Freediving Into the Light, Egypt © jayhem
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Lifehacker points us to a fantastic bit of inspiration from Nerd Gap titled How to Overcome Anxiety by Making it Your Only Option. It’s apropos for armchair travelers wondering whether they should finally take that leap to follow their travel dreams; and for on-the-road travelers who may not be pushing themselves as far outside their comfort zone as they’d like.
Lifehacker author Arvin Dang notes:
… by finding a point that’s more difficult to turn back from, you, in effect, have only one direction to continue moving: forward. Even by adding money to a situation, you often force yourself to push through any change or task that’s causing you anxiety.
A few practical examples:
- Buy a non-refundable plane ticket to a place you’ve always wanted to go but have no idea how you’ll survive once you get there.
- Go to a car rental place and rent a stick-shift (and, for Pete’s sake, get the insurance).
- Tell your family that you’re going to make them homemade Gnocchi for dinner and they can beat you senseless with a phone book if you don’t deliver.
Believe me when I say that, if you legitimately do this and try like hell to not look back, you’ll feel superhuman once you hit the finish line.
Now go find your something you’re afraid of and kick its ass without mercy.
Like Arvin, I bought a car with a stick-shift years back with no idea how to drive it when I picked it up from the dealership. The salesman thought I was kidding. But I learned, because I had to. From then on, everyone at the dealership recognized me as the kid who drove his car in circles for four hours before finally heading home.
What skills or life experiences are you avoiding that you could master by simply diving in head first today?