Anxiety, my personal experience + Conquering the chaos within #28

I never thought I would find the confidence to share my story with you, but here I am. It was scary to be vulnerable, but I knew it was worth it if it could help someone else. Talking about anxiety, fear, and overwhelm is much easier in the third person, but it was time to share my personal experience and insights on how I overcame it and learned to live more boldly. After listening to this episode, I hope you'll feel inspired and empowered to become a more confident version of yourself. Trust me, it's possible and it's worth it. Let's live fulfilling and confident lives together!

Connect with Sonia Cacique
LinkedIn
Instagram

JOIN OUR CAREER NEWSLETTER here.

🚀 Transform your college and career journey with our Self-discovery to Success Coaching Package! Gain clarity, confidence, and a unique career plan.

"Stay well, be present, and enjoy the journey"

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the College and Career Ready podcast. You go to resource for all things related to preparing our students for success in their college and career journey. My name is Sonia Casique and I will be your host and guide on this exciting journey towards a bright future. Our mission is simple to empower our parents and students by elevating their confidence and resourcefulness. We believe that you deserve all the tools and support necessary to open the doors to endless possibilities of success and, with our community, you don't have to do this alone. So come with me and let's get started. Hi friend, oh, welcome to the College and Career Ready podcast. I'm your host, sonia Casique. I'm so happy you're here with me today. If this is your first episode, I'm so thrilled you're here with me and welcome to our community.

Speaker 1: 0:59

And if this is literally your 28th episode with me, let me tell you I will be sharing something with you today that, honestly, very few people know about me as scared and maybe somewhat embarrassed. I hope that my vulnerability will be very transformational in your own life. So let me start off by asking you a question have you ever felt anxious, sweaty and unable to literally move because you are afraid of something? Or maybe you can't fall asleep because of frightening thoughts of the future that just keeps you up all night, or maybe a fear of change or the unknown. Well, I do, and I'm going to share with you something that I did not discover about myself until my adult life, when I started connecting the pieces. And if you're a high school or college student, I am so happy to be able to share this with you, so you don't have to experience what I did. Or if you're a parent that may see some of these signs in your child, then you will know what to do and what not to do. Anxiety, honestly, has been part of my life for as long as I know, and in a more pronounced way, separation anxiety has made an appearance a lot more often and, honestly, my friend, if it's not overcome at an early age, it will keep making its way through and making appearances during different seasons of your life.

Speaker 1: 2:45

Three major moments in my life where my anxiety marked its presence, not once, not twice, but actually three times, two of which were directly related to separation anxiety. And, honestly, and in those situations, what did I do? Nothing. I literally turned away and went in the opposite direction. Literally, I just didn't face.

Speaker 1: 3:16

It Always had a way out or a way of avoiding it all together, even if that meant I would change the trajectory of my own life. I always had anxiety most of my life, fear of the unknown, just paralyzing fear, and sometimes a fear of my own stories that I was creating in my own mind as if they were real facts and when in fact, it was my own anxiety and fear of the unknown that was creating these stories of, basically, incompetence. So during these three major milestones of my life, I had a way out and, without blame to my parents at all, because they didn't know any better at the time, they sheltered me from the experience Rather than helping me face the fear. Knowing what I know now, facing the fear is the way to overcome it. Avoiding it is actually just making that fear bigger, larger, greater and sometimes more prominent in your life.

Speaker 1: 4:24

To give you a clearer view of these three events in my life, the first being when I was very young, I was moved from regular ed classes to the GT program at my school and, at the time, being removed from a quote unquote comfortable classroom. With my friends, I was moved to a place of being uncomfortable and being anxious and, honestly, I cried, literally cried my way out and back to regular education. The second time was when I was accepted to an RN program. This is when I was already in college and the fear of going into such a rigorous program literally paralyzed me and I declined the acceptance. I know the third was the charm, right? No, not in this case. The third time was when I had landed my first professional job as a pharmaceutical sales representative, and the fear of having to travel and my separation anxiety kicking in, I decided to resign almost without giving it a chance. I know, right, you're probably thinking how can a fear paralyze you in that way? Well, yes, it did the heart pumping, the sweating profusely, the unable to rest my mind, unable to fall asleep. I mean, honestly, the symptoms go on and on Because of my anxiety. It was creating these sleepless nights, making me think of the worst case scenarios of everything. It would cause me to find no relief until I would find a way to walk in the opposite direction. My body would quickly go through the flight fright freeze response, choosing to flight every single time Because my mind would just cause me to believe there was a danger ahead, a danger that really didn't even exist. I still get a little overwhelmed in sharing this story, to be quite honest.

Speaker 1: 6:35

So, leaving that career, I decided to go into education. Now, education had always been part of my career plan. I knew I would one day be an educator. I just thought it would be a career I would eventually fall into once I had reached all my other career aspirations. So what did I do? I found education to be my way out of the uncomfortable and unknown to the comfortable and known spot. Remember my separation anxiety and inability to travel? Well, now, I feel almost like the joke was on me, because a few months after landing my job and being in that quote-unquote comfortable zone as a high school teacher, I had to go to a conference and my separation anxiety kicked in. Yup, I was supposed to go out of town on a conference and guess what? I no longer had an alternative plan. That would be the real joke, right?

Speaker 1: 7:36

So it wasn't until then, until then, that I had accepted to myself I had a real, bigger issue. I suffered from anxiety and, as quickly as I could, I did what I now preach to and tell every single person I can. I became resourceful and found ways to face my fear on my own. I clearly remember the day that I realized this. I was sad, I was overwhelmed, but I was also encouraged because I had decided this was not going to happen anymore and I finally connected the thoughts of my own history. Although a bit saddened about everything I had gone through or actually had avoided to, I really felt empowered because I was going to do it right this time. I was going to face my fear and not look back.

Speaker 1: 8:34

Now, to some of you, my particular fear anxiety might not be something you could completely understand, and I get it but I bet you could understand the feeling of feeling incapable, or the feeling of fear or worry or anxiety. No matter what the reason is, the feeling is still the same, the feeling of not having control, when in fact it's the complete opposite. So what did I do this time around? It was my aha moment, the moment I decided to find resources. I knew what I had. I had anxiety and now I had to look for solutions and look for answers.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Honestly, as I'm kind of telling you this story, I don't think any of my colleagues at the time knew, probably still don't know to this day, that I suffered from anxiety and that one trip, that one conference I had to attend to really took all my power. And guess what? After going through the experience, going with all the resources and with a different mindset, I build up my confidence, and I did it. During my trip, I remember focusing on all the familiar rather than the unfamiliar, which was my pattern or the mind that I would have during those stressful moments of anxiety. In those moments of anxiety, I would focus on everything that was wrong or everything that was unfamiliar or everything that would worry me, instead of focusing on everything that I did know, everything that I could do. So I was determined this fourth time and I actually did it. I finally did it, and although the end of the story would have been great to say that I never had the fear again, I would be lying to you. It still shows up here and there every once in a while. But unlike those three major milestones in my life, I now face them and grow stronger each and every time. I have since left my career as an educator and have had the blessing to move up to other positions now as an education consultant and as your podcast host.

Speaker 1: 11:01

Everything I would have never dreamed of since remaining quote unquote comfortable or staying comfortable was my solution to most of my anxiety for three decades of my life. I honestly thought that I would be a high school teacher for the rest of my life because that would be my quote unquote comfort zone. And, thankfully to that one aha moment, that one time that I finally became vulnerable and really faced my fear and, you know, really accepted my history and accepted that I suffered from anxiety, that's when my life started to change and this is where my passion and love to help others all started and stem from. That's why I pursued a career in school counseling to really understand the mind better, our mental health and its potential on our body, the physical reactions it can have on us and the effects on our mental capacity to encourage and, unfortunately, limit us sometimes as well. I want to see student improvement by leading, advocating and collaborating for student success, not just focusing on the academic rigor but everything else that can play a role in one success. This is where I became inspired to make a difference in someone else's life and also when I realized I had so much more potential that I could also achieve if I just learned how to face and overcome my fears.

Speaker 1: 12:38

That is my goal to this podcast. My friend, my goal is for you to find this to be a community, a network of people who want to see you succeed and who wants to encourage you in the process, a place for you to find resources and guidance, no matter where you are at in your career journey, whether you're still exploring your career options, in the process of obtaining your education or ready to land your first job. I am here for you and, friend. The reason I share this with you today is because I know that creating confidence in yourself and being resourceful is the way to overcome any obstacles or any limiting beliefs and ultimately opening the doors to endless possibilities of success. Whether you're going into your last year in high school, going away to your first semester in college or just starting a new school year, I want you to know that you can accomplish anything, and my hope is that my story gives you a shortcut so you don't have to walk a long journey like I did before you realize all the potential you have within you. Start scared, my friend, it's okay, but start and don't give up. Even on the hard times, I am always here for you.

Speaker 1: 14:06

Friend, I would love to hear from you If you can relate with parts of my story. I'd love to hear from you. You can always find me on Instagram at Sonia Casique, that's S-O-N-I-AC-A-C-I-Q-U-E, and send me a DM. Even if it's just the word relate. I love hearing from you and I love knowing that I can make a small difference in someone else's life. I love you, friend. I'm always cheering for you. I'll talk to you on our next episode and, in the meantime, stay well, be present and keep dreaming, because together we can accomplish anything. Hi friend, thank you for listening in. If you enjoyed this episode, you would mean so much to me. If you share it with a friend, share it with them right now or, even better, tag me so I can personally thank you for helping us build our community and so thankful for each and every one of you. Let's keep in touch and I'll talk to you soon. Adios.