Like some days back, we heard some discussion on the fear of tomorrow. The study shows that the amount of chronic stress and anxiety many experiences today is as a result of the mismatch between the old brain and the new environment we are in right now. I will open our eyes to reality again, let’s go:

_{Pixabay: Stress, Anxiety, Depression}

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Do you know that there is useful emotion in stress and anxiety in time past because humans lived in an Immediate Return Environment then which make them take action in face of immediate problems?

See this illustration:

A man that is thirsty will feel stressed and dehydrated. The step to take is to find water and the stress is relieved. When you look at another frightening moment when a lion appears across the plain, yes you will be stressed and the next step of action is to run and the stress is relieved. I must say, this is how our brain evolved to use anxiety and worry. When you define anxiety as an emotion that helped protect humans in an immediate return environment i think I am right. This was built for solving short-term problems because immediate return environment demands immediate action there is no need for chronic stress when the problems come action is taking with immediate effect.

If you love watching documentaries and study the reaction of a deer or any wild animals, you will agree with me that they rarely experience chronic stress. Yes! deer may be startled by a loud noise and urgently take off to the forest, after a moment when the threat is gone, this animal is calm and starts grazing immediately. From the perceptive on humans, its hard to see a man after the threat is over continue his journey in the same direction. When a man lives in an immediate return environment he will only have to worry about acute stress and when the threat is gone, the worry subsides.

Here comes where the problems lie… Delayed Return Environment. Many of us face with different problems and when we ask ourselves some questions it seems like the problems rarely are solved right now in the present moment.

What Do I Do?

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Constant uncertainty is one of the greatest sources of anxiety when the discussion of delayed return environment is ongoing. A student that work hard in school and earned good grade has no guarantee of a job thereafter. Most of the investment we get in for are all matter of good or bad. Just like going on a date can not guarantee your soulmate landing. So friends, when you live in a delay return environment it simply means you are surrounded by uncertainty.

let’s see how to thrive in a delay return environment that creates so much stress and worry/anxiety.

• Measure Something

In life, know the measure of what you want to control has a long way to affect your success. From the angle of retirement, you may say I can’t know for certain how much money I will have in retirement but do you know that you can remove some uncertainty from this by simply measure how much you save each month. Also like a student that is uncertain about getting a job after graduation can track how often he reaches out to companies about internships. In times of relationship, you can’t just predict when you find love but again you can pay more attention to how many times you have introduced yourself to someone new.

To make an act known, measure. By Samest

Measuring something won’t magically solve a problem but it will clarify the situation, pull you out of the black box of uncertainty and make you get a grip on what is actually happening. The awesome thing about measurement is the feedback.

• Shift Your Worry

The second point here is to change your worry from the long-term problems to a day to day activities that will solve that problem.
Why not focus on taking a walk each day than worrying about living longer.
There is still much thought we do exercise but the key insight that will help in this situation is by you making sure your day to day activities both reward you immediately (Immediate Return) and resolves your future problems (delayed return)

Let’s conclude

Delayed Return Environment is the major problem humans has due to the fact that our brain did not evolve in this environment and that is where we find ourselves today. I have this assurance that when you measure the things that are important to you and shift your worry/anxiety to daily practices that pay off in the future, you will definitely reduce some of the uncertainty that is inherent in this modern environment.

If you miss out the first episode, here is The Fear Of The Unknown Part 1.

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Thanks for reading.