Anxiety Is Practicing Failure In Advance

How is that for a catchy title? Recently, my wife, Ann Day, shared this with a group of ladies for discussion. The article is taken from Seth Godin's new book, Linchpin and shown below. I read the book a few months ago and have shared it with many people. I highly recommend it as a book that can change your perspective about your life.

I have known of Seth Godin for years - he has authored many books including Permission Marketing which is now widely practiced by most Internet marketers. As a result of reading Linchpin I was introduced to Seth's Blog (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/). Everyday you receive a fresh dose of Seth's wisdom. Another influencer of my life, Mike Vance, said, "You will be the same tomorrow as you are today except for the books you read and the people you meet". A daily dose of Seth will start your day with a new challenging thought that will lead you to a constant evaluation of your life and how and why you do what you do.

Anxiety steals your life . . . you can step out of it. As I was looking for this article I searched his blog for "Anxiety" and had 20+ hits. It is clear that Seth's thoughts and wisdom on Anxiety come from his personal struggle with it. He is a "fellow struggler". Phil 4:6,7 is a great prescription.

I also came across an interview with Seth on Linchpin by Catalyst . For the interview go to http://vimeo.com/8900789. It is 25 minutes long but definitely worth the time. At the very end he shares how he is able to come up with all the great stuff he does on the blog.

Here's the article . . . Enjoy:

Anxiety Is Practicing Failure In Advance

Anxiety is needless and imaginary. It’s fear about fear, fear that means nothing.

The difference between fear and anxiety: Anxiety is diffuse and focuses on possibilities in an unknown future, not a real and present threat. The resistance is 100% about anxiety, because humans have developed other emotions and warnings to help us avoid actual threats. Anxiety, on the other hand, is an internal construct with no relation to the outside world. “Needless anxiety” is redundant, because anxiety is always needless. Anxiety doesn’t protect you from danger, but from doing great things. It keeps you awake at night and foretells a future that’s not going to happen.

On the other hand, fear is about staying alive, avoiding snakes, feeding your family, and getting the right to play again tomorrow. Fear should be paid careful attention. There’s not a lot of genuine fear here in our world, so when it appears, it’s worth noting.

Anxiety, on the other hand, is dangerous paralysis. Anxiety is the exaggeration of the worst possible what-if, accompanied by self-talk that leads to the relentless minimization of the actual odds of success.

Anxiety makes it impossible to do art, because it feeds the resistance, giving the lizard brain insane power over us. It’s impossible to be a linchpin if you agree to feed your anxiety.

You’ll notice that throughout this book I’ve often used the word “fear” when I really meant anxiety. That’s because we do it all the time, confusing the two . . . a bad habit.

From Linchpin
Seth Godin