Anxiety

I watched Inside Out 2 this weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it.

As someone who has anxious tendencies, I can say Anxiety’s character was accurately portrayed in ways I had never put words to before.

Spoiler Alert: Riley, after being taken over the new emotions, spends the second act of the movie abandoning her values to gain a short-term victory — pleasing others at the expense of her sense of self.

In the end, Anxiety puts too much pressure on Riley to predict move and outcome on the way to this goal, and she has a panic attack.

It’s easy for us to look back and say, “Well, of course anxiety is only in your imagination! No one should ever listen to those voices in your head telling you that you’re not good enough.”

But how many times have you put your brand promise at stake to meet quotas and quarter goals?

How many times has the anxiety in your head told you that you’re not good enough to reach out to a client?

Or avoid investing in a service that will bring your business further into alignment with those you seek to serve because you feel like you don’t deserve success?

Business moves rooted in anxiety are inherently selfish, because they are made to satisfy your inner fears instead of serving your customers.

And that’s a road that leads to nowhere.

We cannot control outcomes, only what we put into the world.

When there’s only a tiny bit that you can control, everything you ship should be rooted in generosity.