Those who suffer from a state of perpetual anxiety (as opposed to those who suffer from periodic bouts of situational anxiety) tend to make two very common thinking mistakes. This poster speaks to them both.
First, they ignore the true statistical probability of an event’s occurrence. Consequently, for someone who experiences frequent anxiety, it is equally probable that they will arrive at their destination safely or that they will die on the way. Whereas statistics indicate that many more people arrive safely at their destinations than die on the way. The person filled with anxiety sees it much closer to a 50/50 chance.
Secondly, they catastrophize the results of anything happening. “If this or that happened, it would be the worst possible thing that could ever occur in the history of mankind,” so their thinking goes.
As we saw in the poster on Confidence both of these thinking flaws will keep their amygdala (the fear center of the brain) in constant operation – flooding their system with all the physiological chemical alarms – signaling to them of truly being in danger.
The leader understands that these two anxiety producing thoughts must be labeled as flawed thinking and managed when they occur to help lower anxiety and maintain clearer thinking in the middle of important decision making.
Categories: Assertiveness
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