The new year is here! The month of January tends to invite motivation, whether it is to face a new challenge, become healthier or make a change in your career. January can make you feel like a new person and conquerable all of your goals.

However, it’s undeniable that a time so full of determination also has moments of anxiety as you plan and reflect on the year ahead of you. Anxious thoughts race through your mind, ‘Will I accomplish all I have set out to do this year?’ ’ ‘What if I fail?’ and all the other “what ifs” that might come up. These questions can be more prevalent for those who worry, are nervous or experience anxiety. It’s easy to see how new year’s resolutions can be anxiety provoking. If this is something you can relate to, then I suggest you consider creating some of your goals around reducing your worries, nervousness, and stress.

Because anxiety can be all consuming, mind and body, when you’re able to minimize and heal anxiety, it will free up your focus, energy and time to work on your other goals. The last thing you want to do is live in fear and anxiety that prevents you from being the best you can be in 2017. The good news about anxiety is that it is entirely possible to manage and eliminate your anxiety.

Here are 6 new year’s resolutions every anxious person wants to consider right now – they’re worth the effort!

1. Talk about your anxiety instead of hiding it.

Don’t feel bad about your anxiety. Open up to those you feel safe with. It can be hard for people who don’t have anxiety to understand what it’s like to have anxiety. Opening up to others and sharing how you feel and what you’re going through can help others gain a better understanding of your experiences and also how to best support you. You might isolate when you feel anxious, which can be hard for others to understand what’s going on for you. Plus, you might be surprised to find others who also experience anxiety but didn’t feel comfortable sharing their struggles.

2. Prioritize putting yourself and your self-care first.

Think of the safety warning before taking off on an airplane, ‘Put on your oxygen mask before helping someone else with their mask.’ This is a great metaphor, if you’re not breathing, you’re not going to be helpful to others. Is this a tough one for you? Do you always focus on making others happy before taking care of your own happiness? If this is your pattern, it may very well be contributing to your anxiety and stress.

3. Exercise at least 20 minutes every day.

Exercise can be one of the most significant ways to help manage and reduce your anxiety and support your overall mood. To name just some of the benefits, exercise lowers the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Exercise enhances the production of the feel-good neurochemicals serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. It also helps to produce new neurons in the brain that raises the brain’s capacity to handle stress.

4. Try yoga or meditation.

Numerous scientific studies have found both mindfulness practices of meditation and yoga to be effective in treating anxiety. Chronic worriers often have increased reactivity in the amygdala, the area of the brain associated with regulating emotions. Yoga and meditation help with one’s ability to turn down the reactivity of the amygdala. Mindfulness also reduces the number of neurons in this fear-triggering part of the brain. The focus on breathing also helps to slow down and calm the mind.

5. Get out of your comfort zone more.

Anxiety occurs when we’re outside of our window of tolerance and our body is in hyper-arousal. While everyone’s comfort zone varies, individuals with anxiety typically have a more narrow comfort zone. One of the things I work on with my clients is widening their window of tolerance so that their bodies are more resilient which increases their anxiety threshold. Widening your window of tolerance is something you can practice by getting out of your comfort zone. You want to be mindful and find the intensity that’s evoked just at the edge of your comfort zone.

6. Work with a therapist.

Working with a psychotherapist can significantly reduce or eliminate anxiety symptoms, allowing you to get back to get back to your life and regain a sense of control. Psychotherapy aims to identify and address the source of the anxiety. This process helps people to understand, unravel, and transform anxiety and learn self-soothing techniques to use if worries flare up.