first, we make the beast beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety

Try a Think Week. Microsoft’s Bill Gates has one every six months. He extracts himself from his chino-wearing Silicon Valley brethren and heads to a wee cabin on a hill, eliminating all distractions.

Uge tells me that we then feel where our inside peeps are at. Try saying to yourself, as he does, ‘Are we good? Are we comfortable? Is this where we should be? Is it making sense?’ ‘Don’t think or plan in this space, just check in,’ he says. Then let stuff happen.

‘Asking for advice is a red flag.’ She works to green versus red flags. A red flag tells her that she’s heading in the wrong direction, that’s she in the wrong mindset and needs to stop and get a grip.

That said, I do have one trick that I play with a bit. It accesses a sneaky portal to the gut. I flip a coin. But before I uncover it, I monitor my emotions to see what I’m hoping the result will be. There it is, my gut decision, peeking through my head clutter. This technique tricks you into thinking some divine intervention

It was when a friend confided that she couldn’t run her fashion styling business without seeing a therapist every week that I was reminded of a sensible commitment I’d made back when I first went my own way at twenty-seven. I’d promised myself I’d get help if I needed it again.

I rise at 6am. Non-negotiable. And drink hot water and lemon. I attend to ablutions. Then I slide straight into sneakers and move. I keep a bucket by my door with one pair of running shoes, one sports bra, one pair of green shorts. Every day (non-negotiable) I put on my one outfit (no room for faffing over what I’ll wear) and get out the door. I’ll

That’s the thing with my important life moments, they always seem to emerge slowly, like a Polaroid picture.

Turns out Chalmers went on to become a leading disrupter in consciousness research.

Louise Hay told me when we met, ‘The first hour of your day is crucial.’ She starts by thanking her bed for the sleep (!), stretches, has tea, then goes back to bed to read. Because she likes it. She even made a great bed-head so she can be at the best angle to read.

But it gets worse, you see. We then try to cope by revving up the angst, don’t we? We use coffee and fast-speak and sugar and staying back at work longer. We grind harder. Try harder. Think harder. We should be able to work our way through this. We think this is what will fire us up out of our funk and get us back on our game. It’s a self-perpetuat