How I Beat Anxiety and Took Control of My Life

I used to be like most guys. It wasn’t until I finally beat my anxiety that I took control of my life. Here is how I did it….. 

It has been some time since I have thought about let alone spoke about my days of intense anxiety in detail. In this article I intend to go all in and show you how I beat anxiety and took control of my life.

I wasn’t always the confident, business-minded, and self-directed person I am today. From time to time I have mentioned parts of my past that I have learned from so that I could offer solutions to all those who read Way of The Olympian. 

There was a time where I questioned everything I did. From talking to a girl to what I should do in a given situation. I overthought everything.

Anxiety was an everyday struggle for me and plagued me for years. It wasn’t until I started delving into self-improvement and accepting myself that I finally began to take control of my life.

You can do the same. 

What was it like to suffer from Anxiety day after day?

I can sum it up into one word- Miserable. I was the kid that seemed like he had it going on from the outside, but on the inside I was a wreck. 

Not only did I have anxiety but also I suffered from something similar to IBS that was brought on from my anxiety. Imagine constantly having a stomach ache. Always feeling the intense urge of having to use the bathroom. 

It felt like crap.

Due to my anxiety and stomach problems I avoided social situations like the plague. If I knew I would have to go to a party or event I would always make sure I was “busy”. 

You would be amazed at all of the unnecessary problems that anxiety brings about. By allowing anxiety to rule your life you are welcoming in a host of other problems which I will discuss in this article. 

Problems brought on by anxiety that I suffered from:

• Stomach problems
• Stress
• Loss of friends
• Opportunities fleeing from you
• Lack of confidence
• Problems in bed

All of the above problems that I suffered from were due to my anxiety and I know that there are people out there who have had the same happen to them. I want you to know that you do not have to suffer any longer.

The power is in your hands. You can beat your anxiety and take control of your life once and for all. 

You may doubt yourself and feel that your anxiety is too powerful, but you are wrong. Mike and I are examples of how you can turn your life around. 

You no longer have to sit by as life passes you by. To nervous to make a decision that will alter your life for the better.

I am literally walking you through how you can not only beat your anxiety, but also take control of your life.

Where did my anxiety come from?

To be completely honest I am not entirely sure of the root cause of my anxiety. I can trace it back to my childhood, but not to an exact moment.

As a child I was raised by my Mother until I was 8 years old. I suffered at school with everything from simple reading to math skills.

Towards the end of my Second Grade year my Mother almost died and my Dad stepped in to get custody of me. That point in my life is a blur as I was going from house to house until one day I was told my Dad would be taking me to live with him. 

I remember being held back that year and having to get tutored. I remember having people who would watch me in every class taking notes on what I was doing. I remember the day I found a package that had documents about me. 

These documents had information on everything from my behaviour to how my reading level was below a First Grader. Funny how I run a blog and am gearing up to release my first book.

That Summer I went to my tutor everyday except on the weekend. I was taught properly how to read. I learned Math concepts as well.

By the next year I received the Honor Role. Then the year after that. I even entered into a local writing challenge.

All though living with my Dad I was primarily raised by my Step-Mother. She was the main person behind pushing to get me tutored and putting me on track to be successful.

If it weren’t for her I would not have been able to get into some of the schools that I did. She cared deeply for my success but lacked the ability to be a mother to me.

Instead of affection she would give ridicule. Instead of unconditional love she gave conditional love.

I blamed her for years for how my childhood was. I was taken care of materially but emotionally tormented which lead to problems in my life.

I have since then taken full responsibility for my childhood as at the end of the day I am the one who makes the decisions. She had had a bad childhood growing up which is what made her the way she was.

She grew up in an orphanage. That was all that she knew. They did not show her much affection.

In her time she has accomplished much. She was able to work multiple jobs to buy her first car, put herself through college, and become a successful Paralegal.

In the environment I was brought up in I had to constantly think about my next steps. Thoughts such as, “Will they get mad at me if I use this cup?” or “If I go downstairs will I get in trouble?”.

While you might think those questions are ridiculous (I would agree) you must keep in mind that at that time those were real concerns.  I could’ve gotten in trouble for many things that were ridiculous, but as a child I had to accept it.

 The Realization 

After the years of me suffering from anxiety I began having a set of circumstances that started to alter some of my long held beliefs. These changes in my beliefs are what led me to finally make the realization that changed it all for me.

I stepped out of the shower one day and saw myself in the mirror. The person who I saw staring back at me was a very overweight, depressed, loser.

This was the first time I actually looked at myself for who I was and not the labels that had been placed on me.

As I looked into my eyes I could see power behind them. I  saw a person who could conquer the world if only he had the belief that it was possible.

I knew that it was going to be a hard road but for the first time I smiled when I thought about opposition. I felt a sense of power, better yet greatness that only a select few get to enjoy.

How I took control of my life

I began working out, doing self-improvement, and taking responsibility for my life. All of a sudden my circumstances started improving and I started seeing small successes more often.

In life it comes down to taking action. The only way you will ever get in shape, get a girl, or achieve anything that you want will require you to take action.

Nobody will give you success. All though people can show you the way and guide you they can never actually give it to you. It is you who must take charge and see that your life improves.

I will break down each thing I did that allowed me to take control of my life. Keep in mind that you must figure out what works for you so if there is anything that I put that doesn’t work for you then just discard it. Seek your own truth just as it is laid out in Gorilla Mindset.

Keys to take control of your life:

• Take Charge
• Workout/Diet
• Learn new things
• Follow your passions, become obsessed
• Declutter your life

The above can be summed up into three words “Invest in Yourself”. But you deserve to know steps that you can take and then to be provided details.

Take Charge-

There is only one way that you will be able to take control of your life and that is by Taking Charge. Nothing happens until you make the decision for it to happen.

Do you want to have more money in your bank account? Take charge and start working more, cut expenses, and create a side hustle.

Do you want to enjoy meaningful relationships with people? Take charge and begin making yourself more interesting and likeable. Start going to networking events. Better yet start being a friend to those who are already in your life.

Do you want to enjoy better health? Take charge and start eating healthy, working out, and keep yourself clean. Start juicing. When I first tried juicing I thought it was weird, but the more I did it the healthier and better I began to feel.

Begin taking yourself seriously. Do not let anyone take advantage of you. Always remember that you are the one who gets it done.

Instead of seeking for a hero to base your life around, become that hero yourself. It is alright to have heroes but never give up your power.

Workout/Diet-

Begin working out and eating right. I often wonder if people even think of what certain foods or drinks are doing to their bodies.

There are foods and drinks out there that people consume on a daily basis that are wreaking havoc on their bodies. I used to work with someone who would consume 8 Coke Zero’s everyday 5 days a week.

Do you understand how unhealthy that is?

I used to eat whatever I wanted. If I wanted to eat an entire bag of chips to go along with a 2 liter of soda I would. To me since I was healthy (yet very over-weight) I decided that I could eat whatever I desired.

As for physical activity don’t make me laugh. I would play video games for hours every night. At school it would take me 12 minutes to run our weekly mile run. Needless to say I was in poor physical condition. 

If you want to beat anxiety and take control of your life then you will need to get in shape and keep yourself healthy by eating well. 

I want you to start working out at the very least 3 days a week. I don’t mean just a few pushups and crunches. I mean hit the gym hard and sweat like you’ve never sweat before.

Secondly I want you to clean up your diet and begin eating good healthy foods. No more chips, soda, or other junk food. 

You will eat foods such as fish, chicken, and vegetables. Give juicing a try as well. I have found drinking beet juice everyday gives me a boost in energy and wellbeing. 

If you want you can have a cheat day where you can eat anything you want. Do not go overboard though as that would defeat the purpose.

My cheat day is Saturday. On Saturday I might eat a burger that is loaded with condiments and a side of fries. Or maybe I will go out and get some ice cream.

Sunday’s I will eat very little and keep my calorie intake down to around 1000 calories or less. As soon as Monday hits I am back on my meal plan and hit the gym (luckily I have a gym in my house) everyday. 

The takeaway for this section is get your butt in the gym and start eating good foods. Once you are in shape and healthy you will be able to better take charge of your life.

Learn New Things–

Whether you are in school or out of school you should always be learning new things. For example I am looking into Programming and Video Editing as those two skills will help me with my business ventures as well as be fun to learn. 

In a post not long ago I mentioned how I visited a Hindu Temple. The reason I did that was because I wanted to learn more about their  culture. To be honest I was a little nervous about going, but once I got there they were some of the nicest people I have met in a long time.

By learning new things you not only become more valuable which equals more money, but you also gain a better understanding of the world. I have learned so much more about myself and the world since being out of school than I did in my entire school career. 

If you want to beat anxiety and take control of your life you will need to arm yourself with the assets to do so. You will be able to better interact with your world and enjoy it with the right knowledge.

How can I learn more?

Read books such as Gorilla Mindset or Think and Grow Rich. Enroll in classes for things such as Programming or sales-copy. Travel to different countries and meet new people.

Follow your passions, become obsessed–

Have you ever wondered how people at the top of their game got there and are able to outwork everyone around them?

The reason they are at the top and outwork everyone is because they are obsessed. They do not merely wish to do something they enjoy. Rather they are obsessed with it.

When I first began writing articles for my blog I would only write when I felt inspired. My articles would only be 300-500 words compared to the 1-4k words I now put out. 

What changed? Did I all of a sudden get hit with great motivation? 

Yes I did get hit with great motivation but instead of it being from outside of myself, it was something I brought up from within myself. I began writing everyday whether I felt like it or not.

If I was tired I wrote. If I had a bad day I wrote. I became obsessed with learning how people such as Mike (D&P), Victor (B&D), and Chris (GLL) put out so much great work. I thought to myself that they must know some secret that I didn’t.

It wasn’t until I started grinding day in and day out that I finally started to experience something I call Creative Energy. It is hard to explain, but it is an almost euphoric state that once entered allows you to go into flow.

Often times I feel like I am not even the one who is writing. The words just appear on the screen as my fingers move.

It doesn’t matter if you are an athlete, business owner, or professional blogger like me. You can be whatever you want to be. If you want to create art that moves people you must become obsessed. 

Once you are obsessed you will literally live, breath, and think about your obsession at all times. It doesn’t matter if I am driving down the road or in the checkout line. I am always thinking of ways I can better craft an article that will either inspire you to take charge of your life or make money for me while helping you. 

I often times receive some of my best post or business ideas when I am doing other things. I can not go more than a day without doing something related to Way of The Olympian or business related.

If I do, I have found that I will get moody and be a very unpleasant person to be around. Is that a problem? I don’t believe so. Being obsessed is what will make me great.

I would rather have an awesome blog and be rolling in money than sitting around running a hobby blog or business. 

If you truly want to achieve greatness in whatever you want you must become obsessed. Allow it to consume you. Give yourself to it. Let it be on your mind at all times. You will notice as you become obsessed that you will begin feeling the way those who are already at the top feel.

Declutter Your Life–

The last thing that you must do to beat anxiety and take control of your life is to declutter it. You cannot be in charge and not have anxiety if you have clutter in your life.

I used to allow things such as conspiracy theories and TV into my life. I would read about the Jew bankers or Illuminati. I would watch shows such as “Sons of Anarchy”. 

What value do any of those things add to my life?

It won’t help me get any farther in my life. It won’t help me make sure that I don’t have to ever worry about money again. And it sure won’t help me achieve anything worthwhile. 

Decluttering your life applies to more than just TV. You might have a bad relationship that puts constant drama into your life. Maybe you have a best friend that you have known for years that has a drug problem.

None of those things serve you and offer nothing of value. If you want to achieve anything you will have to cut all things out that do not help you.

While this might sound like a hard task in reality it isn’t. Believe me when I say that you will enjoy a better quality of life if you simply declutter it. 

You don’t need the drama or negativity that comes with clutter. Throw it away once and for all. 

You have the knowledge now use it

Now you see that you can beat your anxiety and take control of your life. You do not need to put up with anxiety any longer. You do not need to suffer.

Start right now to apply the above steps to your life and I can guarantee you will start feeling more empowered, healthy, and confident. 

This will possibly be the first time that you ever feel like The Man. You might have always been weak and played the role of what is the modern man.

You have your mission.

Until next time Go and Dominate.

Your friend,

Dylan Madden

PS–

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