Anxiety seems to multiply in the closets of our minds. And if we get lazy, it will get the best of us. As counterintuitive as it is, anxiety is a lazy habit. We usually associate it will speed, racing, activity, imbalance and other out of control activities. When we get anxious, we are immersed in the thought of failure. Could it possibly be lazy thinking that prevents anxiety sufferers from pushing against the thoughts that start this emotional terror? We can push against the negative thinking or we can just let it happen. Anxiety is so demoralizing and emotionally tiring that we avoid dealing with it.

Remember that this is a thought process. Experiences don't produce thoughts as much as thoughts produce experiences. It takes work. It takes effort to stop and catch ourselves riding the anxiety loop. Eventually new tracks will replace the old ones. Anxiety will always rear its head. As we do the work to spot the thinking creating the emotion, we can keep it from taking root and growing. Here are five simple habits that will help.

1. Regularly remind yourself of all the good things in your life. This daily, and even minute by minute, practice of gratitude will become a mindset over time. Having twice what you now have won't make you happier, let alone anxiety free. Anxiety gets a foothold when we over look everything we have by looking for what we don't have.

2. Narrow your choices. Stop making possibilities endless. You don't have to do everything. Knowing to unload what you will not need or use. Anxious thoughts will start to flood your mind if you don't narrow down what you value and desire most.

3. Do your best every day. Some days you will do better than others. When you are sick, you don't do as well as when you are healthy, but you still do your best. Knowing that you've done your best should best should be satisfying. Make sure it is.

4. Keep choosing to push against old ways of thinking. This is how habits are formed. Anxiety can cause needless worry and even suffering. It can be like a virus on the end of our nerves leaving us on edge and in pain. Push back against those thoughts creating it. Don't let anxiety become your default mode. Push back.

5. Make anxiety your ally. Because it will show up, you might as well learn to use it productively. By staying in control of your thinking, this pesky parasite can add vitality to your life. It can help you get out of bed instead of keeping you under the covers. It can be an effective motivator. It can be an effective motivator. It can make you more productive. Just don't let it make you miserable or immobile.

The key is to call it out when it surfaces. See it coming like a big wave. Don't run and don't let it immobilize you. Courage enables full engagement that it otherwise blocked by fear. Grit drives action forward in the face of anxiety.