Anxiety is loud. It shows up uninvited, like that one person who thinks they know you better than you know yourself. It talks fast, sounds convincing, and always seems to have a list of reasons why you should stay small, stay quiet, stay safe.

But here’s the truth: You are not your anxiety.

Anxiety is not your voice. It’s a separate one. It is the uninvited guest in your mind who pretends to be helpful but really just hijacks the conversation. It may feel like a part of you, but it is not you. The more you can see it for what it is, a loud, pushy presence trying to take control, the more power you have to respond instead of react.

The first step is noticing when anxiety is talking. That inner voice saying, You can’t do this, You’ll mess it up, They’re going to judge you, that is anxiety, not truth. When you recognize it, you create space. And in that space, you gain a choice: follow its lead, or take one small step in another direction.

That one step matters. It might be shaky or uncomfortable. But every time you move past the line anxiety has drawn, you remind yourself that you are the one in charge. Not it.

Here is what that might look like: Imagine you need to send a follow-up email to a colleague or potential client. Nothing complicated. Just a few lines. But every time you open the draft, your stomach tightens. Your mind jumps in. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I come off too pushy? What if they never respond? Suddenly, this basic task feels loaded with risk.

So you close your laptop. You’ll do it later, you tell yourself. Maybe when you feel more confident or when the words come out perfectly. But time passes. The task remains, and now the anxiety has grown larger. It is no longer just about the email. It is about the delay, the imagined judgment, the fear of what your silence might mean.

This is what anxiety does. It draws a line, and it dares you to cross it. The more you back away, the stronger it becomes.

Now imagine pausing. You recognize the thoughts for what they are. This is anxiety talking. I don’t have to listen. You breathe. You write the email—not with perfect confidence, but with clarity and care. You send it. Your heart might race, but you move anyway.

And then, nothing explodes.

Maybe they respond. Maybe they don’t. Either way, you have already won. You crossed the line. The monster shrinks.

Avoiding what makes you anxious only makes anxiety stronger. The thing you are afraid of becomes distorted. It grows in size and weight until it feels impossible. But more often than not, the anticipation is worse than the reality.

The goal is not to eliminate anxiety. You have an anxious mind, and that is okay. The goal is to learn to manage it. To recognize when anxiety is speaking and choose, in that moment, to take action anyway. Even if it is just one small step across the line.

You do not need to feel fearless to be brave. You just need to move.