Find Long-Term Solutions to Prevent Anxiety

This is the third chapter of a series named "Prevent Anxiety".

I recommend you to check the previous episodes in case you missed them:

• Preventing Anxiety
• Stop Anxious Thinking

In order to find long-term solutions to prevent anxiety, the following steps are recommended:

1. Learn to live in the present. Embracing every moment and opportunity that comes your way will help you stay grounded in the present. Stop worrying over something in the past or in the future that may cause you harm. Meditating for 10-20 minutes every day can help you focus on your body and your mind. Taking the time to appreciate the sights, smells, and feelings around you is also a way of living the present. Do not take a day of your life for granted: write down all the things you are thankful for and embrace them as much as much as you can.
2. Minimize situations that cause anxiety. Avoid as much as you can those situations that cause you anxiety or stress, and make your life easier and more manageable. For instance, if you are always anxious about getting to work late, leave the house fifteen minutes earlier. If you are anxious about how your best friend really feels about you, have an honest conversation with him/her. If going to places where you do not know many people makes you deeply anxious, avoid these situations unless you can find a way to manage them.
3. Spend time with calming friends. Seek out the people in your life who make you feel calmer, at ease, and at peace with yourself. Avoid the people who cause worry, make you more stressed, and make you feel like your problems are bigger than they really are. Spend as much time as you can with friends that make you feel grounded.
4. Keep a journal. This can help you trace your most anxiety-inducing thoughts and will make you see a pattern to your thinking. Writing a journal is inherently a calming activity, and making time do it every day (15 minutes is recommended) can help you wind down, make sense of your day, and get ready to move forward. 
5. Learn to accept uncertainty. A big part of anxiety stems from not knowing what is going to happen next. Unfortunately, there is no way you can predict the future. You have to learn to be okay with not knowing what is going to happen next, controlling only what you can control, and learning to take your life one day at a time.
6. See a doctor. If you feel that your daily life is filled with overwhelming worry and that nothing you have done has improved the situation, it may be time to see a doctor in order to check if an anxiety-related disorder is present and, therefore, prescribe the corresponding medications or alternative treatments to help you improve.
7. Seek therapy. Discussing your every day concerns as well as your larger worries with a professional can make you feel more at ease and less alone. It may also help you gain a new perspective on your worries, and can also make you more comfortable talking about them.

This article is based on this source.