87 How to transform your social anxiety into opportunity

No. 87 – 4 Aug 2024

Welcome to the 87th edition of the True Progress Newsletter, a weekly newsletter on mastering fear and anxiety for optimal performance.

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Hi friends, I competed in the US Judo Open last week and took bronze. Stepping onto the mat, I felt a surge of adrenaline and a bit of fear as I was competing in the -100kg weight class, one weight class higher than usual.

Facing stronger opponents was intimidating, but judo, like other combat sports, teaches you that fear and anxiety are not your enemies—they’re key to growth.

Two things I did to mentally prepare: remind myself that feeling anxiety is normal and I used some evidence-based positive affirmations that kept me calm and in the zone.

I don't know of any time when I didn't feel invigorated and alive after completing a scary challenge.

INSIGHTS

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Social anxiety doesn't discriminate. It affects beginners, mid-level professionals, and even highly experienced experts. It can impact your relationships, earning potential, job performance, self-perception, and willingness to take risks.

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Whether it's giving a presentation, facing a tough conversation, or feeling the pressure to excel, it can be easy to worry about being judged, making mistakes, or not meeting expectations. With each anxious new thought, your thinking gets cluttered, your creativity stagnates, and your ability to think on your feet and improvise freezes.

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"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet."

— Bobby Unser

CHALLENGE

Think about an upcoming high-stakes event where you may feel socially anxious like all eyes are on you.

Think about the worst-case scenario. Maybe it's losing your train of thought and drawing a blank, not being able to answer a question, or not feeling confident enough to speak up.

Visualize the worst that could happen. Map it out for how you'd deal with it.

⌾ Reply to this email and let us know how it went.​

SYSTEMS

Seeing your to-do list broken down into status on a board is not only visually appealing, it streamlines your workflow and helps you stay focused. Enter kanban boards.

Focus is a byproduct of increasing your sense of inner control.

And, having inner control makes clear thinking and more action possible.

Grab a whiteboard or use your digital note-taking app and divide it into the following columns: Active, Next Up, Waiting On, Paused, Future.

Fill Active with tasks that you're currently working on. Prioritize them by importance or deadline. Use the Eisenhower Matrix to help with this. Consider using different colors for different categories or priorities.

Fill Next Up with tasks that are next in line.

Move any tasks with open loops to Waiting On. These are tasks where you're waiting for someone else or something else to happen for you to activate the task again into Active or complete it outright.

Move any Active or Next Up tasks to Paused if you decide to pause them for now.

Fill Future with any tasks that you plan to complete.

That's it. Create a kanban board for each project you're working on and review and update it regularly.

Till next week,
— Carlos & Stef