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Speaker 1: Everyone.

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Speaker 2: It's Kali here for this week's Mojo Monday. So I'm

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Speaker 2: going to talk about that a word today, and I

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Speaker 2: think most of you are going to know what the

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Speaker 2: A word is. So I'm going to talk about the

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Speaker 2: word anxiety, and I think a lot of you will

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Speaker 2: agree with me, or maybe you haven't thought about this,

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Speaker 2: but it is a word that is overused at the moment.

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Speaker 2: I think social media has had a huge impact on that.

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Speaker 2: We tend to our young people and I'm not isolated

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Speaker 2: to young people that many of us are very aware

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Speaker 2: of medical kind of terminology and using it in our

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Speaker 2: everyday language just because it's just so accessible.

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Speaker 1: At the moment.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to talk about this because I know a

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Speaker 2: lot of students are heading into exams season right now

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Speaker 2: the schools and the universities, and there are a lot

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Speaker 2: of kids at school, maybe year eight, year nine. I

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Speaker 2: know my son, he's included in this, and they are

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Speaker 2: doing exams for the very first time, so of course

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Speaker 2: that is going to bring up feelings.

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Speaker 1: In the lead up to exams.

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Speaker 2: So I just wanted to have a bit of a

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Speaker 2: chat about that, but of course not isolated to those situations.

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Speaker 1: Now, I know Naming how we feel is helpful.

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Speaker 2: Of course, research shows us that labeling an emotion can

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Speaker 2: turn down the intensity.

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Speaker 1: It's a bit like.

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Speaker 2: Turning down the sound of a blaring speaker. But what

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Speaker 2: if we get the language wrong. What if the naming

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Speaker 2: of the emotion is actually making things worse because we're

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Speaker 2: getting the label wrong.

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Speaker 1: You know, we feel this.

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Speaker 2: Wide range of emotions, and when we say we'll name

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Speaker 2: that emotion, we have to kind of go into our

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Speaker 2: bank of vocabulary and match the label with the emotion.

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Speaker 1: And there is a big chance that we're going to

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Speaker 1: get that wrong.

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Speaker 2: And what o'ur noticing in our language right now is

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Speaker 2: we automatically go to this word anxiety to describe what

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Speaker 2: used to be called maybe nervousness or worry or concern.

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Speaker 2: There are heaps of other words that we can use

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Speaker 2: for how we're feeling in that moment. But what we're

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Speaker 2: doing is we're slapping this label of anxiety on every flutter,

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Speaker 2: every moment that we feel our nervous system kicking, you know,

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Speaker 2: our racing heart, our shaking hands, or even our worried thoughts,

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Speaker 2: and every dip in confidence that we have. It's like, oh,

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Speaker 2: here's my anxiety or oh, I'm anxious.

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Speaker 1: And here's what that can do.

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Speaker 2: It can inflate something that is very human, that is

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Speaker 2: very natural and manageable, into something clinical.

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Speaker 1: And what we're.

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Speaker 2: Doing is we're pathologizing natural human responses where it's it's

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Speaker 2: like it's permanent. It's something that feels permanent, and it

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Speaker 2: feels heavy, and it feels much bigger than us. But

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Speaker 2: most of the time it isn't and not all the time.

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Speaker 2: I am very aware that everyone listening is in a

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Speaker 2: different situation, but I'm also aware that the word anxiety

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Speaker 2: is being overused and that can have major ongoing repercussions.

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Speaker 2: We're using the word anxiety as this umbrella term, and

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Speaker 2: I don't think that's helpful. So being nervous, let's use

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Speaker 2: the word nervous, which is temporary, and I'm going to

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Speaker 2: talk about.

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Speaker 1: What it is.

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Speaker 2: But if we keep focusing on these sort of these

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Speaker 2: feelings of being nervous, it can lead to anxiety. And

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Speaker 2: that can depend on how we approach it, our mindset,

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Speaker 2: our attitude towards the nervousness.

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Speaker 1: If we automatically call.

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Speaker 2: Our state of being nervous anxiety and judge it as

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Speaker 2: negative and a threat something to get rid of.

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Speaker 1: It can actually.

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Speaker 2: Start to exacerbate and then it can get worse. So

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Speaker 2: this is where we can control our attitude towards it.

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Speaker 2: So if you have been listening to previous episodes, I've

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Speaker 2: mentioned this before. When I do presentations, which I love

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Speaker 2: to do. I love presenting. It's an opportunity for me

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Speaker 2: to make a difference in people's lives. But I can't

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Speaker 2: really nervous and I'm talking really nervous in the lead

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Speaker 2: up to it. But I don't call it anxiety. I

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Speaker 2: don't say I'm anxious about doing the presentation.

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Speaker 1: I certainly get hyped up, and I have worried thoughts and.

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Speaker 2: I you know, all the stuff that goes on in

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Speaker 2: your head and your body and the racing heart and

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Speaker 2: all that stuff. But I'm so glad that I that

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Speaker 2: actually happened thanks to me, which might sound a bit

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Speaker 2: weird to you, but I welcome it. And that's because

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Speaker 2: that nervous energy helps me. I'm grateful that it turns up,

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Speaker 2: because what it is is it's.

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Speaker 1: Telling me you care. You want this to go well.

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Speaker 2: You want to give people value, So you need to

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Speaker 2: put in the work, you need to show up.

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Speaker 1: So think about that. On the other side of.

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Speaker 2: That very uncomfortable, very unpleasant state of nervousness, there is

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Speaker 2: this desire that I do well, and there's no way

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Speaker 2: I would do as well without it. If I didn't care,

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Speaker 2: I wouldn't feel nervous, so I wouldn't bother putting in

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Speaker 2: the work that I do. So what I do is

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Speaker 2: I listen to it. I don't run from it, and

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Speaker 2: I use it as fuel. I prep better, focus more,

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Speaker 2: and I really stay grounded. And it doesn't mean that

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Speaker 2: I'm not super uncomfortable. Well, this is happening, but I'm

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Speaker 2: just in embracing the whole thing. But it's not anxiety.

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Speaker 2: I'm not anxious. I'm nervous. That's my body gearing up

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Speaker 2: for something that really matters to me. And the same

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Speaker 2: goes for students heading into exams. And I know some schools,

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Speaker 2: as I mentioned, they've got exams in a few weeks

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Speaker 2: and there are kids heading into exams for the first time.

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Speaker 2: Let's stop casually throwing around the word anxiety. Anxiety is

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Speaker 2: it can be a mental health condition because it's excessive

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Speaker 2: and it can really stop people functioning in their life.

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Speaker 2: It can be so debilitating an anxiety. It often can't

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Speaker 2: be pinpointed to a trigger or an event. But what

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Speaker 2: most of us are feeling is natural. It's a natural,

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Speaker 2: healthy nervousness. Let's not medicalize something that's actually helpful. And

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Speaker 2: so kids going into exams are going to feel nervous.

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Speaker 2: It's natural, and that's because they care. They care about

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Speaker 2: doing well, They want to do well. Okay, So changing

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Speaker 2: that attitude towards it can actually mean they can use

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Speaker 2: it for fuel and really work out what they need

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Speaker 2: to do. You know, maybe we can change our language

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Speaker 2: and our attitude. And I guess if you can tell

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Speaker 2: me what you're so called anxious about, like an exam

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Speaker 2: or a presentation, or maybe it's a social event, then

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Speaker 2: that's you being nervous. It's about an upcoming event, and

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Speaker 2: chances are it'll all dissipate once you start, and certainly

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Speaker 2: once it's done. You know, how could you not feel

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Speaker 2: nervous before an exam or how you How could I

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Speaker 2: not feel nervous before a presentation or even a social

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Speaker 2: event where you hardly know anyone. I know, if I'm

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Speaker 2: going to a social event and I'm thinking, oh gosh,

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Speaker 2: you know, I only know one or two p people. Yes,

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Speaker 2: I'm nervous about that because there's something on the other

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Speaker 2: side of that that I care.

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Speaker 1: I care about connection. I do care about what other

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Speaker 1: people think of me, whether they're going to like me.

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Speaker 2: This is all natural. So here's my invitation to you

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Speaker 2: for this week. Instead of jumping automatically to a label,

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Speaker 2: just feel what you feel. Take some time to connect

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Speaker 2: with that feeling. The challenge with this is trying not

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Speaker 2: to judge it in any way, allow yourself to just be,

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Speaker 2: and then you can ask what is on the other

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Speaker 2: side of this feeling?

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Speaker 1: What is my desire?

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Speaker 2: Is a desire to add value, a desire to do well,

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Speaker 2: a desire for connection, And what is this feeling trying

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Speaker 2: to tell me?

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Speaker 1: You know, in my case, it's telling me prepare practice.

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Speaker 2: Maybe it's telling the students to put the work in

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Speaker 2: and study.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: It might be telling you to take some time out

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Speaker 2: and do something that's enjoyable for you, or maybe it's

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Speaker 2: telling you to have an early night. There's just so

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Speaker 2: many messages that these feelings can tell us. And then

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Speaker 2: it's what do I need to do right now? Because

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Speaker 2: the truth is the only reason we get nervous before

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Speaker 2: something big is that we care. We give a damn

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Speaker 2: and that's not a weakness, that's commitment, that's heart. So

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Speaker 2: let's stop using the word anxiety as an umbrella term

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Speaker 2: and let's start getting curious. Feel how you feel, stay human,

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Speaker 2: and focus on what you care about, and then show.

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Speaker 1: Up for that.

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Speaker 2: So thank you so much for listening. I'm just so

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Speaker 2: full of gratitude for everybody that chunes in every Monday

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Speaker 2: or whatever day you choose to tune into the Mojo

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Speaker 2: Monday episodes. I just really really appreciate it. Have a

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Speaker 2: great week, and I'll catch you next week.

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Speaker 1: So yeah,