Don't Let Anxiety Hold You Back from Living Your Dreams

Anxiety is the state of feeling nervous，worried or fearful．When you're anxious，you may feel something bad is going to happen．

When you think of starting a new project or going into a group situation with people you don't know，do you feel butterflies in your stomach？Do you come up with lots of reasons not to do fun but risky things like joining a hiking club or a volunteer organization？ If these happen，it shows that you are probably anxious，and your anxiety will stop you from going after your dreams．Actually，anxiety feeds on avoidance and makes you less confident，while getting started and taking action help your anxiety go down．But where do you begin？

These suggestions below will let you be the master of your anxiety，rather than letting it master you．

◆ Don't wait for your anxiety to go down

Your anxiety won't go down on its own．However，when you take action towards your goals instead of considering what anxiety you have，you will build self﹣efficacy（自我效能）little by little﹣you begin to see yourself as someone who can take action and be successful even when you're feeling anxious．

◆ Set a realistic goal that makes sense for you

We all have different personalities and preferences．We don't all want to be lawyers，have hundreds of friends，or run marathons．Whatever you want，just figure out what is the simplest thing you can do to get started．Set your goal specifically，for example，"walk for 20 minutes three times next week"．You can't climb a mountain all at once and you're more likely to achieve your goal with inside motivation（动机）than when you're just trying to please others．

◆ Trust the process（过程）

Faith（信仰）is the first step to take action．Even if you don't have faith to begin with，faith will come if you just take that first step．The more you take action，the more likely you are to have some successes and begin to trust the process．I often start writing a blog post not knowing exactly what I 'm going to write．Now I've understood that if I share messages with my readers sincerely，then the content will appear naturally and anxiety will reduce slowly．

◆ …

（1）When you"feel butterflies in your stomach"，you may feel　　．

A．successful

B．humorous

C．lonely

D．fearful

（2）Which situation shows that you may feel anxious？　　

A．Gettig into a group situation with your friends．

B．Making an excuse for not doing a risky activity．

C．Being willing to work as a community volunteer．

D．Feeling confident to join the school hiking club．

（3）From the passage we know that　　．

A．Avoidance makes anxiety stronger and stronger

B．Anxiety can help you build self﹣efficacy gradually

C．You should achieve your goal by pleasing others

D．Faith won't come even if you begin to take action

（4）What is the fourth suggestion probably about？　　

A．Anxiety will prevent you from living your dream．

B．Anxiety will make you worry about bad situations．

C．You should cheer for yourself to control anxiety．

D．You should set a meaningful goal to get started．