The Controlling Anxiety IQ Matrix explores how to feel less anxious about the uncertainties that life throws our way. Anxiety is an unpleasant feeling you have about uncontrollable and unavoidable circumstances. It’s an uneasiness you have about a future filled with possible threats and negative experiences. It can also be viewed as a form of worry, insecurity, and overwhelm. In a way, anxiety is a mechanism you use to cope with stress and potential threats.
In other ways, anxiety can be seen as a low-grade fear. You’re not quite afraid, but you still feel somewhat vulnerable, and this prevents you from moving forward. Many people struggle with anxiety because of how they’re interpreting what is going on around them. They feel anxious because of the stories they tell themselves about future possibilities. If this sounds like you, then this map can show you a better way.
This mind map specifically breaks down the causes of anxiety and the impact it has on our lives. It outlines two common types of anxiety. It then presents you with a four-step process you can use to control your feelings of anxiety. And the map concludes by providing you with further guidelines for managing your anxiety. Working through this map will help you gain control over the personal, social, and environmental factors that cause your anxiety to spike throughout the day.
Here is a quick breakdown of each branch of the Controlling Anxiety mind map.
- Understanding Anxiety: The first branch of this map defines what it means to feel anxious. It also breaks down the causes of anxiety, as well as its consequences and symptoms.
- Types of Anxiety: The second branch of this map highlights two of the most common types of anxiety that affect people. More specifically, it explores the symptoms of Social Anxiety and Generalized Anxiety.
- Alleviating Anxiety: The third branch of this map outlines a four-step process you can use to help you overcome your feelings of anxiety throughout the day. The steps of this process include (1) observing your moods, self-talk, irrational thought, and beliefs, (2) identifying your strengths and available resources, (3) shifting your perspective, challenging your logic, and focusing on opportunities, and (4) exposing yourself to anxiety triggers in small ways. Here you will also find various self-reflection questions that will help you dig deeper into each step of this process. This will help you gain the clarity you need to work through feelings of anxiety far more effectively.
- Guidelines for Overcoming Anxiety: The final branch of this map provides you with further suggestions, tips, and guidance to help you manage anxiety in more productive ways. There are a variety of ideas here. Pick a few to work on each week, and you will progressively develop higher levels of control over your anxious feelings.
This map provides a roadmap and framework for gaining more control over anxious feelings when facing uncertainty. Referencing it regularly and committing it to memory will help you to embed these concepts and ideas into your subconscious mind.
A mind map, of course, does this beautifully because it mirrors the synaptic connections made in your brain as you try to establish new habits of thought and behavior. It brings together key concepts and ideas that help your brain to fully integrate and process this information. The brain, subsequently, rewires itself as it attempts to establish new habits of mind. It’s an ideal tool for creating lasting change and transformation.
Stick with these principles, memorize and incorporate them into your life, and you will progressively gain control over the personal, social, and environmental factors that cause you to feel anxious throughout the day.
When you purchase the Controlling Anxiety IQ Matrix you will receive:
- A PDF copy of two versions of this IQ Matrix, which you can use for printing in high resolution.
- A JPG image file of the IQ Matrix, which is ideal for viewing on tablets and mobile devices.
- A Desktop Background version of the map you can use for reference on your computer.
- A MindManager file for those who wish to edit the content of the IQ Matrix.
- A printable PDF summary of this IQ Matrix to help you better understand each concept.
- A bonus IQ Doodle that summarizes key ideas presented within this IQ Matrix. To purchase the full IQ Doodle pack bundle, please visit the IQ Doodle Store.
Additional visual resources and variations of this IQ Matrix might be added to your account page at no extra cost in the future.
