Your heart is racing. You’re short of breath. Your stomach is all sorts of messed up.
You know that terrible feeling.
That feeling you get when you are about to face that thing in your business that sends you into a spiral of panicked thoughts and anxiety.
Maybe it’s because your finances- and you know taking a peek would reveal your current amount of debt, your lack of savings and your lack of cash flow.
Or maybe you’re about to hit that scary “Go Live” button on Facebook, and terrified of all of the awkward pauses that haven’t even happened yet.
And don’t even get me started on playing the video back. Do I really sound like that? Uggghhh, I totally used the wrong word.
Perhaps you’re listening back to that interview you did for your podcast, and beating yourself up over all of the things you should have said or explained better.
Is your heart rate up right now just thinking about these scenarios?
Congratulations, you are a healthy, living human! And to add to the good news, that thing that pushes your panic button doesn’t have to be a “thing” at all anymore when you choose to separate the emotion from the data.
I know what you are thinking. “Okay, Rachel. That’s easier said than done.”
Trust me. When you shift your perspective from spiraling down an emotional rabbit hole of tearing yourself apart, and realize it’s all just data, those stressors suddenly become a whole lot less stressful.
For me, it was photos.
After a photoshoot with a photographer I would dive into the raw footage on the camera and instantly my mind would fixate on thoughts of forgetting to suck in my stomach, or having crazy eyes, or looking slouched over. It would be really discouraging to see photo after photo that looked awkward, embarrassing and just plain odd.
But here’s the thing: I wasn’t looking at the final, edited product. I was simply looking at a snapshot in time.
In reality it takes a good 15-20 photos to get that one great shot. While a lot of them may be off a little bit, there’s always that one ore two that are amazing.
Photos are just a snapshot in time.
I may have looked awkward in that moment, but then the moment was gone. When I started to recognize that, it made me feel not so hard on myself about every single photo being taken.
Including the not so flattering ones I maybe would be tagged in, or a photo of myself that someone would put up on the screen when I would be speaking on stage.
When I started realizing that photos were just snapshots in time, it removed a lot of the pressure.
And just like photos, your finances are just a snapshot in time. A Facebook Live is just a snapshot in time. A podcast interview is just a snapshot in time.
I stopped re-looking at those photos after the initial viewing. I stopped going back and looking again at all of those photos I didn’t like. I stopped relooking at all of my finances from the month before after we had already looked at it.
Don’t beat yourself up about the things that are just a snapshot in time. Photos, finances, videos, podcasts, are all just snapshots in time. It’s just data.
Instead of having your heart rate elevate, you can instead just step back and realize that it’s just documentation and data of where you were in that moment. Once you realize it’s just data, you can drop the emotional overdrive.
Now I often finish photoshoots early. I get through the shots I want to take, all the outfits I have planned to wear, and recognize I’ve gotten what I needed. I don’t stress over each photo as I go through and review the shots on the camera.
I know now it is what it is, and each photo is just a snapshot in time. Just like finances, Facebook Lives, Podcasts and all of the other triggers that get our hearts racing.
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