# @iamshaunspencer on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DbJ_AguifJR
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68663255-iamshaunspencer-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/7e9d79b3a9.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-07-24T00:46:04.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Shaun Spencer (@iamshaunspencer) — https://gondola.cc/iamshaunspencer

## Caption

For a long time, the standard advice for anxiety has been to calm it down, quiet it, get back to baseline as fast as possible. And I understand why, because anxiety feels uncomfortable and nobody wants to sit in that feeling longer than they have to. But somewhere in all that calming down, we skipped a step. We never stopped to ask what the anxiety was actually saying and why it was activating in the first place.

What Anxiety Is Telling You:
When anxiety activates, it's telling you that something matters to you enough to feel the stakes of it, whether that's a test, a big moment at work, a conversation you've been avoiding, or a performance you're about to walk into. It's telling you your attention needs to sharpen right now, because your mind is already scanning for what could go wrong. It's telling you where the pressure actually is, so you know exactly what to prepare for instead of guessing. It's also telling you that you care about the results, which is not a small thing to know about yourself.

The strategy: 
The next time anxiety shows up, before you try to talk yourself down, ask what it's pointing at. What is it trying to show you. Listen for what its trying to tell you, instead of rushing to shut it off. That single shift, from silencing the signal to reading it, is the whole starting point of learning to perform through pressure instead of being stopped by it.

If this is something you're working through with your own kids, your students, or your team, I'd love to hear how it shows up for you. Drop a comment below.
#anxiety #spencerperformanceinstitute #performanceanxiety #comparisonsanxiety #Socialanxiety

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 4
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

anxiety, performanceanxiety, socialanxiety, comparisonsanxiety, spencerperformanceinstitute

---
Copyright (c) Gondola