88 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
performance. For example, you might need more physiolog-
ical and mental arousal to perform well in front of hundreds
at a concert recital, but less physiological and mental arousal
to successfully give a speech to a small group of supportive
coworkers. On the other hand, you might need a lower level
of physiological and mental arousal to complete an intellec-
tually demanding task (lower levels facilitate concentration)
versus a higher level of arousal for tasks involving stamina or
persistence (higher levels increase motivation).
Practice Take a moment to assess your optimal levels of physi-
ological and mental arousal for those times when you feel perfor-
mance pressure. Now compare the ideal level to what’s true for you.
For example, if you have social anxiety, what would be an optimal
level of physiological and mental arousal for you to give a speech
to ten people? To do this, plot on the graph how your performance
(vertical axis) and your arousal (horizontal axis) intersect. If it’s
helpful, think of your performance as a range on a continuum from
weak to strong and your arousal as a range on a continuum from
low to medium to high. How would you characterize your cur-
rent state of physiological and mental arousal? Is it balanced, or is it
skewed to one end of the graph or the other?
Exposure
One of the most effective and important ways to deal
with your anxiety and fears, whether they are rational or not,
is to gently confront them. As the title of this chapter
suggests, running from your anxiety isn’t helpful and likely
does more harm than good over time. To stop running, we
encourage you to gradually confront your anxiety and fear
through the use of exposure, or purposefully subjecting