Shawn ButtnerCertified High Performance Coach and Podcaster Clone

Anxiety Is Going To Happen: Choose Your Path Accordingly

12 Aug 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:58

In this reflective monologue, the speaker examines the common dilemma of chasing personal passions versus stepping back to avoid the anxiety that can accompany intense pursuit. Using a seesaw metaphor, they describe how many people initially commit to their desires, only to feel overwhelmed and retreat, which then creates a different anxiety about wasted time and unfulfilled goals. The speaker argues that anxiety is inevitable whichever path is chosen, and therefore urges listeners to consciously evaluate the potential upside of each scenario rather than trying to avoid discomfort altogether.

Chapters

So the issue with this seesaw, right, is that I think a lot of people, maybe at first they say, I'm just going to pursue what I want to pursue, and then without realizing what is coming their way, all of a sudden, there's a lot of anxiety associated with that. And so maybe not on a conscious level, but on some level, they may say to themselves, oh, that's a little too much. Let me step back and let me do something else, or let's just forget about the passions for a little bit. And then that seesaw tips the other way. And all of a sudden it's like back to, hey, my life is flashing by before my eyes, or I'm afraid that I'm not accomplishing what do I want to accomplish. But I think the issue that I see is that if you go down both paths, you eventually see that anxiety awaits you on either one. And so you have to say to yourself, if that's the case, if I'm going to experience anxiety, and that's the downside, what is the upside in both scenarios?