It’s essential that you endure your anxious response until it decreases on its own, without any help from you that is, without your using any anxious actions to lessen your anxiety. If that means starting at a slightly easier step on your ladder, then do that. It’s better than escaping the situation or not staying in it long enough to get the full benefit. Record the intensity of your anxious response using the 0-to-100 scale. Use the following worksheet to monitor your anxious response. Make several copies of this blank worksheet. You’ll use it for all the stepping-toward-discomfort practices that you do.

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