6 Magic Words That Stop Anxiety & Overwhelm

The Mel Robbins Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts

Education, Mental Health, Relationships, Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 10.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today’s episode, I’m sharing the “6 magic words” that I say to myself on repeat whenever I start to spiral. I call them “magic” because they seem to have an almost spell-like effect on me when I say them out loud. I’ve shared these 6 magic words with millions of people online, and today you’re going to learn what they are and how to use them to your advantage. If you're a worrier, an overthinker, or struggle with anxiety, you’ll love these 6 words. You can use them like a tool to stop yourself from worrying, obsessing, catastrophizing, and creating problems in your mind that don’t exist in the present moment. These 6 words are rooted in behavioral science, psychology, stoicism, and even Buddhism. In fact, I’m going to share a fantastic metaphor to make this even more visual and easy to understand and apply in your life. You will also learn: How to use my 6-word phrase to interrupt your worries and self-doubt. The question you can ask yourself to beat fear with logic. A beautiful Buddhist teaching that will empower you to stop torturing yourself mentally. A shocking study about how stressful thoughts cause you real pain. What “positive ideation” is and why you need to use it the next time you start to spiral. What the data says about your worries (my jaw was on the floor). Exactly how to train your brain to be more optimistic. Bottom line: You have the power to quiet anxious thoughts and to stop the endless loop of worries that run through your head. You just need the 6 magic words I’m about to teach you right now. Xo, Mel In this episode: 0:44: I’ve got something I want to confess to you. 4:46: What is the ONE thing we all do? 5:13: You are creating worry and stress in your life. This is exactly how to stop. 6:49: How to use my 6-word phrase to interrupt your worries and self-doubt. 9:18: The question you can ask yourself to beat fear with logic. 12:10: A beautiful Buddhist teaching that will empower you to stop torturing yourself. 13:46: Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional. Listen to this. 16:16: Assuming the worst is doing this to your nervous system. 18:39: What would your life be like if you didn’t worry about…anything? 21:38: This is exactly how to break the habit of chronic worry. 24:55: The shocking connection between catastrophizing and your ability to focus. 31:06: Wait until you hear how stressful thoughts cause you real pain. 34:06: How do you start living to your fullest potential once and for all? Want more resources? Go to my podcast page at https://melrobbins.com/podcast. Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's your friend, Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast.
0:07.0	I'm so glad you're here.
0:09.0	Thank you for tuning in. It's Mel, and right now I'm sitting in a hotel room in Salt Lake City.
0:15.0	I've got about an hour before I've got across the street and head over to the convention center and give a speech.
0:20.0	But something happened this morning, where I caught myself going down a rabbit hole.
0:28.0	I started worrying about something. Then the worries became even bigger.
0:33.0	And I realized I'm doing that thing. I'm doing that thing where I am causing myself a lot of pain because I am catastrophizing.
0:44.0	So many of us struggle with this. You may struggle with this, where your mind is constantly defaulting to what's going to go wrong or you're always dwelling on problems that haven't happened yet.
0:55.0	So I thought, why don't I just jump on the mic while I have a little bit of time here and explain what just happened to me because I know you're going to relate to it.
1:02.0	So here's the deal. So I wake up and I roll out of bed and I start my normal morning routine and I pick up my phone.
1:11.0	And one of the reasons why I picked up my phone is because our oldest child, our daughter, Sawyer, who's 24 years old is in the middle of a solo backpacking trip on the other side of the world.
1:24.0	And this is something she's wanted to do for a long time. It's really well planned out. And of course, because I'm her mother, because I worry, I am tracking her location.
1:34.0	And we're all on WhatsApp. We're in a family group text. And right now she is in Australia. And she had planned as part of her itinerary that she was going to go on a couple solo hikes.
1:50.0	Q the worry. Okay. I got my 24 year old daughter back back out her back in a country she's never been to obviously it's relatively safe.
1:59.0	But that does not prevent me from coming up with all kinds of fantasies in my mind about what could go wrong. And so I've been pretty good. I've been really good.
2:09.0	You know, I have been able to just enjoy from afar and not become a stalker, but something happened that caused me to spiral this morning.
2:20.0	She summited this mountain in Australia to see a sunrise two days ago. And I haven't heard from her.
2:29.0	And I go to track her location. And I'm like, where is she? And it's sort of rainbow wheeling. So I can't see where she is. And I know she's okay because she posted something on social media.
2:41.0	But I woke up this morning and I immediately looked at my WhatsApp. There was no message from her in the family group chat. There was no message from her directly to me. I then went to Instagram. There was no DM from her. And I started to panic.
2:56.0	And what did my mind think? I'm almost embarrassed to tell you. Why don't you just step in my shoes for a minute? What do you think Mel Robbins was thinking knowing that her daughter had summited a mountain alone.
3:07.0	It's like a five mile hike up. She started at four o'clock in the morning to see the sunrise. We saw the photos of the sunrise. Haven't heard from her since. What do you think my mind is thinking right now? It's been 48 hours. She's on the other side of the world.
3:21.0	Oh, you know, I'm not thinking, oh, I bet she met some friends and she's out having fun. Or maybe her phone died. Or you know what, Mel? Maybe she's so busy that she doesn't have time to talk to you because the whole point of her trip is not to keep you posted of her whereabouts. It's for her to go out and have this incredible experience and to grow and to discover and to be brave and to explore.
	...

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