How to Reframe Social Anxiety

I want you to take a second to analyze your anxiety.

Which thoughts lead you to feel emotional sensations in your body?

Take some time to find 2-3 experiences.

Got it?

Cool.

Now I want you to take some time to analyze those thoughts.

How many of them deal with people?

‘Uh… most of them.’

Aha! A major insight has been spotted.

Isn’t it a tad bit funny?

So many of us have our lives inhibited by anxiety, but we often simply react, rather than respond.

How often do we take some time to analyze the root cause?

If you delve deep into your anxiety, then you will see that a majority of it deals with people.

Which is why I say that:

Social anxiety makes up a majority of your anxiety.

You aren’t afraid of failing.

You are afraid of being JUDGED for failing.

Not judged by yourself, but by others.

This is a massive clue into engineering a comeback, because you now have spotted the root cause.

Reframe your perception of social anxiety & a lot of your anxiety will melt in the process.

But the question is, how?

And that is a great question!

Reframing social anxiety will be the core of this article.

Learn the power of perception &  how to engineer it to your favor.

The Power of Framing

Imagine if you are sitting in an audience.

The host gets on stage and is about to introduce the new speaker.

‘Allow me to bring on stage, Paul Johnson! Mr. Johnson was voted the best public speaker for 5 years in a row. He is an 8 times Toastmasters champion. Has helped millions of people overcome speech anxiety and is an all-around winner. Put your hands together for Paul ‘The Rockstar’ Johnson!!’

Automatically, your perception has been set.

In your mind, Paul is some magnificent speaker.

Want to know what’s funny?

Even if Paul gives a rather sloppy speech, you’ll be more forgiving because the frame has been set in your mind.

Now, let’s flip the scenario.

Imagine if the host simply introduced Paul Johnson by his name, and that was it.

In this case, if Paul gave a sloppy speech, then you’ll be less forgiving & wonder why he didn’t prepare.

‘So what does this all mean?’

This means that the power of framing is CRUCIAL.

And you need to frame to your advantage, not disadvantage.

Analyzing Anxiety vs. Excitement

Have you ever looked into the physical feelings of anxiety & excitement?

Picture yourself on the top of a roller coaster. How do you feel?

‘I feel very excited!’

Now picture yourself getting ready to give a speech in front of 500 people. How do you feel?

‘I feel very anxious!’

But look closer into your imagination.

FEEL THE SENSATIONS.

The 2 feelings are practically identical.

However, one gives you a positive emotion & the other gives you a negative emotion.

‘Any idea why?’

Yes. It’s because you have stacked the perceptions against you.

Reframe Social Anxiety as Social Excitement

If you think about it, our ancient ancestors didn’t have words. They only had body language to operate on.

Eventually, society designed words.

And words play a MAJOR role in our present-day psyches.

You can set up your frame by simply choosing your words more carefully.

Using ‘social anxiety‘ is stacking the cards AGAINST your favor.

The word automatically implies a negative connotation.

Once you inhibit your mind, your behaviors will follow.

You will be much more restrictive, paranoid & feel like everyone is watching you.

But change the game!

Use ‘social excitement.’

Excite implies a positive connotation.

This automatically plays to your favor. You’ve energized the mind.

You are like the host who gave Paul Johnson that magnificent intro.

And your behavior will match your empowered mindset.

Same feelings, but different behaviors.

This concept is LIFECHANGING.

You just need to be consistent.

Anytime you are entering a new social event & begin feeling flustered, stop.

And hammer in the new paradigm shift.

Instead of saying you feel ‘social anxiety,’ say that you feel ‘SOCIAL EXCITEMENT.’

You’ll immediately feel the benefits in your psychology & physiology.

Charisma will follow.

The Truth about Social Interactions

Here is the plain reality.

Human interactions often require a level of tension.

We are creatures of energy, you know.

But what happens is when you go to a social event & you feel a surge of energy, you feel a little taken aback.

‘What is all of this energy I am feeling out of nowhere?’ your brain wonders.

And it automatically assigns it a negative label due to the unfamiliarity. This is social anxiety in a nutshell.

You try to suppress the energy because you think it is something bad.

And by doing this, you simply make your anxiety worse.

But that simply shouldn’t be the case!

You should welcome the energy with open arms.

All human interactions have energy.

But since you are entering a new social situation or bigger social situation, you simply feel more energy.

That’s your body energizing you!

When you welcome the energy, something magical happens.

You become expressive.

Expressing energy = Charisma.

You just need to learn the art of reframing.

A mindset concept that I discuss more in Level Up Mentality.

Overcoming Social Anxiety

Overcoming social anxiety is a beautiful feeling.

You begin noticing a lot of other thoughts which made you anxious, goes away.

Why?

Because you learn the power of reframing.

Simply by consciously calling anxiety, excitement, you begin to take a massive control back of your life.

You have displayed emotional intelligence.

And your renewed paradigm shift makes you feel more powerful in social situations.

This allows you to take up new challenges which you were previously running away from.

Keep the momentum going champ.

Your mind is more powerful than you can ever imagine.

Learn the art of how to control it & the external world will bend to your will!

For more insights into the world of social dynamics, be sure to check out the Armani Archives!

You will get an in-depth look into the world in social dynamics & become a charismatic rockstar.

– ArmaniTalks ????️????