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.

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

‘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.

I often feel anxious. But if I pause and reflect, I realise it could equally be excitement that I’m feeling.

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

And when we veer or we deviate from the truth, anxiety steps in and forcibly tells us ‘Wrong Way Go Back’.

It’s like when I have to motivate myself to do exercise when my inflammation, or my anxiety, flares and it hurts to even think about leaving the house. Gentle movement has been shown to help both. I know this. I have to do the work on this one, despite the pain entailed.

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