Calm Skills

Present-tense action

12 min

Intention

Trade rehearsal of disaster for one action that belongs to this hour.

The skill

Anxiety loves the future tense. Coaching answers with a verb you can finish: send, rinse, walk, ask, close. The action does not have to solve the whole problem. It has to return you to authorship.

Practice now

Write the feared headline. Under it, write one 10-minute action that would still be useful if the headline never happens. Do that action now. Stop when the timer ends, even if it is imperfect.

Reflection

What did finishing a small action do to the size of the fear?

Micro-habit: When worry spikes, ask: what is the 10-minute verb?

From 0–10, how much authorship do you feel over the next hour?

5 / 10