Feebus Example (Of How To Use Anxiety)

FEEBUS HAS A TENDENCY to worry. He has just recently been hired as the manager of a store, and he now has something to worry about: the employees he is managing have all been there awhile, and he needs to learn much of his job from them. It is causing him anxiety because he is their junior and senior at the same time. He is supposed to be their boss, directing their activities, telling them what to do, but he has to find out from them what to tell them. It feels awkward.

Whenever he thinks about his job, he gets a shot of adrenaline. Remember the three tools? He applied them step by step. Think about how this can apply to your anxiety about terrorism. Think about how you can help someone you know apply these three steps. Let's see what Feebus did.

The first thing he did was stop calling it "worry" and started calling it "getting a rush."

Second, accept the rush as normal. Feebus may get a bigger jolt than most people, but anyone with even the smallest amount of social awareness would feel some awkwardness in that kind of situation. He accepts it as a normal reaction. This reduces some of his distress by removing the secondary effect (upset about the anxiety).

And third, use the rushes. Feebus thinks about what he really wants. That's easy. He wants to feel a justified respect from his employees. That means he needs to be competent at his job — the sooner the better. His focus now is getting as good at his job as quickly as he can.

That is what you must now do. Find yourself one clear purpose you strongly desire.

In Feebus's case, every time he got that jolt, he asked himself, "What else can I do to increase my competence?" He came up with all kinds of things: He started showing up for work earlier than his employees, giving himself time to get one step ahead. He made notes on his breaks and after work of things he was learning and he reviewed these at home. At night he read books about his job. He asked managers in other departments for advice, and he picked the brains of his employees continually.

His competence rose quickly and he did, in fact, earn the respect of his employees. Mission accomplished.

He didn't just whine about his anxiety. He didn't just try to make it go away. He created for himself a clear purpose that he strongly desired, and then he took it seriously and applied himself as if he meant it. That is what you must do.

Read the article: How The Principle, "Use Your Anxiety" Was Discovered