How to Eliminate Anxiety with a Simple Formula

For months before starting the podcast, I labored anxiously over, "What I should be doing with my life." I woke up everyday and tinkered with ideas, comparing myself to others and just wishing someone else would tell me what to do. I'd met Renae Garcia three years ago through poker, and when I heard that she had come up with a formula to eliminate anxiety called Remind, I was intrigued. I'd struggled with social anxiety for years in my early twenties, which I'd soothed immensely through emotional intelligence training, but I could see that I was still repeating stress patterns with this question. I contacted her, and I had a session.

Here is the formula:

A = E * C

A= Action E= Emotion (positive or negative) C= Certainties

The formula is based on the premise that every action we take is decided upon by us through a combination of our emotions and certainties (things we know for sure). Our emotions can be either positive (we don't need anything to change to be happy) or negative (we are trying to solve a problem because we need something to change to be happy).

When we are in a negative emotion, and make an action from that place, our action will be negative as well. For example: Let's say I started this podcast because I thought it was what I should do and because I needed to prove to everyone I'm doing something productive. That would be a negative emotion because I'm trying to solve a problem and feel better about myself. However, I could still do the same action of starting a podcast, but it could come from a positive emotion like because I feel so inspired to share knowledge and help people. Even though they are the exact same action, people who come in contact with me or heard the podcast would likley be able to tell the subtle difference.

The job of the formula is to shift us from a negative emotion to a positive one. To solve the formula, you must list your certainties first. For example, if I'm trying to figure out what I should do with my life, I would list things that are definitely true under the certainties.

Then, for any ACTION in the certainty column, I would do another list of certainties for that and then fill in the Emotion. Once I'm done with the certainties and solving for all the actions in the certainties column, THEN I will fill out the emotions column on the main equation.

Because the formula requires you to list all facts about a given situation before inserting emotion, it allows you to look at it without assumptions, judgements and prejudices (which logically, this is how we should approach life to make the best possible decisions). But when we allow all of our emotions to swirl in with our certainties, it's almost impossible to decipher between them which causes anxiety.

What I got from my session with Renae was that I released all anxiety of what I "should" do and instead, felt inspired. It led me to the creation of this podcast, and from a place of positivity.

Renae Garcia left corporate in 2011 in pursuit of a way to use her natural talents to help as many people as possible. Her Remind formula has helped her clients eliminate anxiety, cultivate empathy, creativity and new opportunities, all through intellection, a non-faith-based approach.