One of the most life determining emotions is social anxiety. We worry about interacting with our peers, our managers at work or maybe our employees. How do we look? How do we sound? Am I hated or loved?
Social anxiety dictates what we wear, what we say and how we respond to other people in how they look or to what they say.
As with most worry, anxiety or stress we quite often don’t recognise the symptoms and therefore cannot act to combat them. Every so often we should all take time to sit quietly to analyse our everyday lives. Identify what motivates us through the day. What obstacles do we commonly come across? Do you recognise these obstacles and plan as to how to overcome them or do you just stumble through?
Along the same vein consider instances when you have felt under pressure and try to identify why that pressure existed and how you can make things different and easier in the future.
Social anxiety is no different. We often don’t recognise that it’s there but if we take a few minutes to stand back and analyse our thoughts we will see that the pressure to look good or to perform well emanates from having to interact with others. Understand this and you will be able to manage this social anxiety by putting it into its true context.
Is It Worth Worrying about?
As with all aspects of worry, anxiety or stress it is quite often an insignificant event that is the instigator. Whenever you feel the pressure of life becoming too much take a break. Consider the root cause of the pressure, stress or anxiety and make a plan to combat it. It is often the case that social anxiety is much easier to deal with than to live with.
Worry is only worth it when it acts as a warning. Don’t let worry be the worry.