Conquer Anxiety in 3 Steps

You ever feel like life is collapsing around you? The tension at work, self-doubts in private, worries of the future - all threaten to drown us in turmoil.

I admit I’ve been under a lot of stress recently. I’ve worked nonstop expanding my company and building Mind Map Nation while grappling with new health issues. There have been tons of challenges in all areas, and most recently, AI has me wondering if I’ll be replaced soon.

The picture is far from perfect, but it’s also very human. I knew I needed to Mind Map everything out. Otherwise, I’ll never untangle the chaos and continue to be paralyzed by uncertainty and indecision.

Today, I’ll show you how I mapped out my worries in 3-steps and transformed them into clearly prioritized actions. By the end of this walkthrough, you’ll have a much better idea of the nature of your own worries, how they’re all connected to each other, and have an action plan with a timeline to start addressing them.

The Mind Map Advantage

Mind mapping is about developing a mindset of deconstruction and systems thinking. It’s effective because everything, no matter how complex, can be broken down into its simpler parts that we can then manage more effectively with less stress. That includes our personal worries.

At the same time, we have to keep the whole picture in mind. As you’ll see in my example, I start off by separating “Personal” from the “Professional”. But by the end of the process, I have a complete, holistic view of how everything is connected.

This is critical to truly understanding our life’s chaos and crafting a plan to deal with it.

Note that some of the elements of the mind map may be hard to read on a mobile screen, so I’ve included a PDF version here. If you’re interested in how I put together this map from scratch, check out this week’s “map with me” video. 👇

The Template

Let’s start with the template. What I like to do before mind mapping everything is to write the question I’m trying to answer in the middle of the page as the central node. In this case, it’s: “What am I worried about?”

I then expand out in sub-nodes: the different major categories that make up the question. “Personal” and “Professional” will capture the vast majority of the things that most people worry about.

The “Other” category is a catch all node since the advantage of using a mind map is that we can just jot down whatever comes to mind in a nonlinear fashion. We don't have to worry about the sequence or priority. If you think of something, just branch it out from the most relevant node.

Finally I've got “Factors”. This node includes reminders, values, routines, and stuff that aren't exactly worries, but they can influence what's on my plate.

The 3-Step Process: From Worries to Order

Step 1: Expand Your Worries

Step 1 is to expand out all the elements for each category. We are aiming for a bird’s eye view of everything. This is where we offload what’s on our minds and begin the process of de-stressing and untangling chaos before addressing each component.

On the “Professional” side, I’m worried about the impact of AI on my career as creator, managing Mind Map Nation (MMN), being a good boss to my team, diving into new social media channels, and building a content creation system. I’m also launching a podcast and learning new tools like Logseq.

On the “Personal side”, I’m worried about my health (acid reflux, high blood pressure/ cholesterol), moving to Los Angeles, and relationship challenges with Olivia.

Under “Other”, there’s the stress of tax season and managing finances as a business. “Factors” to remember include maintaining a routine, being responsive to the community, focusing on content frequency and exponential growth, guarding my focus and stillness, and embracing a "less is more" mindset.

Step 2: Solutions & Connections

Step 2 is to map out and expand the solutions and connections. So you’ll notice for this step. I like using a red colored pen for contrast, so I can see the map’s “meta” layer at a glance.

You’ll notice that I have several arrows going to and from certain nodes. This is to understand how various elements are connected. The biggest problem with dealing with worries is that everything seems to be one big messy bundle. By slowing things down, expanding out the complexities, and then drawing the connections between them, we start to identify some cause and effect relationships as well as feedback loops (more on this later).

This is what I call having a holistic or whole understanding of the bigger picture, which will help us prioritize which parts of this map we want to tackle first. Because sometimes we’ll discover that there are certain actions that we can take that will have outsized effect on the rest of our worries.

To address my concerns with AI, I remind myself to lean into change by seeing AI as a tool, for instance using OtterAI for transcription and GPT as a copilot in mind mapping and learning new topics. For Mind Map Nation, I focus on gathering feedback and retaining current members. For my team, I look into batch processing and assigning clear roles. For content creation, I prioritize building my second brain via Logseq.

On the personal side, I focus on adopting a healthier diet and meal prepping, setting a timeline for my move from San Francisco to LA, and improving my relationship with Olivia through therapy, quality time, and setting boundaries for other social obligations.

💡 Quick note: Feedback Loops

In the arrow drawing process, I pay special attention to identifying feedback loops. Feedback loops are the connections between nodes that create a cycle of mutual reinforcement, where one action has ripple effects on other areas of the map. By recognizing these feedback loops, I can optimize my efforts and prioritize actions that yield the most positive impact.

For instance, improving MMN engagement might lead to an increase in the quality and volume of my YouTube videos, which could then result in more people signing up for my newsletter and being exposed to the community, which drives further MMN growth. This growth, in turn, might provide more feedback and ideas for future content, thus creating a virtuous cycle.

Once I’ve identified these feedback loops, I use them to guide my decision-making and prioritize tasks that will have the most significant impact across multiple areas of concern. By focusing on these high-leverage actions, I can achieve more substantial progress and positive change in both my personal and professional life. Additionally, being aware of feedback loops helps me stay motivated and committed to my goals, as I can see the interconnectedness of my efforts and their potential to create meaningful, long-lasting improvements.

For especially complex maps like this, I’ll sometimes use a third colored pen (green) for further clarification and connection.

Here I’ve starred “Routine is key!” because it helps me show up in my best form and batch my content creation AND carves out quality time with Olivia. By establishing healthy evening and morning routines, I can improve both my professional and personal life, which makes this a critical area to develop.

Overall, this mind map helps me understand the connections between my worries and prioritize where I should invest my time and efforts.

Step 3: Action Plan & Timeline

Step 3 is to create a new mind map that mirrors what we’ve already made. I like to use multiple mind maps as a distillation process, which is why this new map is far cleaner than the first one.

The first map just a brain dump. After I have all the elements laid out, made the connections and annotations, I’ll make a new map that only focuses on the insights that I got from the first one.

This is where I can brainstorm solutions to each area of worry. If I want to make things more actionable, I’ll also put down a timeline. For example, do I want to implement some of these actions this week, next week, or later this month? Generally, I should do the highest priorities items sooner.

For instance, this week’s actions should be sending out feedback surveys to MMN members and starting the routine I outlined. Over the next two weeks, I need to onboard my new team members, do couples therapy, finish the Logseq course and begin building my second brain knowledge base. In the next month, I’ll experiment with a new short video series, launch my podcast, and research AI tools.

Once I have this schedule in mind, I then have the option to use productivity tools like 2-Week Sprints, To-do Mind Maps, and Notion to structure, execute and track my progress. The point, however, is to know why I’m doing these things and how they tie back to reducing my worries.

Of course, sometimes the best thing to do is simply to give yourself a “No Agenda Day” and just fully unwind.

If this Mind Map technique piques your interest, here’s the in-depth tutorial.

How do you untangle what's on your mind? Leave a comment below 👇