9 Signs You Have Anxiety (Without Realising It)

For the longest time I told myself “I don’t have anxiety”…

It’s not something you want to identify with or label yourself with.

However, the truth is everyone experiences anxiety, it’s a natural human condition.

In some cases, it’s good to have a bit of anxiety.

It can help you think sharp and move quickly.

But if it goes unmanaged and becomes a problem in “normal” life, then it’s worth fixing.

Anxiety is kinda like a thermostat.

• Some people are on the hot end.
• Some people are on the cold end.

But we’re all on there somewhere.

I always tell the business owners and professionals I work with, it’s not about completely eliminating anxiety…

It’s about learning to get it under control so you’re not afraid of it anymore.

You’re the master of anxiety, not the other way around. That’s the goal.

Once you get this level of mental mastery, it opens you up to limitless possibilities of what the mind is capable of doing.

That’s when you can launch into a life without the limits of stress anxiety.

If you’re not sure whether or not your anxiety is worth addressing, here are 9 signs you have anxiety (without realising it).

1. You overthink everything.

If you’re constantly in your head, overthinking everything and thinking about little things you feel are important but if you zoom out, they’re really not.

You go around in circles worrying about “what that person said” or “what this person did”.

Maybe you’re thinking about what you did or didn’’t do…

You’re constantly doubting yourself and expecting the worst case scenario to play out.

That’s a sure sign you’re an anxious person.

2. You’re controlling (even if you won’t admit it).

When it comes to your partner, your money, your kids, your food, your work, your clients or anything else in your life, you’re controlling and micro-managing.

You probably don’t like to admit it or maybe you flat out deny that this is how you are but it you were to be really honest with yourself, you’d see it pretty clearly.

Take a step back and ask yourself, am I trying to bend situations with my preferences? If the answer is yes, you’re showing anxious tendencies.

3. You struggle to let go of the past.

Holding on to memories of the past? What they did? What you did? What you didn’t do that you feel you should have done?

Carrying the weight of guilt and shame that comes along with your regrets?

This is no way to live.

It’s a sign that you haven’t learned to accept yourself and process your unresolved issues.

Anxious people tend to hold on tightly and they usually struggle to let go.

Learning to let go can be the triggering mechanism that allows you to create a life of freedom.

4. You’re easily frustrated and emotionally reactive.

Snapping at your partner? Snapping at your kids? 

Feeling impatient, frustrated or downright angry?

This has nothing to do with your partner or kids and it has everything to do with your unresolved emotional trauma from childhood.

Your partner and kids are just the mirrors who are reflecting that back to you now.

It’s a gift that they’re giving you these reflections especially when you learn to manage your emotional triggers properly.

I have a free training you can try for processing unresolved emotional issues... You can click here to try it out.

5. You get stuck in negative thought spirals.

You wake up and you’re instantly bombarded with negative thoughts, stress builds and you start the day with this intense feeling of pressure.

You start to get stuck into work, you get distracted from the underlying issues but then night time rolls around and you’re struggling to switch off because the mental chatter is firing up again.

For some people this starts to mess with their sleep which only adds to the mental exhaustion, tiredness and fatigue.

If this gets left uncheck it can snowball into other physical symptoms of anxiety (but that’s a conversation for a different blog).

To put it simply, negative thought spirals are a clear indication of anxiety.

One of the biggest problems we have as a society is that we’ve started to normalise all of this and we actually expect to live like this… it’s a sad reality.

6. You live on a rollercoaster of intense highs and lows.

One day you’re flying high, the next day you’re in the pits of dread and despair.

There’s no balance and it’s a constant back and forth.

This is actually a normal part of life.

Everyone experiences highs and lows, but if they’re intense and you never know when they’re going to come up and blindside you, that becomes a problem.

We want to learn how to reduce the intensity of the highs and lows so they become manageable and don’t lead to sickness or poor health outcomes.

7. You don’t believe a peaceful life is possible.

Some of you don’t even believe peace, calm and a balanced life is possible.

You’re so bought into the hustle culture that you think burn out, tiredness, anxiety and exhaustion are part of the package.

Everyone else is experiencing the same thing so it must be normal right?

There’s a famous indian spiritual teacher from the 18th century named Jiddu Krishnamurti who has this incredible quote:

“It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society” - Jiddu Krishnamurti

Which ties in nicely with the next point.

8. You’ve normalised unhealthy levels of stress.

What is “normal”? 

It depends who you ask and in what part of the world you live.

In the west, we have adopted an idea of “normal” that includes constant stress, work pressure, rising mental health issues, increasing rates of suicide, broken families and addiction.

Do you think that’s normal?

If you do, it’s a clear sign you’re living with anxiety.

9. You’ve got addictive tendencies (phone, porn, drink etc)

Finally, we come to the topic of addiction.

Most people will categorise anxiety, addiction or depression as separate issues but I see them as mere symptoms of the same cause problem.

• An unhealthy society.
• A confused population.
• A lack of purpose and direction.

I run a coaching program called “Anxiety to Alignment”.

It’s a cool name but it’s not just a name.

I believe it encapsulates the real problem we’re facing.

It’s a total misalignment in the way we’re living our lives.

At some point we took a wrong turn, we started to put value in things that have no value. 

We got sucked into coping mechanisms instead of facing ourselves honestly.

We try to fill holes within ourselves instead of feeling what we need to feel.

We started to prioritise our lives based on what we think we “should” do instead of what our heart would really “love” to do.

This is a slippery slope and until we learn to hold ourselves to a higher standard, nothing will change.

We have to take accountability for our lives, we need to back ourselves and we need to become the people who can live happy and healthy lives.

If any of these points resonated with you and you think you may be struggling with anxiety without even realising it, I’d be happy to provide some guidance and accountability.

There’s a couple of ways you can work with me: 

1. You can join the Mind Launch Membership and get access to our self-paced Healing Series + Anxiety to Alignment course.

2. You can hire me as your private 1:1 mindset coach to overcome anxiety and master your mindset by booking a 15-min clarity call.

I look forward to helping you get your life back on track.

With Optimism,

Josh