Hospital Stay: Life Coaching Tools for Anxiety that WORK

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

How I Used Life Coaching Tools to Manage Anxiety During My Hospital Stay

Life has a way of throwing unexpected challenges our way. Recently, I found myself in the hospital, facing not only physical discomfort but also the mental and emotional stress that comes with uncertainty. In moments like these, anxiety can take over—unless we have tools to manage it. Thankfully, I had three powerful life coaching tools that helped me process my experience with clarity and calm.

1. The Power of “What If?”

When we’re in difficult situations, our brains love to spin out with worst-case scenarios. Lying in the hospital bed, I caught myself thinking: What if something is seriously wrong? What if I never feel better? These thoughts only made me feel more anxious and powerless.

Instead, I turned to the “What If?” tool. This technique flips our thinking by asking: What if things go well? What if this experience is happening for me, not to me?

By shifting my focus, I started considering possibilities like: What if this hospital stay sets me up for a lifetime of vitality? What if I learn something valuable from this experience? This mindset shift eased my fear and allowed me to approach the situation with more openness and less resistance. Listen in to the Love Your Life Show episode for more real life examples.

2. Zooming In and Zooming Out

Another tool I leaned on was the “Zoom In and Zoom Out” technique. When anxiety takes over, we often zoom too far out into the future and worry about things far out of our control. Whereas by zooming out, we can see where we have leverage and actual decision making power.

Zooming helped me ocusing on what I could control in the moment, like my breath, my thoughts, or asking for what I needed. This balance of perspective helped me stay present without getting overwhelmed.

3. Clean Pain vs. Dirty Pain

One of the most valuable tools I used was understanding the difference between “clean pain” and “dirty pain”. Clean pain is the natural discomfort that comes with a tough situation—like emotional fear from a situation or disappointment with what’s going on. Dirty pain, on the other hand, is the suffering we add on top of it—like self-judgment, fear, or resentment.

Instead of spiraling into thoughts like I shouldn’t be here, this isn’t fair, I reminded myself: This is hard, but I can handle hard things. Listen in to the episode to hear other examples of how you can use this tool in real life. Acknowledging the clean pain without adding layers of unnecessary suffering allowed me to stay more grounded and less emotionally overwhelmed.

Final Thoughts

My hospital stay was challenging, but these life coaching tools helped me navigate it with more ease and resilience. If you ever find yourself in a stressful or uncertain situation, try using these techniques:

Ask empowering “What If?” questions.
Zoom in on what you can control and zoom out for perspective.
Separate clean pain from dirty pain to reduce unnecessary suffering.

Life will always bring challenges, but we get to decide how we meet them. With the right tools, we can move through difficulties with more calm, clarity, and confidence. As you heard in the Love Your Life Show episode, I’m on this path with you. Using these tools help me a lot. Humaning is hard. Let me help you make it easier:

Learn more about my online coaching community here.

See if I have room on my one-on-one schedule here.