Shaun & Gaz – Anxiety (#92)

Many people close to us suffer from anxiety.

Many people ask us questions about dealing with anxiety.

We have struggled with anxiety.

Coronavirus has been a major influence on people’s anxiety levels.

A worldwide study of 23,000 people, in 2021, showed that 1 in 3 people feel lonely “always, often or sometimes”, as opposed to “hardly ever or never”. To put that into perspective, that’s one of your close family members. Loneliness can lead to anxiety, or visa versa – Study.

MIND reports that 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England, it seems to be around 1 in 5 in the US and just under 1 in 10 worldwide (although the reporting isn’t that great). Many mental health problems start with, or include, feelings of anxiety.

All of these reasons make this podcast relevant. This is why we recorded this show.

See the show notes below for topics discussed.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch short clips from all our shows!

“Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.” – Definition from Oxford Languages.

“Anxiety is a strong desire or concern to do something or for something to happen.” – Definition from Oxford Languages.

“Anxiety is experiencing failure in advance” – Seth Godin.

Anxiety is a fear of being judged.

Can you have anxiety when thinking about the past, or is that regret?

Don’t ask why the addiction, ask why the pain.

If you could turn up and do your thing with no one watching, would you still be anxious?

Your mind doesn’t know the difference between visualisation and what’s happening in the physical world.

Label your emotions granularly… Understand exactly what it is you’re feeling.

False Evidence Appearing Real.

Clamp the artery. Go back to the root cause of the issue.

Anxiety occurs in the brain and the body. You can get addicted to anxious hormones.

“People are addicted to being right or being wronged.” – Quote paraphrased from Tim Kreider.

Use your emotions as indicators.

Talking to your emotions or seeing them as a character can help tame them. See anxiety as the tickle monster. What would you say to your crazy roommate?

Being busy does not mean you’re successful. Success is not what you put in, it’s what you get out.

Status quo heuristic – Doing things how they’ve always been done, because that’s how they’ve always been done. Just because you have always done something the same way, doesn’t mean it’s right.

You don’t need to work hard every day.

If you wake up one morning in the Amazon, you’re probably not going to start recapping your goals.

Journaling is a good form of therapy.

Deal with grief like a hangover or a recovering sportsman?

Detach from the world through deep meditation.

Life is like a massive game of monopoly. Sometimes you just have to walk away from the table.

If you’re depressed, you need deep rest.

“You want to make God laugh… Tell him your plans.”

Status games are zero sum games.

“60% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 25- to 34-year-olds say they’d be anxious about not being able to communicate with family and friends without their phone, compared to only a third (34%) of those aged 55 and over.” – 2019 statistics from YouGov.

“Two thirds of 18- to 24-year-olds (67%) would be nervous because they wouldn’t know whether people were trying to get hold of them, compared to a third (35%) of those aged 55 and over.” – 2019 statistics from YouGov.

Progress over perfection.

Have a complete indifference to everything.

Who are they?

Win or learn.

Don’t push the stream.

“Does anxiety only relate to future thoughts?”

“Can you have anxiety about the past, or is that regret?”

Here are some more videos related to anxiety, plus the last podcast Shaun and Gaz recorded together…

Why would you want to do this?

1. You can watch upcoming podcasts live on YouTube.
2. You can interact with us and our guest live on YouTube.
3. You can send in questions for upcoming guests.

If your question gets answered and you miss the live show, you can watch it here later.

Get all of the most life changing techniques you need for accomplishing your dreams in this succinct guide.

It includes 35 years of research, including the best strategies from all of our podcast guests…

• 00:00:00 – Coming up.
• 00:00:12 – The serial killer introduction.
• 00:01:25 – Structure of today’s show on anxiety.
• 00:03:13 – What is anxiety?

• 00:00:00 – Coming Up.
• 00:00:26 – Introduction to the anxiety podcast series.
• 00:01:08 – What causes anxiety?
• 00:02:54 – Social anxiety, anxiety at school & loneliness.
• 00:05:47 – Is anxiety bad?
• 00:07:11 – Where anxiety comes from & addiction to anxiety.
• 00:10:12 – Dealing with anxiety through mental characters.
• 00:12:44 – Perceiving your emotions.
• 00:13:15 – Dealing with overwhelm, time restrictions & anxiety in the workplace.
• 00:20:50 – Dealing with a lack of purpose.
• 00:23:36 – Dealing with disconnection, loneliness and breakups.
• 00:25:24 – Dealing with grief and loss.
• 00:32:04 – Dealing with anxiety continued.

• 00:00:00 – Coming Up.
• 00:00:32 – Introduction to the anxiety podcast series.
• 00:00:58 – Disconnection from meaningful values.
• 00:01:56 – Disconnection from childhood trauma.
• 00:03:12 – Meditation.
• 00:06:41 – Playing the game of life.
• 00:11:24 – Comparing yourself to others, smartphones & social media.
• 00:15:45 – Disconnection from the natural world.
• 00:16:07 – Hope, security & religion.
• 00:17:56 – Would a Universal Basic Income work?
• 00:22:02 – The 3 P’s for dealing with anxiety.
• 00:25:00 – Building the anxious muscle.
• 00:33:26 – Letting go.
• 00:35:29 – Professional support.
• 00:36:47 – Our tools to help you succeed.
• 00:38:49 – Origins of the word sad.
• 00:39:48 – Anxiety First Aid Kit.
• 00:45:17 – Breathing for anxiety.

In alphabetical order:

• Barry Westley
• Bruce Lee
• Conor (Conor McGregor)
• Craig Harper
• Dokkōdō of Miyamoto Musashi
• Dr. Don Wood
• Dr. Joe Dispenza
• Effortless by Greg McKeown
• Elon Musk
• Essentialism by Greg McKeown
• Finding Your Path
• Freddie Kruger
• Gabor Maté
• Geoff Thompson
• Greg McKeown
• Hélio Gracie
• Inviting Mara to Tea
• James Bond
• Jim Carrey
• Jocko (Jocko Willink)
• Joe Rogan
• John Wick
• Jordan Peterson
• Kapil Gupta
• Shaun’s “Letting Go” article
• Lost Connections by Johann Hari
• Mark Divine
• Michael Stein
• Mike Mahler
• Musashi (Miyamoto Musashi)
• Naval Ravikant
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Osho – The attraction to drugs is spiritual
• Patrick McKeown
• Patrick Stewart & Pickard
• Questions Article (Good Questions To Ask That Will Change Your Life)
• Quentin Tarantino
• Reservoir Dogs
• Rickson Gracie
• Seth Godin
• Shaun’s writings on loneliness
• Star Trek
• Steve Jobs Stanford Speech
• Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
• The Borg from Star Trek
• The Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters
• The Equalizer
• The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
• Thinking, Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Tim book (We Learn Nothing by Tim Kreider)
• Tim Ferriss
• Tom Furman
• Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
• Ultimate Guide to Practical Meditation
• Walking Your Path
• Wayne Dyer
• Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker