How to Take Action, Alleviate Anxiety, & Follow Your Dreams

Practical strategies that create life-changing momentum

You have an idea. One that could solve a big problem for a lot of people.

You’re over the moon about its potential impact and how it could help you could give back to your community.

After bringing it to market, you imagine all the satisfaction you’d feel. The sense of accomplishment you’d experience. And sure, all the money you’d make.

But then, fear sets in, and a stream of ‘what-ifs’ cloud your vision:

• “What if I’m not talented, and I fail?”

• “What if I try, and after a lot of hard work, I learn that it’s not rewarding?”

• “What if others criticize me?”

• “What will happen if things get uncomfortable?”

• “What if I succeed, change as a person, and lose my social group?”

Ultimately, you decide that it’s just not worth the risk.

“It’ll probably end up failing, anyway,” you convince yourself.

And just like that, before you even start, you give up control of your future—and allow your dream to fade into a what-could-have-been.

Which is exactly what happened with your last dream. And the fifteen that came before it.

What’s going on here?

Whether caused by perfectionism, social comparison, trauma, societal messaging, or even evolutionary history, the bottom line is that you feel unworthy of success or happiness.

This unworthiness makes you feel anxious, so to stop it, you abandon your dream. However, that anxiety quickly returns tenfold because you’ve also abandoned your authenticity, so you’re stuck on an always-anxious treadmill.

The solution? To take action. Now.

By doing something—anything—you not only inch closer to your goal but also relieve your anxiety.

Why does taking action work so well for showing anxiety the door?

It all comes down to these five psychological mechanisms—and how you leverage them.

Taking Action Interrupts Overthinking

When you’re anxious, you overthink.

And when you’re trapped in ‘overthinking mode,’ even the simplest situations seem insurmountable. Forget about anything complex, like following a dream.

However, taking action immediately interrupts this cycle of rumination. It redirects your mental energy away from unhelpful thought patterns and back toward solving the problem.

You create forward momentum instead of remaining stuck in a feedback loop.

Try this: The next time anxious, self-defeating thoughts arise, write them down. Then, immediately do something physical—take a walk, organize a drawer, or complete a small task. Redirection breaks the mental loop and gives your brain something concrete to focus on.

Once you’re re-centered, return to your written thoughts and see if you can identify the errors in your logic.

Were you assuming a worst-case scenario? Engaging in all-or-nothing thinking? Overgeneralizing? Treating emotions as reality?

Really lean in and figure it out.

Doing Something Provides a Sense of Control

Despite how it might seem when pursuing a dream, your anxiety isn’t caused by uncertainty itself. Instead, it’s caused by the feeling of powerlessness that underpins the unpredictability.

However, taking action can help you reclaim a sense of agency over the situation.

Try this:

1. Make a list with two columns

2. Label the left column “Things I can control” and the right column “Things I can’t control.” Fill them in.

3. Review the ‘Can Control’ column and practice gratitude with each entry: “I’m thankful this path is open to me.”

4. Review the ‘Can’t Control’ column and practice acceptance with each entry: “I accept that I have no control over this.”

5. After you say these phrases, redirect your energy toward a response—rather than a control—strategy

   1. For example, you can't control how people perceive your dream, but you can present it in a clear, compelling way that connects with those who share your excitement. Another example is that you can't control when things get uncomfortable, but you can control how you balance your emotions during those times.

This activity does double duty: It helps you acknowledge your lack of control in certain instances, while simultaneously providing tangible evidence that even in uncontrollable situations, there are usually still aspects within your control.

Leaning Into Your Anxiety Challenges Catastrophic Thinking

Next, anxiety makes you believe that things have never been worse and that you’re completely incapable.

However, taking action proves that the opposite is true: it’s just as easy to imagine best-case scenarios, which are equally as likely to happen as worst-case scenarios. Also, that you’re qualified, competent, and prepared to succeed at this very moment.

Try this: Create a list of your top anxiety-provoking situations.

Gradually expose yourself to these situations in small, controlled circumstances and write down the outcomes afterward. For example, if you're anxious about the social rejection of your dream, rather than avoiding all contact, try attending an intimate social interaction with some of your closest friends and give them your heartfelt pitch.

You’ll almost certainly find that your fears were hugely overblown. Your brain can also reference these corrective experiences later to quell anxiety the next time it rears its head about pursuing your dream.

You Reward Yourself for Your Action

From a physical perspective, completing an action-oriented task releases feel-good neurotransmitters in the body, like dopamine, which help counteract the effects of anxiety.

Try this: Design your day so that you can complete several small goal-oriented tasks for quick wins. For example:

• Early morning: Spend 10 minutes brainstorming solutions to one specific problem your business will solve

• Lunch: Reach out to one potential customer

• Afternoon: Complete one small business-related task (e.g., register a domain, draft one paragraph of your business plan, etc.)

• Evening: Celebrate what you accomplished, however small

Even spending a couple of minutes focusing on a task can trigger your reward response and alleviate anxiety.

Movement Builds Momentum

Last but certainly not least, by helping you achieve small successes, taking action boosts your confidence. It also makes future action easier, which gradually reduces anxiety as you develop greater self-efficacy.

Therefore, you want to make taking the first step as easy as possible. It should be so small and so easy that you feel ridiculous not doing it.

Try this: For example, if you’re anxious about launching your business, create a Word document and write "Business Ideas" at the top of the page. This will only take 30 seconds, but it immediately overcomes the initial resistance to doing and creates a physical space where your dream can develop.

Also, support yourself by creating a simple spreadsheet called “Wins” to track your progress. This will help you visualize how small actions accumulate over time while reinforcing your capability to face challenges that previously seemed insurmountable.

Don’t Let Anxiety Write Your Story

The gap between achieving your dreams and lifelong disappointment is bridged through action, not by waiting for your anxiety to disappear magically.

Start by taking one ridiculously small step today. Tomorrow, take another.

You’ll soon realize that while anxiety will always be a passenger on your journey, it never has to determine your direction.

Your dream awaits.

Not for perfect conditions, but simply for you to show up.

What tiny action will you take in the next five minutes?