If I lose my anxiety will I still be driven to succeed?

For many high-achievers, anxiety and ambition can feel intertwined. The push of deadlines, the fear of failure, or the drive to prove yourself that keeps you striving for more. Whilst, deep down you might question, if my anxiety were to disappear, would I lose my competitive edge?

Anxiety as a motivator

Anxiety can act as a motivator, and we can use it as eustress, or "positive stress." This is a type of stress that helps you focus, meet challenges, and perform under pressure. However, when anxiety tips into chronic distress, it drains your mental and physical resources, often leading to burnout.

For many successful people, anxiety is a thin line, with many people fearing that without anxiety, they’ll lose their drive. This belief ultimately comes from confusing anxiety with motivation. Because the truth is, anxiety is more than a motivating spike in our nervous system, it is a debilitating dysregulation that will take away more than it will give you.

What Happens When You Let Go of Anxiety?

Through hypnotherapy, you can shed high functioning anxiety and emerge more focused, motivated, and creative than before. Here’s why:

1. Mental Clarity Improves: Anxiety creates mental noise, distracting you from your goals. Without it, you have more mental space, can think more clearly and strategically, and allow access to different parts of the brain when your fight or flight (limbic) brain is calmed down.

   
   

2. Energy Levels Increase: Anxiety is exhausting. Releasing it frees up energy to direct towards other projects and ventures. 

   
   

3. Intrinsic Motivation Deepens: Without anxiety’s constant pressure, you can connect to deeper, more sustainable sources of inspiration—like personal growth, joy, or meaningful work, meditation, creative resources etc, the important thing is that you get to choose.

   
   

Redefining Your Drive Without Anxiety

I encourage you to imagine motivation as a spectrum. On one end, there is the anxiety-fueled drive which forces you to succeed out of fear. On the other side is a calm, confident drive which empowers you to succeed because you’re aligned with your purpose and are in a state of flow. Which feels more sustainable?

The key is shifting from fear-based motivation to purpose-driven action. Here are some steps to get started:

• Reflect on why you’re chasing success. Is it for validation, or does it align with your values?

  • Aside: Do you know what your values are?

• Identify habits you engage with that are fueled by anxiety, like over-preparation or perfectionism, and explore what healthier alternatives there are that you could choose.

• Use tools like hypnotherapy to rewire your subconscious mind, replacing fear-based patterns with empowering ones.

  
  

Releasing anxiety often unlocks a higher level of performance and fulfillment. When you replace fear-driven ambition with purpose-driven action, you create a life where success and well-being can coexist.

Ready to tackle your anxiety today?

If you’re ready to explore what’s driving you and transform anxiety into empowerment, hypnotherapy can help. Together, we can uncover your deeper motivations and release the patterns holding you back.

Ready to tackle your anxiety today? There are three options.

1. Download my free lead magnet here.

2. Drop me an email at hello@laurenwigmore.co.uk to schedule a session.

3. Or sign up to my 6 week rapid reset hypnotherapy (launching late December)