Overcoming Anxiety: Program Overview
This program is set up to enable you to transform your body, but even more importantly this program was built to drastically transform or renew your mind by submitting it to truth, God, rigorous discipline, and challenges.
The way that you view life, situations, and eternity is directly connected to how you feel.
Here is a secular doctor’s view on the reason for anxiety,
“You have to interpret a situation and give it meaning before you can feel worried or nervous about it. This idea has tremendous practical importance, because when you change the way you think, you change the way you feel… distorted thoughts, not realistic ones, cause anxiety.”
I would say most anxious responses come from a mind that neglects the existence, presence, and goodness of God.
I also believe that if a person also does not see their value and what they are capable of in this life with God that they cannot help but submit to anxious thinking and persistent worry.
This program seeks to be the solution to both of these root issues by soaking the mind in truth on a daily basis and by setting forth a worthy challenge to show that you are capable of great things and can be strong and disciplined and confident!
Read below for the daily habits I would suggest committing to in order to remove the factors causing your anxiety.
I believe you can do it! Consistency will be hard, but seek to do everything well and give yourself grace in the times when life gets in the way.
New Habits
Read
This activity will not only shape your mind to view reality properly (which is crucial for those with anxiety), it will also set your mind on God who is the one who heals, who cares for you, and who’s existence must be acknowledged and revered in order to have genuine peace and overall well-being.
Pray
Practicing prayer, teaching the mind to settle and focus on God when overwhelmed, interacting with God Himself, asking Him for help and giving thanks for what He has done, will decrease stress, increase your ability to focus, increase your mental clarity, and promote overall well-being by reminding and assuring you of the presence of God.
Night Routine
Those who get poor sleep are more likely to have issues with anxiety and those with anxiety tend to have issues falling asleep. Build a night routine and create a proper sleep environment that will help you get a good nights rest to aid in both recovering from your workouts and decreasing stress – potentially decreasing your anxiety.
"Dopamine Fast"
Scrolling through social media, consuming video after video on Youtube, or binging the newest show, though fun, leads to coping mechanisms that leave you ineffective in handling stress and anxiety. It also provides an unnatural stimulus to the brain that leads to lows that bring you down. There are two options I will suggest below that you can choose to try out.
Exercise/Eat Well
Numerous studies state that obesity/being out of shape is linked with anxiety disorders. Your food choices also play a role in healthy moods and energy. Setting specific rules for how you will eat that limits junk food and sugar and promotes nutritious food and hydration will give your brain the proper fuel to conquer the day and function as it should.
Reading/Prayer
For this daily habit the only thing you need to do is to come back to the website each day.
Each day I will provide a devotional that tackles a certain topic. This is where you step onto the spiritual and mental battlegrounds.
I want you to read through the passages that I give you from the Bible first and then either read or watch the videos provided for whatever day of the program you are on (if you watch the videos, I recommend also skimming through whatever I write just in case I miss something as this is the first time I am not used to speaking to a camera.)
Next, there will be a list of questions, prayer suggestions, and a verse to memorize and ponder.
I know it could be tempting to skip over this portion, but please trust that everything in this program has an important purpose to help you.
Do all of this slowly and really ponder everything in your heart. Write down the things that speak to you the most. Perhaps even seek to talk to somebody else about it!
I say this because my words do not have any magical effects on you, but reflection and meditation upon any truth contained in this program will reshape the mind to be at peace.
Lastly, do not neglect remembering that this time of reading and prayer is ultimately in this program to give you time with God Himself. As a believer you can and should communicate with Him throughout the reading, watching, questioning, memorizing, and training portions of this program.
This relationship with Him is the most important piece to attaining peace. I encourage you to keep tabs on your emotions throughout the day and when you come close to overwhelm, find a way to withdraw, speak to God about it, give thanks, and then move forward with your day – your faithfulness here will not go unnoticed.
Begin a Night Routine
How can you get 7-8 hours of quality sleep?
To sleep well you need to unwind, set up an environment conducive to good sleep, and aim to sleep around the same time each night.
Here are a set of tips to promote the best sleep:
- Commit to a time where all technology will be turned off in order to avoid blue light at least an hour before sleep. Blue light suppresses melatonin which promotes sleep.
- Commit to at least one activity that you do every night before bed that promotes relaxation. You could drink an herbal tea, relax your mind and pray to God, giving Him thanks for the good that happened in the day, journaling, etc.
- Set your thermostat to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Block out as much light as you can from your room.
- Find a way to have the room as silent as possible or use white noise to keep certain sounds from waking you up during the night.
- You want your room to be a place of relaxation. I would also add not to do work in your room if you can avoid it, or at least on your bed, so your brain knows this is a place for sleep.
"Dopamine Fast"
I notice that whenever I consume video after video of youtube without any sort of regulation that I struggle with slowing my mind down and focusing. When soaking in so much information every day the brain seems to lose its ability to quiet itself. I also find myself thinking about other things instead of the present moment which has been proven to have negative consequences on a person’s sense of well-being.
So, I would recommend joining me in cutting out youtube if you’d like. For the duration of the program, I will not watch youtube and will only use it to respond to comments/interact with people. I believe I have other forms of mindless media under control, so that is why I am focusing on this one.
You don’t need to watch the youtube videos I upload to follow this program since I have everything you need posted on this website. But, if you want to participate in “dopamine fasting” but find the videos helpful, you could watch them, but commit to not watching anything else or you could commit to allowing yourself access to social medias only during one part of the day. This will help you keep a healthy limit on your consumption. I believe we should be people that create and produce good things with our time instead of constantly consuming what other people put out.
Exercise and Nutrition
While I have studied a lot, I am not an expert in these categories. My goal, as I go through this program, is to find a set of dietary rules that makes weight loss nearly effortless. I have two suggestions, one that I am trying now and one that I am going to use later.
Set simple rules that limit your consumption of unhealthy food without completely eliminating the chance of eating out or celebrating. These are my rules:
No desserts unless I am offered something by somebody who is not a family member within my household.
The only snacks I can have are whey protein, greek yogurt, fruits, or cottage cheese.
I will not eat out anywhere unless invited by somebody who is not a family member within my household. (I do want to note that my wife works at Chipotle and is able to bring a meal back every day, if it seems to be messing with my progress then I will cut this meal out later. Right now, I can’t afford to deny this meal as it saves us a lot of money.)
As I evaluate my progress, I may add more rules, so keep an eye out. But my thought process at the moment is, “If I can get into shape with minimal restrictions, why would I add more restrictions that could hinder my consistency?
What rules may help you avoid the overconsumption of unhealthy foods?
The workouts I do will be listed out daily for you, in case you would like to follow along.
While I have normal gym workouts and cardio listed out each day. I also encourage to keep up with these activities which require movement to keep your mind at peace and to keep you moving during the day.
- Wash the dishes.
- Make sure every room is clean and order.
- Pick a room to sweep or vacuum.
- Do laundry (may not be needed every day).
- Take out the trash.
- Mow the lawn once a week (if applicable).
- Hang out with a friend or family member by going on a walk.
I want to keep track of strength gains but I also hate doing the same thing in the gym every week, so the approach will change on a weekly basis.
This will strengthen your mind and body to endure stress. Every time you go to the gym you also tell your mind that you are capable of doing hard things and as you succeed in your goals you will learn that you are capable of success.
Commit to getting into shape in order to glorify God with how you treat your body, celebrate the small victories, and you will be set up to be very confident that you and God can accomplish great things together!
Don’t settle for mediocrity in any area of your life!
Here is a preview of the issues causing your anxiety and 6 solutions side by side. Notice there are more solutions than problems! (The numbers by the solutions shows which root issue it can “cure”)
ROOTS OF ANXIETY | SOLUTIONS |
1. Lack of Control | Learn of God’s Sovereignty and Power – 1 |
2. Dwelling on Negativity | Dwell on what is good – 2 |
3. Persistent Sin | Take Steps of Obedience – 3 |
4. Insecurity/Performance-Based Lifestyle | Have an Identity in Christ – 4 |
| Embrace the Gospel Truth – 1,2,3,4 |
| Gain an Eternal Perspective – 1,2,3,4 |
Feel free to email me at disciplinedfaith9@gmail.com with topic “Program Questions” if you have any questions. Also feel free to message me if you have any suggestions to make the program better and more helpful!