As a woman, and as someone who lives in the 21st century, the odds are stacked against me when it comes to neuroticism. Keeping it under control has been a conscious battle, albeit a worthy one: it no longer hampers my life much at all. Step one is becoming conscious of your own neuroticism; step two is noticing the ways it tries to control you; step three is actively and consciously demolishing its practices; and step four is upholding some daily habits that keep it under lock and key.
Here are some habits that I personally have in place to control the neurotic tendencies I still notice in my psyche. (Your tendencies will differ from mine, so this isn't a cure-all.)
Money. For the longest time in the past, I had the tendency to freak out about spending money. I've even written a few posts here on WIP about how it makes my subconscious think that I'm dying. So, to actively fight against this kind of neuroticism, I spend money regularly on things I want but don't necessarily need. I actively do NOT try to save money; I remind myself that it's about making more, instead of spending less. I also cringe at anyone who talks about saving a few dollars a day in the hopes of being a millionaire by the time you're 150.
Food. I sometimes get stuck in my head categorizing foods into columns titled "allowed" and "forbidden", instead of mainly eating healthy and sometimes just enjoying myself without guilt. Therefore, if something feels forbidden and I notice the forbiddance begins twisting my thoughts in a neurotic way, I just enjoy the thing and get over it.
Guilt of not doing enough productive things. I've gotten over this quite effectively this year, but in case it comes back this fall (when I'm usually most productive), I'll remind myself that I don’t have to be productive. (Nietzsche would approve.) Life is life. Since I’m also a woman, simply being (like reading books, taking walks, excercising) is sometimes enough.
Old stuff, like childhood memories that do me no good. Whenever I catch myself thinking about the past, I do a Dispenza meditation - the one he describes in Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. I visualize a door that opens - there's a strong wind on the other side - and let the old memory out the door. The wind catches it and disperses it into thin air. This works like magic and I warmly recommend it.
With these four habits and tactics, I effectively keep my remaining threads of neuroticism from wrecking my everyday life.
RK out.
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