Morra Aarons-Mele, host of The Anxious Achiever and mental health advocate, discusses how to regain control when anxiety strikes unexpectedly. She emphasizes that calm isn't a prerequisite for composure, and instead encourages understanding anxiety as a part of leadership. With practical tools, she explores techniques for navigating tough conversations and managing emotions effectively. Morra breaks down the importance of accepting anxiety while providing insights for high performers to enhance their negotiation skills and emotional resilience.
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insights INSIGHT
Anxiety Exists on a Spectrum
Anxiety exists on a spectrum from helpful to debilitating mental illness.
It is an ancient, natural emotion evolved to keep us safe and is part of leadership challenges.
insights INSIGHT
Normalize Anxiety's Reality
Normalizing anxiety helps reduce stigma and fear around it.
It's a legitimate, natural part of human emotional experience, not something to fear.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Prepare to Manage Anxiety
Accept that anxiety before difficult conversations is normal.
Prepare a plan to manage it so anxiety does not stop you from performing.
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How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life!
Kwame Christian
The Anxious Achiever
Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower
Morra Aarons-Mele
This book aims to normalize anxiety and leadership, arguing that anxiety is inherent in leadership and can be harnessed for good. It provides practical advice on recognizing and managing anxiety, confronting bad habits, resisting perfectionism, dealing with feedback and criticism, and modeling healthy behavior as a leader. The book is inspired by Aarons-Mele's popular podcast of the same name and is designed to help readers turn their stress and worries into strengths for themselves, their careers, and their teams.
Uncertain
The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure
Maggie Jackson
In 'Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure', Maggie Jackson challenges the conventional view of uncertainty as a flaw and instead presents it as a crucial mindset for navigating complex crises. The book, based on extensive research and interviews, highlights how uncertainty can foster creativity, curiosity, adaptability, and resilience. Jackson examines various domains, including laboratories, political campaigns, and artificial intelligence, to illustrate the positive impact of embracing uncertainty. The book argues that uncertainty is not a hindrance but a necessary component for incisive thinking and day-to-day flourishing in an unpredictable world.
You don’t need to feel calm to stay in control.
In this raw and eye-opening episode, Kwame Christian sits down with The Anxious Achiever host Morra Aarons-Mele to unpack what really happens when anxiety hits in the middle of a high-stakes conversation. Whether you're a leader, negotiator, or just trying to survive the next Zoom meeting, this conversation offers practical tools to ground yourself, recover in real-time, and stop letting anxiety run the show.
Morra breaks down the science, shares life-saving techniques from her work with high performers, and reveals why anxiety isn't something to conquer — it's something to understand, respect, and work with.
This episode is not about avoiding discomfort. It's about learning to lead through it.
Negotiate Anything 
