Unfortunately, the research is quite clear on this one. Despite all of our new gadgets and opportunities, anxiety is still increasing among the adult population.

Another worrying sign is that anxiety tends to increase with age. You would hope that a better view of life and more experience would reduce our worries about the future. However, the pattern shows that as we age, we tend to get more anxious.

Before delving into living an anxiety-free life, we must first acknowledge that it is not always a bad thing. After all, it indicates fears that we have in our lives and can help us practice self-control.

However, we now live in a world where anxiety is the norm. I do not know one person who is not worried about something. There is always something in our minds bugging us. It might be finding enough time to do a task or as small as worrying about what to eat.

Even though I am writing an article on an anxiety-free life, I can certainly admit it is not easy to do. I often find myself in the trap of worry and struggle to get myself out. In fact, I can not remember the last time I was completely at peace, living in the present and not anxious about something.

For most of us, this is the case. We care a lot about our futures and are pretty good at spotting where we could go wrong. Thanks to humans naturally leaning towards negative emotions to govern their lives, it can be hard not to worry.

Although we may not all suffer from severe anxiety, it is rare to find someone who is not anxious about something. So, how do we rid worry in our lives and live life to the fullest in the present?

#1 Stop Focussing on Things You Can Not Control

I have found that the majority of my worries come from here. We have all become control freaks and seek to be in control all the time. Thanks to all the tools and options we have, we want more control over our lives.

We live in a generation where we are only a few clicks away from getting the answer we need. We all want to be more productive and seek efficiency in everything we do.

One thing we do know is that we all seek to have more control over our lives. However, this also means that things outside of our control tend to bother us more. Instead of thinking about what we can control, we spend most of our time planning how we could control what we can not.

We try to play our lives as safe as possible and mitigate all of our risks. I am not advocating to live life in a way that is risky or careless. After all, if there is traffic that you can avoid, then plan to do so.

However, many of us are trying to take much of the uncertainty of life away. We spend a lot of time overthinking and planning to make sure we know exactly where life is heading. But this is not living.

What makes life worth living is the fact that it is uncertain. There are possibilities outside of our control, and that is a good thing. Sometimes these things lead to bad situations but believing we can control them only makes us feel worse.

We start to blame ourselves when in reality there is nothing we could have done. When we focus on things outside of our control, we grow anxious because we think they could come out of nowhere and throw us off our path. And guess what, maybe they will. But life is not about controlling your uncertainties, it is about responding to them.

#2 Stop Living Life Based on the Expectations of Others

People expect us to be a persona and do certain things for all different types of reasons. However, whatever the reason is, living a life trying to live up to expectations will only lead to misery.

When we are anxious about what others think, we lead ourselves to live inauthentic lives. Instead of living life for ourselves, we live it for the approval of others.

So what if all your pictures on Instagram are you “living your best life”? And why does it matter what others think about the new job you posted on Linkedin? What benefit does it bring to your life?

No matter what stage of life you are at, people will believe they know you. As a result, they will hold you to expectations they think you can handle or should uphold. But how you live your life is not their call.

When we lay on our death beds, we will have to think about whether we lived life to its fullest. And we can only answer that with a yes if we first believe we lived an authentic life. That means we were the person we wanted to be.

If there is one thing to be anxious about, it is living a life that is not your own. Stop letting others govern the way you live life. Choose your own path, go your own way. The expectations of others will mean nothing when it comes to living a fulfilling life. Instead, it is the expectations you put on yourself that matters.

#3 Live Each Moment

I have read one too many self-improvement articles telling people to be in control of every single second of their time. They suggest crazy things like reading on the toilet and checking your emails while brushing your teeth.

But life can not be programmed, nor can it be lived like an algorithm. Yeah, I get it. A tonne of our lives is just habits. So when we change our habits, we change the quality of our lives. But take a seat back and think about what a sad life that is.

To live a life of repeated functions to get to a destination we believe will fulfil us. Having good habits is vital, but it is often these habits that cause us anxiety.

We try to fill our lives with so many good habits to get what we want, so we end up living every day worried about the next. We are constantly on the go thinking about the next thing. Just think about the last time you did an activity without thinking about what you need to do next?

Unfortunately, so many of us live our lives on a merry-go-round, constantly thinking about what’s next. The problem is, we forget to live in that moment. We forget to appreciate the taste of the food in our mouths or the drive back from work.

Yes, we should plan for the future. However, life is not just about tomorrow, it is about today. When we appreciate the moments that make up life, we can become less dependent on our future selves and live for the now.

Try Living Anxiety-Free

As highlighted before, it will be hard to rid ourselves of anxiety. After all, we all have plans for our future, and with that comes uncertainty, expectation and focus on tomorrow. However, you are living today, and you can only experience life today.

So, why not take a deep breath in and appreciate the air of today. Look up at the sky and be mesmerised. For it is not what we plan to do tomorrow that matters, it is what we have done today.