When you’re prone to anxiety, sometimes it feels like there’s nothing you can do when that familiar feeling starts to sink in. Your heart starts pounding, your thoughts are all over the place and you get that sinking feeling that something bad is about to happen. But according to psychologist Jeffrey Bernstein, there’s an easy strategy that could help you deal with your anxiety and even lower the chance of it happening again.
Bernstein suggests that using one word can help us manage our anxious thoughts: nevertheless. He says this work helps us not feel discouraged and turns what could be “disastrous days into positive ones.” So how does this one word help us with anxiety? It encourages us to stop and acknowledge our options, which could inspire positive thoughts.
So when you start feeling anxious before your big presentation at work, tell yourself: “I think I’m going to fail at this presentation. Nevertheless, I’m going to get up there and give it my best, just like I rehearsed.” It might not work everytime, but it could help the next time anxiety starts to take over.