Not long after I attended a seminar where a metaphor was used:
Tug of War with the Anxiety Monster
Imagine you are in a tug of war with some huge anxiety monster. You
are pulling with all your might because in between you and the monster
is a huge, bottomless pit. You are spending all your energy pulling
because you are sure if you lose you’ll be pulled into the pit. But the
harder you pull the harder the monster pulls.
You’re growing tired and you need to win. What’s the best thing to do?
Well your mind will tell you to keep pulling, harder and harder. But
the monster never seems to tire. You’re still stuck. So what’s the
best thing to do now?
Drop the rope.
Give up on the battle with your mind to try and
control your thoughts and emotions. This means being willing to have
the monster around of course – you have not won the battle. But
suddenly your hands and feet are free to go and do something more
productive with your life than engage in a tug of war.
In the case of my own career change, this meant I was freer to move
forward with my new business and make progress even on those days when
the anxiety monster threw me the rope, again and again and said:
