EP 196 – Anxiety Recovery: It’s The Process, Not The Outcome

In episode 196 of The Anxious Truth, we will explore the urge to focus on the outcome in anxiety recovery rather than giving our attention to the process.

Everyone wants to feel better.  Clearly, this is the outcome we are all after.  That’s fine, but this outcome is a long-term thing. Feeling better, experiencing less panic and anxiety, and having a “normal” life is something that happens over time, and it only happens when we learn the lessons of recovery. 

Where do we find those lessons? 

The PROCESS of recovery teaches us those lessons.  It would seem obvious to state that the process leads to the outcome, but this is often overlooked by anxious people that want to skip the process and go right to “no more panic”. 

When we place our focus on the final outcome of recovery and use that as our target on a day-to-day basis, we often find ourselves stuck, frustrated, and not any closer to the thing that we so desperately want.  We cannot achieve the outcome unless we focus on the process and allow it to teach us the required lessons, yet we continue to evaluate everything we do based on being recovered or not recovered. 

The more effective strategy is to focus on working the process and accepting the lessons it teaches us day in and day out. Rather than being concerned with how you feel today and how you might feel tomorrow, think about what you DID today, what you LEARNED today, and what you might do differently tomorrow based on what you learned.

This is the process of recovery. 

When we remain focused there, good things happen over time. The wise person in recovery cares not about being recovered, but rather about moving in the direction of recovery.  Working the process becomes the primary goal.  Achieving the outcome becomes a happy secondary effect.

Listen to the full episode to explore the importance of process-focused goals in the anxiety recovery journey.