Managing Anxiety as a Leader: Robyn Graham's Essential Business & Personal Strategies

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There are so many things about mental health that can impact how a person

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performs, what their quality of work is, what their quantity of work is, how

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they interact, and with a team, how they either produce or bring a team down.

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So it really is important that we have this conversation.

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Well over 50% of people in the United States have anxiety, a

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clinical diagnosis of anxiety that doesn't even include the people that

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have it and have not sought help.

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So chances are if you are in a leadership role, there's someone on

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your team who may be experiencing this or experiencing it with their child.

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How can sharing your personal story, transform your brand, and help manage

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anxiety today on seek go create.

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We're joined by Dr. Robin Graham, a business growth strategist and author of

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you, me, and Anxiety Robin specializes in integrating personal narratives into

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branding, believing that authenticity not only enhances business success,

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but also helps in coping with anxiety.

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Listen in as we discuss how embracing your true self in your brand can lead

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to not just professional triumph, also personal peace and resilience.

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Welcome, welcome to Seek.

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Go Create Robin.

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Thank you, Tim.

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That was a very lovely introduction.

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I appreciate it.

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Oh, thanks.

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we've already kinda given the preface that I might have a little

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cold here, so I'm gonna ask for some forgiveness from the audience.

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But we're gonna enjoy this conversation, just finish reading your book and you

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do business stuff and all, like I do in some ways, so I'm sure it's unique.

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We'll talk about that.

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But we really launch into all of that, why don't you answer the question

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either what do you do or who are you?

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Pick it and go ahead and answer.

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All right.

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That's a tough decision and probably you're gonna get an

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answer that's combined here.

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so who am I?

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I am a child of God.

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I love Jesus.

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And I'm a mom of three, two adult children and one teenager.

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I have two dogs.

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I am an author, a speaker.

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I am working on my a CC credentials right now for solution focused and

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neuro focused neuroscience coaching.

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So I am a woman who has my hands in many mini pots, and

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they're always being stirred.

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You ever feel like you have too much going on?

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Yeah.

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This is one of those weeks where I feel like, I am on, emotionally

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and sensory tired this week.

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You know, like there's like all of that at one time.

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Usually managing Energy's a really great gift that I have, but

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this week's been a little rough,

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Well, I've already shared with you a little bit rough for my wife and I. In

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fact, one of the things that we really.

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Purpose to do?

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Is it when we're feeling a little bit puny like we are right now

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with some little crud, we try not to make any big decisions.

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Like we were planning some travel and some things like that.

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We say, you know what, let's don't make those decisions right now.

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This is not a good time, and that's not the way we're wired.

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We just want to keep powering through, So, you know, someone would listen

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and what's odd, let's go ahead and get pseudo controversial to start off with.

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It's very often that men can have this long list of stuff and

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people don't think much about it.

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But then when women do, they kind of start getting, it seems like you got a

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lot going on Do you feel like it's a good example to be that, productive at times

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do you wonder if maybe there are people that look at you and can get intimidated?

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That's the way I'll ask it.

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Oh, you know, that's a really good question, and I think

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it's a combination of the two.

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I think it's very individual.

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I don't think we can judge what someone else gets done

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compared to what we get done.

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We're, we're all two different, or two different, multiple different people.

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We're wired differently.

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some of us are very task oriented.

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Some of us are just thought.

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You know, thought work is better for them versus the actual to-do.

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And I know for me, I'm a big to-do list check offerer, and I

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pride myself in all that I can do.

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I'm also very good about making sure I get my sleep, I make sure I get my exercise.

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Those are things people don't see.

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Right.

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Where we actually do nurture ourselves.

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And when you emphasize the things that are really important for your

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mind, body, and soul, people don't see that part, My devotions every morning

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or my, my Bible study every morning that sets the, the tone of what I'm

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gonna be able to do during the day.

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And so I, it is funny because I think people do look at other

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people and think, gosh, they get so much done and I get nothing done.

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But it's all how we use our time and it's all how we preserve our energy.

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Right?

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Yeah.

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And I, and I see, let, let's go ahead and we'll throw this into the mix.

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There are a lot of people that streaming whatever shows on Netflix, you know, and

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watching all episodes there, every sport.

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You know, we're recording this in March-ish, where there's about to be

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a bazillion college basketball games.

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And my guess is you're probably not sitting in front of television a good bit.

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No,

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barely have it.

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no.

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and what's interesting at the age we're at, I love that you brought this up 'cause

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I think this might feed into success in business and also the conversation

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about anxiety and that is of rest.

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self-care is an odd word.

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I have to be careful with that.

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Mm-hmm.

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it's more of just knowing.

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Being aware of what you can and can't do and when you need to do

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Mm-hmm.

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things like that.

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I think self-care may have been used in an odd way, but, I do think it's

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important for us to understand that.

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I used to be one of these people, Robin, that was pretty prideful

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and that's the right word to use,

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Mm-hmm.

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sleep much at night

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Mm-hmm.

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boasted about it, and that's the correct

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Mm-hmm.

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Now.

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Man, I'm loving when I can get me some good rest and sleep

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Mm-hmm.

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refreshed.

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And I'm a little bit off right now because I've been waking up in the

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middle of the night coughing some.

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Mm-hmm.

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a little fatigue, but I'm also trying not to pile on anything over the

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next few days until my body says, okay, we're a little bit better.

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Mm-hmm.

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let's go ahead and kind of get into a little bit of the conversation

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about your book with, with anxiety, which I did read by the way.

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I've got, uh, your book, you, me, and Anxiety, and I've got some

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confessions that I'll make in just a second about it that, uh, might

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make it for a fun conversation.

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how important is what you just brought up related to one item

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of anxiety and that is the rest.

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And taking care of yourself and knowing what you can and can't do.

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It matters more than anyone can imagine.

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you know, when we sleep, our body resets, our entire nervous

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system resets, and we need that.

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We're not meant to go, go, go, go, go.

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And it, I learned at a very young age, I need sleep.

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Two of my sisters and my mom can go on very little sleep.

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My other sister and I, we need our sleep.

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And, you know, if we haven't gotten it, like everything about my nervous system

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is off if I don't get enough rest.

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And so, you know, it's, and, and I think there, there is this, you know,

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time is finite, but energy is fluid.

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We can create more energy, but it's a matter of how we care

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for our mind, body, and spirit.

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And so if you're one of those people that is like an energizer bunny and can go,

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go, go, go, that's great, but eventually you're not gonna get enough time.

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Your energy might run out.

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So you have to ask yourself, okay, if I have this much time, and even if you

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were given 10 hours a day more, and you had 34 hours in a day, would you be

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able to do everything that you wanna do?

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And the answer is probably no, because you would run out of energy, right?

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So we have to balance those things.

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It's not, it's not time or energy, it's a matter of, okay, I have this much time.

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How can I manage my energy to do everything else I need to

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do and have solid relationships in that other 16 hours?

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So one thing you mentioned earlier that you were a task person

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list maker, check things off.

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My wife is that way.

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She, she does things, she will often, this is a little bit of

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a joke within our, or house.

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She'll do something and if it wasn't on the list, she'll put it on the

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list so she could check it off.

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That's slight exaggeration.

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But if she were sitting here with me, she would say, of course.

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I mean, 'cause that's how I get my

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Yeah,

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of accomplishment.

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one of the things,

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your wife.

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yeah, you would love glory.

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And when you, meet her, if you get an email from her on the bottom

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it says, you have been glorified.

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So anyway, one of the things that.

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She and I discuss, This is related to sleep.

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This is kind of a little bit of a personal question about sleep.

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She will lay down at night and her list will continue to turn in her

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head, which makes it a little bit difficult at times to fall asleep.

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Initially, I'm pretty good at laying down and I'm out now.

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I might wake up three, 4:00 AM whatever, and then I'll start

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thinking about a couple of things.

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But being a task person talking about how important sleep is, do

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those two conflict with you at all?

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With the way I just brought that up?

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So I'm very much like your wife,

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Okay.

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a notebook by my bed so that if I think of something, I can put that I don't

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have my phone by my bed, but I have a notebook by my bed so that I can, if

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something comes to mind as I'm falling asleep, or if something comes to mind

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in the middle of the night, I can put it in that notebook versus getting up.

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So it helps me get back to sleep faster.

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they talk about sleep hygiene and it's, I try to follow all of that because sleep is

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so important to me, but I read before I go to bed, so that quiets my nervous system

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just enough that I can, I can go to sleep

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Right.

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most nights stay asleep.

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So do you, do you read like an actual paper type book, or do

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you read from like a Kindle?

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You said you don't do your phone, which we, we've had discussions

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about that and unfortunately, my wife will sometimes bring her phone

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because, you know, we've got adult children and sometimes she thinks I've

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gotta gotta be available for ' em.

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I'm going, you know what, if there's an emergency, they need to call 9 1 1.

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be around in the morning.

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That's, so there's a little bit of a, that's a father versus

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mother probably conversation, but, what, what are some other things?

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I mean, I, I, I think this whole sleep conversation, which were,

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it was not on my notes anywhere, I think it's vital to a lot of success.

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Mm-hmm.

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gimme some of the other things that you do just for your sleep health, the list.

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Well,

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I think I'm doing a good bit, but I'd love to hear what you're doing.

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well, I have my nighttime routine, right?

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You know, the whole wash the va brush the teeth, or, you know, all that stuff.

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Of course, as anybody does, but it, it kind of starts where,

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you know, I go upstairs and.

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I'm done.

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When I go upstairs, everybody knows I'm done for the day.

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And sometimes my, it's a joke because I'll say, oh, I'm

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gonna go up and take a shower.

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And people are, everybody is like, is she gonna do it or is she gonna be back?

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And then I'm back and then I'm back up and then I'm back down.

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'cause I think of things so every, it's a joke in our house, but

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that's just how my brain works.

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'cause it's always going.

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But what I do is, what I like to do is my phone's put away at a certain time.

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I don't have social media apps on my phone, so I'm not tempted to go on them.

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I figure if, by seven o'clock at night, I'm done with work, nobody's emailing me.

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And if they are emailing me, it's gonna wait till the next day.

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My clients know nine to five is when they're gonna get me.

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So it's setting those boundaries.

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My family all knows after nine o'clock, don't call, don't text,

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I'm gonna be getting ready for bed.

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Doesn't mean I'm in bed at that time, but I don't want to be on my device.

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I don't want things triggering additional to-dos or whatever.

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And then when I get in bed, I do my journaling, I do my prayers

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and or a devotion and then I read.

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And that's just my time to really close out my day when I have my gratitude

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practice, which I think is an absolute necessity for me to look back on my

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day and find at least three things.

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Normally there's way more than that, that I sit and I write out.

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I thank God for everything that happened that day.

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Sometimes things weren't that great, but I learned a lesson.

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Sometimes things didn't get done and I can say yet.

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it's really putting the focus on the positive before I

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close my eyes and go to sleep.

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There.

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There there's two or three things that I love about what you just said there,

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and I'm glad I asked the question.

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One of the first things was not allowing other people's emergencies to spill over.

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years ago, I used to be a coach in the real estate space where people

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would buy and sell properties and some people would pay, and they paid a lot

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of money for me to be their coach.

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would say, can I get your cell phone number?

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This was.

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around the time smartphones were coming along, I said, no, you don't need

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my cell phone, email, or, you know, we've got a little forum and all that.

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They go, but what if I have an emergency?

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And this was my comment.

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Exactly.

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This is real estate.

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There are no emergencies in real estate.

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I'm sorry.

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If there's an emergency, you call 9 1 1.

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Well, what if I've got a deal or something?

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It'll wait till tomorrow.

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well what if I don't get it?

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That's fine.

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We weren't supposed to get it.

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so I, I love that you brought up say, you know what, I'm shutting down.

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I don't need any of these emergencies.

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I like that.

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Another thing, and this is sort of a, can't believe we're having this

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discussion about, um, showering at night.

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And I'm not sure how appropriate this is, but I used to, I

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used to be like a morning.

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Shower person, I've realized, and I track my sleep a little bit now, I do much

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Mm-hmm.

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a hot tub and or warm shower at

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Mm-hmm.

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sleep so much better.

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Mm-hmm.

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might be your rhythm, correct?

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it just completely relaxes me and sets me up for a good night's sleep.

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And then just everything from the day is gone and it's just,

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I'm resetting for the next day.

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And I think it's important to do that.

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Yeah.

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And you know, when you talked about the emergency thing too.

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I mean, having had anxiety my entire life, it's like, you know,

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there's always that concern.

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What if something happens?

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What if they can't reach me?

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if something did happen to my boys who are grown, what am I gonna do?

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They don't live with me.

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So eventually I'm gonna find out if they need our advice.

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they contact us during the daytime, we usually have touchpoints, a text

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or if we check in, throughout the day.

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But I can't spend my entire adult life worrying about.

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Somebody needing me in the middle of the night.

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If it happens, it happens, but I'm up early so there's not

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that many hours in between.

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like they're gonna miss that much.

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Yeah.

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00 PM and 5:00 AM then maybe people shouldn't have been doing

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that or something like that.

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But, I,

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I just know my limits and I know that to be the person that God's calling me

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to be a good mom, a good business person and do all the things I need my rest.

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So it's a priority.

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And I think when you talk to earlier, you asked, about the

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book and how important is that?

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Sleep is incredibly important for anyone who has anxiety.

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we all have a choice, right?

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you can have a diagnosis of anxiety.

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you can feel all of these feelings and experience all these emotions.

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And you can just continue down that path, or you can choose to adjust your lifestyle

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and adjust your habits so that they're healthy and it, you can navigate it so it

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becomes living with anxiety or, you know, having anxiety and, and suffering through

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it, to living with it, but managing it, navigating it, and loosening that rope

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of control that it's had around you.

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And it kind of feeds into something that popped in my head just now,

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and that is, I love the structure you're talking about in your life.

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And so my question related to that is, did you grow up with

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structure or is it something that you have developed over time?

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I mean, there were four of us, so my mom was a very young, as you

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know, from reading the book, a very young mom and my dad worked a lot.

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So there were, I would say we had some semblance of structure.

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Like, you know, dinner was at the same time, every day we, you

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know, got up at whatever time to go to school and stuff like that.

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it wasn't a rigid structure, but probably just enough where my body and my.

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Brain liked routine.

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I've always been very habitual, very routine oriented, so I would say that I

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had exposure to that when I was young, and then as I got older, I just knew what

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I needed and I've always adhered to that.

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Right.

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And another thing I recall from reading your story in the book there, there

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were some challenging times growing up

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Mm-hmm.

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one of the things that I've observed, is that many times chaos

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or disorder or some dysfunction

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Mm-hmm.

: 00:18:04

Can impact our mental state and can impact

: 00:18:09

Mm-hmm.

: 00:18:09

anxiety and things like that.

: 00:18:12

Just is, I, I think I'll just leave it at that.

: 00:18:14

What would you like to say about maybe how were raised or some things from your,

: 00:18:19

from your story fed into you dealing with this and working through this?

: 00:18:29

Hmm, that's such a good question.

: 00:18:31

And it's, it's probably, way deeper than the time we have here.

: 00:18:34

But what I'll say is that when you grow up in a, in a dysfunctional environment,

: 00:18:39

and you know, I had very loving parents, but there's something called

: 00:18:45

epigenetics and they will flow down.

: 00:18:47

And no matter what you're doing and who you think you are, these things are all

: 00:18:51

going to impact behaviors and choices.

: 00:18:53

And mental health was something that was not discussed.

: 00:18:58

It wasn't something you got treated for.

: 00:19:00

and so all those factors tend to build and that leads to a lack of stability.

: 00:19:05

And when you have.

: 00:19:07

a genetic predisposition to anxiety.

: 00:19:10

Those emotional instabilities or that emotional chaos is going to lead to

: 00:19:16

a lot of nervous system agitation.

: 00:19:21

lack of ability to regulate yourself.

: 00:19:23

And it just leads to seeking different things to try to control the

: 00:19:28

environment that you can't control.

: 00:19:31

So I would say that definitely has an impact.

: 00:19:35

Absolutely, 100% has an impact on how we behave, the choices we make, how we

: 00:19:42

develop in relationships, all of that.

: 00:19:47

And one of the things that I noticed in reading through the book, and this

: 00:19:52

was probably one of the reasons why I wanted to, have a chat with you, is that

: 00:19:57

I know you work with business people.

: 00:19:58

We'll discuss that shortly 'cause I'd love to know more about, what you do there.

: 00:20:02

But the book was something that intrigued me.

: 00:20:05

I wonder at times if I don't have enough compassion for people that

: 00:20:12

might have anxiety, because most people that are around me would

: 00:20:18

say that I don't have any of that.

: 00:20:21

Maybe I do, maybe I don't.

: 00:20:23

But that's probably not the way I'm wired.

: 00:20:26

Mm-hmm.

: 00:20:27

mean, there was some things that I read in the book and some other things like that.

: 00:20:30

I'm going, you know, I may have said, get over it before, which

: 00:20:35

Mm-hmm.

: 00:20:36

is actually

: 00:20:36

Mm-hmm.

: 00:20:37

what do people need to know about

: 00:20:43

if we don't that, we've got our own issues?

: 00:20:46

There's probably other things that we could discuss, but if that's not something

: 00:20:50

we deal with, what do we need to know?

: 00:20:54

So, such a great question.

: 00:20:55

It's one of the reasons why I wrote the book.

: 00:20:57

But first of all, Tim, you don't know what you don't know, right?

: 00:21:01

in the book, I give an example of an incident we had with

: 00:21:04

our son and my husband had no idea how to deal with anxiety.

: 00:21:11

I had lived with it my entire life.

: 00:21:13

And so when we started to see that happening with our son,

: 00:21:17

I was trying to help him.

: 00:21:19

In the way that I knew best because I had been in his shoes, I had

: 00:21:23

experienced what he was experiencing.

: 00:21:25

And my husband was like, just do it.

: 00:21:29

And I'm like, you can't do that to him.

: 00:21:32

You know?

: 00:21:32

It was this whole scene at the kitchen table and, it, it was at no fault of his.

: 00:21:37

He did not know.

: 00:21:39

And so, you know, you may have said, get over it.

: 00:21:42

And trust me, I have kids with anxiety.

: 00:21:44

So it's, it's very easy to want to say that.

: 00:21:47

Like, just put your boots on and let's go.

: 00:21:50

It doesn't work that way.

: 00:21:51

And that is one of the reasons I wrote the book, was because what's

: 00:21:55

happening in our teen society is kids are being bullied every single day.

: 00:22:01

They're being accused of being weird.

: 00:22:03

People don't understand them.

: 00:22:05

And when there's a lack of understanding, there's judgment.

: 00:22:09

Right?

: 00:22:09

And so.

: 00:22:13

I mean to tell my story, like I have a really great life, but there were a

: 00:22:17

lot of hiccups along the way, right?

: 00:22:19

A lot of things I had to overcome and navigate.

: 00:22:22

So it's not that I'm special in telling my story when kids are struggling and

: 00:22:27

people don't understand what they're struggling with, you can't help them.

: 00:22:31

So if I can increase the awareness of anxiety, and now we hear a lot

: 00:22:34

more about anxiety and a lot more about depression and mental health

: 00:22:38

challenges than we ever have before.

: 00:22:40

There are a lot of people out there who use it as an excuse.

: 00:22:44

They use it as an excuse for poor behavior, poor choices for lashing,

: 00:22:48

lashing out at other people, for not respecting other people, for

: 00:22:53

doing drugs or other things, right?

: 00:22:56

Making unhealthy choices.

: 00:22:58

Affect other people and influence other people's lives in a negative way.

: 00:23:03

So when you say that, if you're dealing with someone who is using it as a crutch

: 00:23:07

or an excuse to get their way or to not do things that they need to do or to not

: 00:23:13

be a productive member of society, I can see where that frustration and lack of

: 00:23:17

compassion would be, but only because I've done the work I've done, and when

: 00:23:23

we talk about navigating anxiety, it is work just like changing your mindset.

: 00:23:27

Just like you know anything else that you want to accomplish that's

: 00:23:32

gonna be meaningful in your life.

: 00:23:34

It's work, it's action.

: 00:23:36

It's doing something to move through it, to push yourself forward.

: 00:23:42

It takes action to succeed no matter what it is.

: 00:23:46

And it's no different with mental health.

: 00:23:48

Now, when I sat down to write the book, I. wanted other teens to

: 00:23:52

recognize this kid may be peculiar.

: 00:23:56

You may not understand them, but give them the grace to get curious and try

: 00:24:02

to get to know them because underneath these strange behaviors or this inability

: 00:24:08

to talk to someone at school or this, you know, need to kind of hide in a

: 00:24:13

corner, that doesn't mean they're weird.

: 00:24:16

It doesn't mean they don't have feelings.

: 00:24:17

It doesn't mean that they're incapable of having a relationship.

: 00:24:22

It means that they're wired a little bit differently.

: 00:24:24

So instead of judging them and shunning them or bullying them, get curious.

: 00:24:30

And sometimes all it takes is a smile to change the course of a

: 00:24:35

child or a teen or adult's life.

: 00:24:39

They could be wanting to end their life that day and someone just

: 00:24:43

showing they care can completely turn that around and change the outcome.

: 00:24:48

at what age, you become aware, or, you mentioned you've done a lot of work.

: 00:24:54

Did you start doing work or get help or whatever?

: 00:24:59

What was your age when that occurred?

: 00:25:03

So the first time I got help was in college, and that was

: 00:25:06

around an eating disorder.

: 00:25:08

and then that was kind of, I think the only way I survived was because

: 00:25:11

my mother and grandmother prayed all the time and my dad, but, I

: 00:25:16

never had true help, like really dedicated help until I was an adult.

: 00:25:23

I got the help I needed as we were seeking the help my son needed.

: 00:25:28

So, way too long, way too long.

: 00:25:30

Hmm.

: 00:25:31

I was in the medical profession I should have known.

: 00:25:34

I knew everything, but it wasn't until I was in my twenties that I actually

: 00:25:37

had that, first experience with therapy and understanding more about myself

: 00:25:43

and my emotions I learned a lot.

: 00:25:45

I tried to navigate it all on my own.

: 00:25:47

But that official help I got wasn't until I was in my, I don't even know

: 00:25:53

how old I was, but I was an adult.

: 00:25:55

Later.

: 00:25:56

It was later.

: 00:25:56

It was

: 00:25:57

It was later.

: 00:25:58

It was too later.

: 00:26:00

we'll say a few years later.

: 00:26:02

was too later.

: 00:26:02

the interim, would you say you were managing it?

: 00:26:05

Were you, as Tim said earlier, dealing with it?

: 00:26:07

Were you ignoring it?

: 00:26:09

how would you

: 00:26:09

'cause to me, it seems like that's probably where a lot of people are.

: 00:26:14

I would say that I was managing it

: 00:26:17

Hmm.

: 00:26:18

of the time.

: 00:26:19

Hmm.

: 00:26:19

not all of the time.

: 00:26:21

And it's those times when I wasn't managing it that I really wish I had

: 00:26:26

been, because, you know, losing my mind, so to speak, and getting irritated and

: 00:26:32

angry over stupid things was not cool.

: 00:26:36

And, you know, I could have hurt relationships doing that.

: 00:26:39

Now, fortunately, I was relatively aware, relatively in control, but there

: 00:26:44

are a lot of times where I could have had better conversations or I could

: 00:26:47

have handled a situation differently.

: 00:26:49

I have missed out on a lot in my life because I was too afraid to step into it

: 00:26:57

too, focused on the what ifs versus this could be great if I just gave it a chance.

: 00:27:03

So I would say, to anyone who thinks that there may be something off.

: 00:27:12

It is 1000% worth just seeing a therapist talking to your doctor,

: 00:27:19

ask questions, read the book, just to understand what happens.

: 00:27:25

Because what happens a lot of times is people live with certain symptoms for

: 00:27:29

their entire life and they're like, I don't know why I'm the way I am.

: 00:27:32

I hate the way I am.

: 00:27:33

This is so stupid.

: 00:27:34

And they develop guilt and shame and all these things when the reality is

: 00:27:39

there, it's a chemical imbalance in the brain, or there's a neural pathway that

: 00:27:44

just keeps firing in a negative way.

: 00:27:45

like a Ferris wheel.

: 00:27:46

you have the Ferris wheel and it's going round and round and

: 00:27:49

round, and it slows down to let people off and let new people on.

: 00:27:53

Our brain gets so in these tracks of this, this spinning cycle that it just

: 00:27:59

keeps going faster and faster and faster.

: 00:28:01

So there's no time to let the negative thoughts off and

: 00:28:04

positive thoughts come in.

: 00:28:05

And that's where we have to start to recognize, okay, this is not.

: 00:28:11

I'm gonna use air quotes for normal, for anyone who's not watching but listening.

: 00:28:16

you know, and recognizing that and then actually doing the work to say, okay,

: 00:28:21

nobody else is thinking this way about me.

: 00:28:24

Nobody else is thinking this way about this situation.

: 00:28:27

It's probably not as bad as what I'm thinking it is.

: 00:28:31

So how can I change that thought or really be in tune to my body and

: 00:28:37

what's happening, what I'm feeling and what's building up as these thoughts

: 00:28:41

are occurring and where can I take a step back and try to rewire those

: 00:28:48

neural pathways in my brain, reroute them to be able to navigate that?

: 00:28:53

Right.

: 00:28:53

you mentioned earlier, you said something about your husband and there was a,

: 00:28:58

that I have, I've got your book here.

: 00:29:02

I'm on page 70 This is, said, having and maintaining relationships might be the

: 00:29:06

most challenging part for people anxiety.

: 00:29:11

I'm guessing from the way you've talked and, you know, have children

: 00:29:14

and all that, that, you and John have probably like most couples, gone through

: 00:29:19

stuff, but yet, still here you are.

: 00:29:21

Tell me more about the challenge with relationships and anxiety.

: 00:29:27

Sure.

: 00:29:27

So when a person has anxiety, oftentimes they don't trust.

: 00:29:31

So if they don't trust, that can be, and I've always trusted my husband.

: 00:29:35

That hasn't been necessarily like a bad thing in our relationship.

: 00:29:38

However, that lack of trust leads to hypersensitivity, a

: 00:29:42

lack of confidence in self.

: 00:29:44

So you become hypersensitive right to wait.

: 00:29:49

Did they?

: 00:29:50

Say that, well, what does that mean?

: 00:29:52

And instead of asking you react, right, so it's not just absorbing,

: 00:29:55

it's not just considering.

: 00:29:57

It's, a lot of times it's reactionary, or accusatory, things like that.

: 00:30:03

I mean, fortunately my husband's been pretty great, so I don't have a lot of

: 00:30:06

complaints there, but there have been times where it's like, no, like, you

: 00:30:11

know, I just have to say like, you can't say that to me, like that, that doesn't

: 00:30:15

sit well with me because of X, Y, Z.

: 00:30:18

So I've had to explain, and for years I didn't explain, and for years we

: 00:30:23

just kind of went through the motions.

: 00:30:25

But when I wrote my book and he read my book, he was like, I had no idea.

: 00:30:31

Like, he had no idea about any of that, because who's gonna talk about that?

: 00:30:35

What's wrong with them?

: 00:30:37

You know, we just wanna hide it and pretend it doesn't happen.

: 00:30:40

But this is why it's so important to understand If someone has anxiety or

: 00:30:45

depression, it doesn't mean they're bad.

: 00:30:48

It doesn't mean they're broken.

: 00:30:49

It just means that they're gonna process the information differently.

: 00:30:53

And so when you have someone that is constantly on guard, they're

: 00:30:57

living in fear, they don't feel safe.

: 00:31:00

And not because anyone's harming them, it's just what

: 00:31:03

their brain is telling them.

: 00:31:04

their sympathetic nervous system is on overdrive all the time,

: 00:31:08

which is there to protect us, but we don't need it to protect us.

: 00:31:12

But it doesn't realize that, so you're living pent up and all this energy.

: 00:31:17

the second somebody says something that.

: 00:31:19

could be questionable or whatever.

: 00:31:21

you react and it makes it hard, right?

: 00:31:24

and it makes it hard to also put yourself out there to be

: 00:31:27

vulnerable in relationships.

: 00:31:29

And if we're not willing and able to be vulnerable in our relationships, you

: 00:31:33

don't really get to know the other person.

: 00:31:35

And so it's, there's just a lot of things that are prevented in terms of developing

: 00:31:43

strong relationships when you're living with, well, what if, or, you know, for

: 00:31:47

example, like this is so many people I talk to who have experienced anxiety.

: 00:31:52

It's, you know, you go somewhere like out to dinner with friends or

: 00:31:55

whatever, and instead of it being like, oh my gosh, that was so fun,

: 00:31:59

it's, did I say anything wrong?

: 00:32:02

Are they talking about me?

: 00:32:03

what if I said that and they didn't like what I said?

: 00:32:05

Maybe they're talking about me behind my back.

: 00:32:07

Maybe they didn't have fun.

: 00:32:09

And it's just this cycle of thoughts.

: 00:32:13

So when I say it takes action, right over anxiety, it's literally

: 00:32:19

catching those thoughts and say, Robin, you didn't say anything bad.

: 00:32:24

They love you.

: 00:32:25

They adore you.

: 00:32:25

They laughed with you, not at you.

: 00:32:27

we already set a date for a new plan.

: 00:32:29

It's like, you know, really taking that active intention to change how you're

: 00:32:35

thinking about a situation and letting yourself know it's okay, you're safe.

: 00:32:40

So one thing, this is what kept popping to my mind.

: 00:32:42

This will tell you where I'm, where I'm at.

: 00:32:46

I kept thinking about.

: 00:32:50

How some of those things just never come to my mind.

: 00:32:53

And I was wondering if they do with your husband, have y'all talked about this?

: 00:32:57

No,

: 00:32:57

if y'all go out

: 00:32:58

no.

: 00:32:58

with a couple, is he sitting here going, man, I'm hope

: 00:33:00

I'm wearing the right outfit.

: 00:33:02

Is it, does that even go through his mind at all?

: 00:33:06

No.

: 00:33:08

nope.

: 00:33:10

And,

: 00:33:10

Not at all.

: 00:33:13

But let me tell you something, there are so many different types of anxiety,

: 00:33:18

so many different levels of anxiety.

: 00:33:20

So you can have general, an anxiety disorder, you can

: 00:33:23

have social anxiety disorder.

: 00:33:25

you know, there's all different kinds of anxiety.

: 00:33:29

I was an unlucky one because I got multiple, but every

: 00:33:33

single person is different.

: 00:33:35

something that would bother.

: 00:33:36

Me might not ever bother my husband, but there may be things that would

: 00:33:41

bother him, maybe from a professional perspective he doesn't really have

: 00:33:45

anxiety and he'll tell you that.

: 00:33:47

I think

: 00:33:47

it's, you know,

: 00:33:48

would get along famously, my wife's like, you, you never even thought about that.

: 00:33:53

You may have messed up or did something there.

: 00:33:55

I said, no, it never crossed my mind.

: 00:33:59

And, I also wonder, this is like one other, this is me digging a little bit to

: 00:34:05

see if I can understand something better.

: 00:34:09

Does it cause a possible, conflict might be the right word.

: 00:34:16

If someone does come across as being fairly let's don't use the word arrogant,

: 00:34:23

but they say things with definitive tone as if they sort of know it all.

: 00:34:29

You can,

: 00:34:30

Mm-hmm.

: 00:34:30

never done this, can't you?

: 00:34:32

And what does that do for someone who might be on that end of the scale that

: 00:34:38

you're talking about that have anxiety?

: 00:34:40

To me it seems like it's probably not helping, it's probably

: 00:34:43

irritating the situation, but tell me what your thoughts are.

: 00:34:46

Absolutely.

: 00:34:47

I mean, you're talking about somebody who is gonna, Eva now, and I shouldn't

: 00:34:52

say for everyone because every single person is unique and every single person

: 00:34:57

handles everything differently, right.

: 00:34:58

And perceives differently.

: 00:35:00

And their nervous system may be activated, may not be activated.

: 00:35:03

So it's, you know, this is all very, non-specific and generalized, right?

: 00:35:08

Because that's just how we have to approach it.

: 00:35:13

But, someone who does have generalized anxiety disorder or

: 00:35:18

even social anxiety where you're in a situation and somebody is.

: 00:35:24

You know, talks in a put off kind of way, or seems to be holier than thou, so to

: 00:35:32

speak, you know, their ego is clearly present and they're very prideful.

: 00:35:37

It can be a turnoff, it can be, yeah.

: 00:35:41

I don't feel comfortable with that person.

: 00:35:43

I feel like they're judging me or they think they're better than me, or, you

: 00:35:47

know, it can trigger those, gosh, I could never be like that thoughts, So, yeah.

: 00:35:53

I think there's always an opportunity for someone's attitude to impact someone

: 00:35:59

else, but I think for someone that has a clinical diagnosis of anxiety

: 00:36:03

or is experiencing anxiety, that it's going to make it worse for sure.

: 00:36:08

Right.

: 00:36:08

So what was your spiritual life growing up?

: 00:36:12

Because there's a, there's a scripture you bring up here,

: 00:36:16

Philippians four, six through seven.

: 00:36:18

I think this is one of my wife's like, don't wanna say life verses, but I

: 00:36:22

think this is one of her foundational verses, do not be anxious about anything.

: 00:36:27

tell me a little bit about your spiritual upbringing and then what that scripture

: 00:36:31

means to you as someone who might be anxious about things from time to time.

: 00:36:37

Yeah, well that one's on repeat, right?

: 00:36:39

and it's one that I reference a lot, but, so I grew up, um, I mean

: 00:36:47

obviously in church, but it was, um, it was like fear and guilt driven.

: 00:36:54

If that's the right phrase.

: 00:36:56

Like, you know, you had to do this and you had to be a good Christian

: 00:36:59

and you had to do this, or you were going to hell and if you were

: 00:37:02

lukewarm, you were gonna be spit out.

: 00:37:04

So it wasn't until my adult years and not all that many years ago that I really

: 00:37:09

developed that relationship and discovered how powerful the Holy Spirit is in me.

: 00:37:14

And part of that was when I was writing my book where I was like,

: 00:37:16

how did I come up with that?

: 00:37:18

I did.

: 00:37:18

I write, I didn't write that, you know, I was like the Holy Spirit was right there.

: 00:37:23

So, which I know sounds kind of crazy to people that aren't really, I don't know,

: 00:37:28

it sounds kind of crazy, but anyway, so yeah, it wasn't until I was well into

: 00:37:33

my adult years that I really understood and it was just me out of necessity,

: 00:37:40

seeking that, that peace, the hope.

: 00:37:43

And really diving into, you know, studying the Bible, memorizing scripture, learning

: 00:37:50

like what it really was that Jesus was asking me for, and being, letting

: 00:37:55

him be at the, the center of my life and welcoming him in for conversations

: 00:38:01

because doing it on my own wasn't working.

: 00:38:06

So, you know, it really was just learning how to, how to have that relationship.

: 00:38:12

I always knew Jesus.

: 00:38:13

I always had faith, but it wasn't what it is now.

: 00:38:19

Right, it's still part of the journey.

: 00:38:21

My wife and I were just talking this morning.

: 00:38:23

we're in our sixties now and we have.

: 00:38:26

Actually just learn some things from a spiritual standpoint.

: 00:38:30

And we've been studying and all for 30, 40 years going.

: 00:38:35

more we learn, the more we realize we don't know stuff and we're

: 00:38:39

just continuing to work on things.

: 00:38:41

yeah,

: 00:38:42

I feel like you would probably admit this, we're not definitely presenting to anyone.

: 00:38:45

We've got it figured out.

: 00:38:47

No, not at all.

: 00:38:49

I wanna shift just a little bit here.

: 00:38:50

I'm trying to watch my time.

: 00:38:51

I really wanna get into some business conversation, One of the

: 00:38:55

things that I have a theory about.

: 00:38:59

Is that since, let's go back close to 10 years, we put a timestamp on this.

: 00:39:05

We we're recording this in and go back 10 years.

: 00:39:10

I could list out some things that were going on politically

: 00:39:13

here in the United States.

: 00:39:14

We can go a few years beyond that and talk about, covid and other things like that.

: 00:39:18

I believe that there have been, if there was some anxiousness that people have

: 00:39:24

had, believe that there has been some gasoline that's been poured onto that fire

: 00:39:31

our culture, society, our environment.

: 00:39:34

And I'll throw one more thing in and I'm just gonna pause

: 00:39:37

and let you talk about this.

: 00:39:39

I believe that social media has amplified that to the nth degree.

: 00:39:46

And I believe that there's some people that probably didn't feel

: 00:39:50

as if they suffered with anxiety.

: 00:39:54

That now they realize they probably do.

: 00:39:57

All you have to do is just look at some of the political discourse and things like

: 00:40:01

Mm-hmm.

: 00:40:01

So when I bring that up, comes to mind?

: 00:40:08

So, so many things.

: 00:40:12

I need to take a deep breath.

: 00:40:13

Let's, let's be calm.

: 00:40:15

Let's be at peace.

: 00:40:18

Yeah.

: 00:40:18

So anytime there is change, someone who has anxiety may be triggered.

: 00:40:26

People who may never have had anxiety may develop anxiety or anxious

: 00:40:33

tendencies because there are a lot of unknowns when you think about fear,

: 00:40:39

anxiety, and fear go hand in hand.

: 00:40:41

And this is why I mentioned earlier, gratitude earlier.

: 00:40:44

A gratitude practice is so crucial because we cannot be anxious

: 00:40:49

and grateful at the same time.

: 00:40:52

it is absolutely imperative that we offset some of that anxiety looking at all of

: 00:40:56

the good things that we have in our life, What's happening in our society today

: 00:41:00

and social media and media in general is amplifying mental health challenges

: 00:41:09

because people don't know who to trust.

: 00:41:12

People don't know what's real, what's not real.

: 00:41:16

People are spewing messages of hate, out of fear, strictly out of fear.

: 00:41:23

Because they don't understand someone else.

: 00:41:26

They don't understand why decisions are being made.

: 00:41:29

And so instead of trying to learn and research, they're going straight

: 00:41:35

to what they think they know about a person or a policy or whatever,

: 00:41:41

and they immediately go into, well, everybody should be thinking like me.

: 00:41:47

And if they're not thinking like me, they're an idiot.

: 00:41:50

And so I'm gonna tell the world about it.

: 00:41:52

And, and nobody knows this, but I found this and I'm gonna tell everybody.

: 00:41:57

And they're these most outrageous, ridiculous things that are not factual.

: 00:42:03

They have not been validated, or they're so slanted one way or another that it's

: 00:42:11

just causing all of this exaggeration.

: 00:42:13

And it really breaks my heart because a lot of these people

: 00:42:17

are really nice people.

: 00:42:19

And they're putting stuff out as fear tactics, and all of

: 00:42:22

that does is hurt other people.

: 00:42:25

It does not help their cause.

: 00:42:27

It does not make people see like they see.

: 00:42:31

And so relationships are being pulled apart and the more people

: 00:42:34

that are anxious and fearful, the less positive and effective

: 00:42:41

decision making that's gonna happen.

: 00:42:44

The less we are gonna be able to move forward as a country or a world.

: 00:42:50

Yeah, it's, man, there's so much there.

: 00:42:53

I don't see a lot of what I would call woman at the well, conversation

: 00:43:00

with the woman at the well that was

: 00:43:03

No.

: 00:43:03

with love and compassion.

: 00:43:06

Mm-hmm.

: 00:43:07

And, I see a lot of vitriol and I see some leaders in the political arena that

: 00:43:13

are probably speaking things in that.

: 00:43:18

Boldness might be a word that some people would use.

: 00:43:21

Some people might use the word arrogance or whatever, and that's not

: 00:43:24

really even on one side or the other.

: 00:43:26

There's, you know, we, have a

: 00:43:29

Yeah.

: 00:43:29

leader in the US that is pretty strong when he speaks.

: 00:43:32

Mm-hmm.

: 00:43:33

could see how that could possibly have some issues for people, but I think it

: 00:43:37

helps to have an awareness of it and.

: 00:43:40

I've shared this before, but one of the things that I did a little over

: 00:43:44

a year ago, right before I turned 60 is that I, cut out two things.

: 00:43:49

The month before I turned 60, I decided to have no alcohol for the month.

: 00:43:53

I don't drink that much anyway, but I just said, you

: 00:43:55

Mm-hmm.

: 00:43:56

what it does.

: 00:43:57

then I decided to fast or get rid of all the sources of information that

: 00:44:02

I had coming in news I felt like I

: 00:44:04

Mm-hmm.

: 00:44:04

my business to read certain things and read from the far left, the far right,

: 00:44:09

the middle, And what's interesting, after the month, I realized that alcohol was

: 00:44:13

not a big deal one way or the other.

: 00:44:14

I could take it or leave.

: 00:44:15

It didn't matter.

: 00:44:16

Mm-hmm.

: 00:44:16

Mm-hmm.

: 00:44:18

By getting rid of all that information, though, it was just really amazing to me.

: 00:44:21

It was, I think, the month that began, whatever they were doing in

: 00:44:26

Gaza and all this kind of weird stuff.

: 00:44:28

And

: 00:44:28

Mm-hmm.

: 00:44:29

I was like going, wow.

: 00:44:30

But you know what?

: 00:44:31

When I've cleared up my head from that, I haven't gone back or anything like that.

: 00:44:35

I've started writing more books.

: 00:44:36

I've started doing some more creative things.

: 00:44:38

It's opened up a lot of things spiritually

: 00:44:41

Mm-hmm.

: 00:44:41

I just think we're better and haven't missed anything.

: 00:44:45

Mm-hmm.

: 00:44:45

everything that's going on,

: 00:44:47

Of course, right?

: 00:44:47

Because it's everywhere.

: 00:44:48

You cannot escape it.

: 00:44:49

But here's the thing, Tim, it's really about, and I have a chapter in the book

: 00:44:54

all about this, about getting about curiosity, because what's happening is

: 00:44:58

people are going straight to judgment versus getting curious to learn.

: 00:45:02

And the second we lose curiosity, the second we don't focus on getting to know

: 00:45:08

other people and valuing their opinion.

: 00:45:12

Even if it's different than our own, we lose the concept of healthy relationships

: 00:45:18

Hmm.

: 00:45:19

I've got a couple other things about the book, but think before I

: 00:45:22

do that, I think I'd like to ask at what point and how did you move from,

: 00:45:29

what was your doctorate in pharmacy?

: 00:45:31

Is that

: 00:45:31

pharmacy.

: 00:45:32

So how'd you move from pharmacy into coaching, business growth and strategy?

: 00:45:39

Yeah, so that's a great question.

: 00:45:41

so when I was in pharmacy, I was not a traditional pharmacist.

: 00:45:45

I either worked in the clinical setting or I worked in corporate.

: 00:45:49

So in marketing always in marketing.

: 00:45:51

And so I was already a strategic person, I was already creative.

: 00:45:56

And so those things kind of came naturally for me.

: 00:46:00

And I had built a medical writing and consulting business,

: 00:46:03

that was very successful.

: 00:46:05

And all through relationship marketing.

: 00:46:07

back then there wasn't SEO, there wasn't social media, it

: 00:46:10

was all relationship marketing.

: 00:46:12

And so I had grown that business.

: 00:46:15

Well then when my boys were.

: 00:46:18

And they were like upper middle school ages, and my daughter was still a toddler.

: 00:46:23

Our nanny got sick and I was working part-time, but I was working for myself.

: 00:46:27

even if you're only working 30 hours a week, that's a lot.

: 00:46:30

When your husband travels, 50% of the time you have no family where

: 00:46:33

you live and you're doing it all.

: 00:46:35

And that, so I lost my only source of like real help.

: 00:46:38

And then our son was showing signs and symptoms of anxiety and I was

: 00:46:43

like, my husband and I talked about it and we're like, this is, we can't

: 00:46:47

keep up this pace or our family's not gonna be healthy and survive.

: 00:46:50

So he's like, you love photography, do something with it.

: 00:46:54

And I was like, what?

: 00:46:55

He goes, yeah, do something with your photography.

: 00:46:58

I see you when you do it, you light up, And it had been a

: 00:47:00

hobby my whole entire life.

: 00:47:01

And it really did ease my anxiety.

: 00:47:04

It really did help me using that as a creative outlet.

: 00:47:08

so I started a blog and within six weeks I had my first.

: 00:47:11

Paying client, which was a branding client, and I did all of her photography

: 00:47:17

for her website, her CD cover.

: 00:47:20

She was an artist, a musician and entertainer.

: 00:47:22

And that was it.

: 00:47:24

I was like, oh my gosh, I love this.

: 00:47:26

So I did that for 11 years, headshot and branding photography.

: 00:47:29

And then, towards the end of that 11 years, I saw women did not know how to

: 00:47:36

build a foundation for their business.

: 00:47:38

They didn't know I was very strategically creating these images for them to use.

: 00:47:43

They didn't know what to do with it.

: 00:47:44

So then I started consulting in that way, and then I got a certification in

: 00:47:48

branding, and became a brand specialist.

: 00:47:51

And then that just led one thing to another.

: 00:47:53

I learned.

: 00:47:54

So much.

: 00:47:55

And I created like a mini agency type, environment where I had a website

: 00:48:00

designer, I had a copywriter, I had a social media expert, I had a videographer,

: 00:48:04

and then I did the photography and did the coaching around building

: 00:48:08

the foundation for your business.

: 00:48:09

And so, that's how I got to where I am today.

: 00:48:12

And I, yeah, I wrote the book and when I wrote the book, I was like, well, I've got

: 00:48:17

the podcast, the book, the photography, the, I'm like, I can't do all this.

: 00:48:20

So I let the photography go, sold my studio to a photographer

: 00:48:25

that had been working with me.

: 00:48:26

And yeah.

: 00:48:28

And when I wrote the book, I felt God saying to me, I want you to do

: 00:48:31

something for moms and teen girls.

: 00:48:35

Well, you know, when he calls you to something, you should do it.

: 00:48:39

Because here I am three years later and I'm like, okay, so I am.

: 00:48:44

Working on more certifications, be getting ACC credentialed, and a lot of

: 00:48:50

things are gonna kind of pivot soon.

: 00:48:52

Ah, so we're, are we, are we going to, is the announcement here or is

: 00:48:57

it something that you're moving in a

: 00:48:59

too calm, it's too come.

: 00:49:03

We're still mapping that out, so, yeah.

: 00:49:05

Yeah,

: 00:49:06

yeah.

: 00:49:06

I've built a really good thing with my business and, I love what I do, so I don't

: 00:49:11

know that that's going away, but I think there will be some shifts in additions.

: 00:49:14

how does the work you've done with anxiety spill over into the work

: 00:49:19

you do with business growth and strategy, and then how does it

: 00:49:23

it's.

: 00:49:24

Does it cause any conflict at all?

: 00:49:27

No, I would say it does not cause any conflict whatsoever.

: 00:49:30

But what it has done is given me the gift to be able to help more people, because

: 00:49:34

a lot of women are, they're, because of social media and a lot innately,

: 00:49:40

are, you know, they get sucked into comparison, imposter syndrome, doubt,

: 00:49:46

fear, and all of those negative emotions.

: 00:49:48

And so we have to do a lot of mindset work and it's, it really is, being

: 00:49:53

able to coach them through that and discovering, you know, okay, is this real?

: 00:49:59

Is this not real?

: 00:50:00

And how can I really access, you know, the gifts that I

: 00:50:03

have and my identity in Christ?

: 00:50:04

And so all of that becomes a very important part of everything I do,

: 00:50:08

because people can't show up authentically if they don't understand themselves.

: 00:50:12

And what is making their nervous system churn, you know?

: 00:50:17

Yeah, I actually could see it could be a good fit.

: 00:50:20

one of the things I thought of as I was reading through the book, I was

: 00:50:23

just kind of going, okay, as a leader, you're a leader, over 20 people, let's

: 00:50:28

say the chances of someone that's, I know you wrote specifically for parents,

: 00:50:34

however, in my mind, I'm sitting here going, what can I understand about

: 00:50:38

this from being of an organization?

: 00:50:42

I thought it was helpful.

: 00:50:43

I wanna tell you the thing that I, my personality enjoyed the most as

: 00:50:47

if my personality really matters.

: 00:50:50

But what, what I

: 00:50:52

Of course it does.

: 00:50:53

I was going through and I was feeling a little bit, I don't wanna say down,

: 00:50:59

but you were identifying the issues with anxiety then there was a chapter

: 00:51:04

titled Laughter and I went, oh well.

: 00:51:09

Things just changed a little bit.

: 00:51:11

The next chapter was kindness.

: 00:51:14

The next chapter is apologies.

: 00:51:16

The next chapter, I mean, you could see I've got 'em all turned down here.

: 00:51:20

The next chapter is trust.

: 00:51:22

And I'm sitting here going, okay.

: 00:51:23

She just kind of wrote faith, you know, she just all of a sudden wrote

: 00:51:27

something that is for everyone, that we all need this type stuff.

: 00:51:32

But, there was one other one I can't com comparison.

: 00:51:35

I think that's when I got into social media, so I enjoyed it.

: 00:51:38

The book is, you, me and Anxiety take action over Anxiety to enjoy being you.

: 00:51:46

And, I think it's valuable for someone who either is going through

: 00:51:51

it like you said, or they're a parent.

: 00:51:54

I also think it has some applications for people in a leadership role.

: 00:51:57

I've got,

: 00:51:57

Mm-hmm.

: 00:51:58

organization that kind of oversee to some extent, I'm sitting here

: 00:52:02

going, what are the chances?

: 00:52:04

That there's someone in that organization that deals with this.

: 00:52:07

And I don't know exactly what I would do.

: 00:52:10

don't, I don't think I would say get over it anymore.

: 00:52:12

So if, if nothing else, maybe you've achieved and accomplished

: 00:52:16

things there, but tell, tell people.

: 00:52:19

Robin, I've got a couple other things and I'm gonna wrap up with something

: 00:52:22

that I think is very important from you.

: 00:52:24

Mm-hmm.

: 00:52:25

tell people how they could connect with you.

: 00:52:28

Tell 'em the type people that maybe should do this from the business growth

: 00:52:32

strategist, if you wanna send them there.

: 00:52:34

who needs to get the book and where they could go.

: 00:52:35

I'm sure it's Amazon and all that, but just go ahead and tell all of that.

: 00:52:39

We'll include it down in the notes.

: 00:52:41

Sure.

: 00:52:42

Absolutely Tim, thank you for that opportunity.

: 00:52:44

The best place to find me is on my website, the robin graham.com.

: 00:52:47

It's Robin with a y and Graham, just like the cracker, the robin graham.com.

: 00:52:51

You can find the book there, the podcast there.

: 00:52:54

the blog there, there is just a plethora of information as well as free resources.

: 00:52:58

And on the resource page, the robin graham.com/resources, there's

: 00:53:02

actually, a free ebook that, talks about developing healthy habits

: 00:53:06

to be able to navigate anxiety and have a healthy, purposeful life.

: 00:53:09

So I do encourage you, to download that if you have experienced anxiety or if you

: 00:53:15

know someone who has, and as far Tim as leaders go, I just want to encourage like.

: 00:53:23

There are so many things about mental health that can impact how a person

: 00:53:28

performs, what their quality of work is, what their quantity of work is, how

: 00:53:33

they interact, and with a team, how they either produce or bring a team down.

: 00:53:39

So it really is important that we have this conversation.

: 00:53:43

Well over 50% of people in the United States have anxiety, a

: 00:53:47

clinical diagnosis of anxiety that doesn't even include the people that

: 00:53:51

have it and have not sought help.

: 00:53:53

So chances are if you are in a leadership role, there's someone on

: 00:53:57

your team who may be experiencing this or experiencing it with their child.

: 00:54:02

Yeah, that's good.

: 00:54:03

I appreciate you saying that because that was part of, one of the questions

: 00:54:08

I was gonna ask is speak to the leaders.

: 00:54:10

Mm-hmm.

: 00:54:11

I wanna ask, this will be my final question before I wrap up, is I believe

: 00:54:16

it would be really great for you to give a word of encouragement to someone

: 00:54:20

who may have been listening in and they've said, oh, that sounds like me.

: 00:54:24

just if someone's been listening in, they saw the title and it had anxiety

: 00:54:28

in the title, give them some uplifting, whatever the Holy Spirit puts on your

: 00:54:31

heart to take a minute or so and share.

: 00:54:35

Yeah, absolutely.

: 00:54:36

So the very first thing that I wanna say is you're not alone.

: 00:54:40

There are many other people who are suffering alongside you, and I will be

: 00:54:45

praying for everyone who is listening.

: 00:54:48

if you feel that this describes you and you might have anxiety, please seek help.

: 00:54:55

There is nothing shameful whatsoever about having a mental health diagnosis.

: 00:55:00

So I encourage you to ask your physician, ask a friend, a neighbor, someone to

: 00:55:07

recommend a therapist to you, because the more we are aware of any mental

: 00:55:13

health challenges, the better we're going to be able to navigate them,

: 00:55:17

the better quality of life we're gonna have, and the better quality of life

: 00:55:22

our family is going to have, and the deeper our relationships will become.

: 00:55:27

And we all need each other.

: 00:55:29

This isn't something you do in a silo.

: 00:55:31

Thank you Robin.

: 00:55:32

Robin Graham, I appreciate you being a guest.

: 00:55:34

I appreciate you writing the book.

: 00:55:36

You, me, and Anxiety Take Action Over Anxiety to enjoy being you.

: 00:55:40

Grab a copy of this.

: 00:55:41

I appreciate you joining us here on Seek Go Create.

: 00:55:44

I appreciate y'all listening in.

: 00:55:46

I think this has been an important conversation.

: 00:55:48

take some action.

: 00:55:49

Don't be passive.

: 00:55:50

If you're being nudged, do something.

: 00:55:54

We have new episodes here every Monday.

: 00:55:56

We're on YouTube or on all the podcast platforms.

: 00:55:58

Keep writing comments, keep sharing all the things that you're doing.

: 00:56:02

We appreciate it greatly and we will see you next week on Seek Go Create.