How to Have a Successful Career While Living With Anxiety

Living with anxiety can make everything feel a little bit more difficult. However, it is still possible to thrive in every area of your life. Here are some tips for career success if you deal with anxiety.

Create a Better Balance

Managing anxiety means not letting anyone area of your life dominate everything else. This requires you to find a balance between your work life and your mental health. Letting your mental health suffer while you try to get ahead at work will only lead to more anxiety.

Try to have clear lines between your work life and your home life, and create boundaries that keep them separate. Make sure you still have time to work out, eat well and practice meditation to help manage your anxiety. This will help you succeed in every area of your life by calming your inner turmoil. Don’t let your career take so much of your time that self-care disappears.

Consider a Different Career

Some careers are not a great fit for those who suffer with anxiety. You need to find a career you are passionate about that doesn’t cause your anxiety to go into overdrive. If you suffer from social anxiety, you probably don’t need to work in a crowded building where you never have time alone. Lack of opportunities to decompress without someone else around can increase your anxiety.

There are several other environmental factors that can contribute to social anxiety disorders. Yelling co-workers, bosses who bully or an environment that reinforces negative gender roles can cause your social anxiety to feel unmanageable. Be careful about what career you choose and what kind of work environment you expose yourself to at the office.

Find Support

You may be reluctant to talk to your boss about struggling with anxiety. It’s common for people to worry that these conversations will make them appear weak or unable to cope with a job. However, you do need support to know that you are not alone.

If you don’t want to seek support at work, find a support group or therapist outside of your career to help you cope. Outside support can positively help you professionally because it will show you constructive ways to deal with your anxiety when it flairs. It will also give you a place to go for advice when you have work-related stress that feels overwhelming.

Anxiety doesn’t have to keep you from a successful career. Use appropriate techniques to make sure your mental health struggles don’t stop you from thriving in the workplace.

For more great career advice, attend one of our great workshops or contact me for a free “Get To Know Me” session to discuss how personal coaching can support you.