The Perfect Day: Guided Activity for Anxious Teens and Adults
Anxiety help in St. Louis for people with anxious minds.
People with anxiety often get caught up in what-ifs, like, “What if this terrible thing happens,” or “What if so-and-so is mad at me.” “What if I get a bad grade on this test,” or “What if I lose,” or “What if my life stinks forever?”
There’s a flip side when it comes to what-if-ing yourself. What if everything works out? What if everything is great? What if that thing you thought would be tough is easy?
Our brain is naturally primed to think about worst case scenarios, so it’s helpful to instead think through best-case scenarios.
None of us can see into the future. Something bad could happen, but something awesome could happen, too.
Anxious minds like to catastrophize in an attempt to protect us.
Thinking through all the bad potentials is your brain’s way of trying to keep you safe - but it’s not actually thaat helpful.
Anxious minds can catastrophize waaay into the future, like how our anxiety spirals start with one small worry and turn into this huge, life-ruining premonition.
(Read more: Perfectionism and the Anxiety Spiral)
Positively visualizing your future self is flipping the script. What if everything works out? What if you meet all of your goals? What if you take these skills that you’ve learned and you apply them more often than not?
When Anxiety Makes You Angry
In my self-help book for teens, the final chapter puts all of the skills together and works you through what life could look like if everything goes the way you want it to. Rather than catastrophizing, you let your brain visualize the best possible outcome. What if everything goes right? What if you learn to manage your anxiety and anger and overwhelm in a really helpful way?
Setting the Scene: Get Relaxed
As you sit in your seat, taking some deep breaths, really feel yourself sink into your body. Close your eyes for 5 more slow, deep breaths.
When you're ready - your body feels calm, and your mind feels clear - let's begin.
Imagine you’re waking up, one morning, on your perfect day. This day could be a month from now, or a year from now, or even five years from now. This is the kind of day that you know is going to leave you feeling happy and fulfilled. This is the kind of day that may not be remarkable, or have something exciting happen, or be filled with notable events - it could be just a totally normal day. But it's your perfect day regardless.
Take a moment to sit in this space. And then, ask yourself some questions (if you’d like to write down your answers, grab your copy of this free printable over here!)
Your Perfect Day:
How far in the future is this perfect day?
As you wake up, what is the first feeling that you notice?
What's the first thing that you do?
As you get ready for your day, what do you make sure to include? Do you eat a particular breakfast? Complete a particular task?
As you head out, where are you going?
Once you get there, what feelings do you notice?
Watch yourself interacting with others during this day. What do you see in your interactions with other people?
As you continue throughout your day, where else do you go?
What activities do you do?
Who do you interact with, and what feelings do you notice?
Even on a perfect day, there might be some stressors. If you were to face a challenge, how would you react on your perfect day?
Picture yourself heading home, near the end of your day. When do you get there? What's the first thing you do?
Who do you see at home?
What do you eat?
What do you do next?
As you wrap up, what do you do to get ready for bed?
Laying in bed, at the end of your perfect day, what do you notice?
Looking back on this perfect day, what are two things you can do, right now, to get you closer to this ideal?
You may not be experiencing your perfect day at this moment, but you can take small steps to get closer to it, right now.
It may be as simple as waking up earlier to go for a walk, learning how to cook some food in your dorm room, or signing up for a yoga class. Or, it might be scheduling a consultation with a local therapist to talk about receiving anxiety therapy.
If you’re anxiety is constantly telling you things will be bad, let’s take the time to train your brain to think about what could be good, and what is actually achievable.
Your brain is a powerful tool for change.
So let’s change what we can.
Kelsey Torgerson Dunn is the author of When Anxiety Makes You Angry.
Curious to hear more about our therapy approach? You can schedule a free phone consultation right on our website, or email us at hello@compassionatecounselingstl.com
Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is located in Clayton, MO. We specialize in anxiety and anger management therapy for kids, teens, and college students, from age 4 on up. We work with families throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Couer, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood.
