How to Let Go of What You Can’t Control & Redirect Your Energy

If you feel a sense of overwhelm, dread, or uncertainty right now, you need to hear this episode.

Right now, so many things are out of your control – whether it’s global events, elections, a health diagnosis, or news you’re waiting on.

In today’s deeply personal episode, Mel is sharing her best tools to deal with overthinking and negative thoughts. 

Your worries are stealing the joy and peace you deserve. 

And by the time you finish listening, you’ll feel more calm, grounded, and ready to handle whatever challenge comes your way.

What should you listen to next? Check out this episode about a powerful tool you can use to start every morning strong, no matter what is happening around you: Start Strong: Do This Every Morning to Get Out of Bed, Beat Anxiety, and Feel Incredible All Day

Connect with Mel:

• Watch the episodes on YouTube
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• Disclaimer

‍In this episode:

• 4:58: The intense dread Mel felt 35,000 feet over Iceland. 
• 12:37: The power of letting go: how to surrender what you can’t control.
• 17:02: Need calm? Try this simple breathing technique.
• 24:13: How to  find strength in what you can control.
• 32:58: The truth about worry: why 85% of your fears never happen.
• 37:46: Understand dread: what it’s doing to your body and how to stop it.
• 40:59: Coach yourself through dread with this self-talk strategy.
• 44:16: Showing up and staying present to take control of difficult moments.
• 50:47: Take stock of your life: why a personal check-in matters.
• 53:33: Let dread be a wake-up call.
• 57:47: Mel’s advice on conquering dread when life gets heavy.
• 1:09:41: You are not meant to constantly feel dread. 

‍Resources:

• Behaviour Research and Therapy: Exposing Worry’s Deceit: Percentage of Untrue Worries in Generalized Anxiety Disorder Treatment
• UC Berkeley: Seven Ways to Cope with Uncertainty
• American Psychological Association: 10 tips for dealing with the stress of uncertainty
• Speaking of Psychology: How to cope with political stress this election season, with Brett Q. Ford, PhD, and Kevin Smith, PhD
• Cell Reports Medicine: Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal‍
• The Decision Lab: What is the Negativity Bias?‍
• Headspace: Election Anxiety‍
• Better Health: How to deal with change and uncertainty‍
• Cognitive Therapy and Research: Intolerance of Uncertainty as a Transdiagnostic Mechanism of Psychological Difficulties: A Systematic Review of Evidence Pertaining to Causality and Temporal Precedence‍
• Centre for Clinical Observations: Accepting Uncertainty‍
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: The habenula encodes negative motivational value associated with primary punishment in humans‍
• Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews: The nature and neurobiology of fear and anxiety: State of the science and opportunities for accelerating discovery‍
• Forbes: How To Cope With Uncertainty At Work‍
• Pew Research Center: Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Say Dating Has Gotten Harder for Most People in the Last 10 Years‍
• Helpguide.org: Coping with a Life-Threatening Illness or Serious Health Event
• ‍Johns Hopkins Medicine: What is seasonal affective disorder?