Stopping the Noise in Your Head: the New Way to Overcome Anxiety and Worry

Stopping the Noise addresses how worry can be an important asset when it forces our attention on problem-solving. But anxious worrying can cause us to unnecessarily focus on threat, to retreat and avoid, and to seek reassurance and safety—which is no way to foster a life of growth and excitement. In his fifth published book, Dr. Wilson proposes a groundbreaking, paradoxical
approach to overcoming anxiety and worry by moving away from comfort, confidence, and security and willingly moving toward uncertainty, distress and discomfort. Through the use of unconventional strategies, readers will learn how to confront anxiety head-on and step forward into the face of threat. Drawing on a range of sources—from firefighters and fitness instructors to Sir Isaac Newton and Muhammad Ali—Stopping the Noise in Your Head demonstrates the importance of shifting our perspective and stepping toward our challenges in order to regain control of our lives.
Stopping the Noise in Your Head focuses on how to move into action while your mind and body are signaling you to back away. Reid encourages you to address the “noise pollution” in your head by determining if the issue is a Signal or is only Noise. A Signal is any legitimate worry that requires problem solving. Noise, on the other hand, reflects any thoughts that are irrelevant, irritating, unproductive, and repetitive. Reid’s solution involves a four-stage process. Step Back refers to your ability to gain perspective in the moment of distress. The most provocative move—Want It—emphasizes your decision to voluntarily seek out what you fear. Step Forward encourages you to move toward your task with this new point of view. Finally, Be Cunning instructs you how to be as clever as your challenger, Anxiety. According to Dr. Wilson, the most important tactic is willingly moving toward the fear: “To get stronger, you must take on tasks while you simultaneously doubt that you can manage them. Want to tackle challenges; seek out the tough encounters. That’s the attitude that will give you power.”