facing that storm. And that's what I love helping people do, is find that clarity, build strength, move forward, move forward with confidence, even when life feels uncertain. So if you're ready to explore what that can mean for you, I invite you to reach out. Not to talk about symptoms. I'm not a doctor. I can't do diagnosis. I'm not a therapist. I'm not a counselor. But I do want to hear about your story, your patterns, and the future that you want to create. Because peace of mind isn't something that you stumble into. It's something you build one choice at a time. Peace of mind is a choice. At a time. Hey, thanks for joining me today. To learn more or to schedule a discovery call, visit StanStewartCoaching.com. Together, we can help you stand sure, calm, confident, and ready for what's next.
