![]() GETAMPED 3 SERIESIn other words, its easier to convince yourself to be excited than calm when you’re anxious.īrooks discovered this for herself by performing a series of three experiments for a study published in 2014. For most people, it takes less effort for the brain to jump from charged-up, negative feelings to charged-up, positive ones, Brooks said, than it would to get from charged-up and negative to positive and chill. In other words, they’re “arousal congruent.” The only difference is that excitement is a positive emotion‚ focused on all the ways something could go well.Ĭalmness is also positive, meanwhile, but it’s also low on arousal. In both, the heart beats faster, cortisol surges, and the body prepares for action. That’s because anxiety and excitement are both aroused emotions. Instead, the slogan should be more like, “Get Amped and Don’t Screw Up.” She cites the ubiquitous “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters as partial evidence.īut that might be precisely the wrong advice, she said. “When asked, ‘how do you feel about your upcoming speech?’, most people will say, ‘I’m so nervous, I’m trying to calm down,’” said Alison Wood Brooks, a professor at Harvard Business School who has studied the phenomenon. It’s also counterintuitive: When most people feel anxious, they likely tell themselves to just relax. It sounds stupidly simple, but it's proven effective in a variety of studies and settings. It’s called “anxiety reappraisal,” and it boils down to telling yourself that you feel excited whenever you feel nervous. I lie awake, tight-chested, at 3 a.m., just really looking forward to what fresh hell that meeting will be about.ĭon’t mind me, I’m just trying out a cognitive trick that’s supposed to help with anxiety. ![]() I just can’t wait to learn how I will fail to live up to my own expectations. ![]() I am so excited for this severe threat looming on the horizon. ![]()
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