If you have ever wanted to say something or do some sort of presentation but felt fear and discomfort, there’s a good chance you have social anxiety. It’s not always the case that you have social anxiety but if you have intense fear of what other people will think about you or you feel like you’ll be judged then you probably have some form of social anxiety.
We’re here today to talk about social anxiety because we think it’s that important. Having social anxiety can hold you back and limit your potential (we’ll go into more details about this later). First let’s break down what is social anxiety and how to figure out if you have it or not.
What Is Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is the fear of being judged by others when they are in social interactions. Social interactions can include 1-1 conversations, public speaking, and being around others (people you know and strangers).
The feelings you get if you have social anxiety include intense fear from speaking, heart racing like it’s going to beat out of your chest, super sweaty palms, dry mouth, etc. Pretty much the feeling you get when you are so scared that you have to do something that you don’t feel prepared or ready to do.
- Feeling judged
- Feeling evaluated by others
- Not good enough
- Fear of rejection
- Fear of criticism and embarrassment
There are varying degrees of social anxiety based on different situations. Be aware of that.
How Many People Have Social Anxiety?
If you have social anxiety, you’re not alone. Approximately 40 million adults (18+) have social anxiety.
The Problem With Social Anxiety
Note that just because you’re fearful or scared doesn’t mean you have social anxiety. There are times you’re just apprehensive of social situations and that’s really not the same as experiencing intense paralyzing fear. With social anxiety you become anxious and worried and want to run away (easiest way to put it).
Social anxiety can limit what you do in life because you’re afraid of what other people will think of you. It will cause you to feel insecure and think you’re not good enough. You’ll make assumptions about what people will think of you rather than finding out for yourself.
- You make assumptions about what other people will think about you
- You come up with creative negative scenarios
- You don’t say or do things you want because of fear
- You aren’t seen as a confident individual
Social Anxiety Exercises
We have exercises to work on overcoming social anxiety (will be updated since we need to put it back up). But until then, it’s good to know you can overcome social anxiety.
- It can be very difficult and painful to go through life with social anxiety. It can be even tougher to get rid of it.
We provide exposure type therapy exercises to help you with social anxiety.
What Happens When You Limit Your Social Anxiety
Freedom. To stop caring so much about what people might think about you if you say something is a great feeling. You can do so much more when you aren’t held down by social anxiety.
- Talk to random people
- Ask for help
- Make presentations
- Approach random strangers
- Become a good sales person
We’re all about reaching your full potential here at To Be Alpha. So if you hesitate with public speaking, making small talk with random strangers or are fearful of being judged in social situations, we want to help you. You can’t live the full alpha life unless you are confident and believe in yourself.