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Seven Percent Slower - A Simple Trick For Moving Past Anxiety And Stress
Are you speeding up and rushing around when anxious, stressed, or afraid? Seven Percent Slower is a friendly, easy-to-read guide to understanding and breaking the speed habit that fuels your anxiety and stress fires.When anxiety, stress, and fear show up, you speed up. The bad news is that this is making things worse for you. The good news is that you can learn to break the speed habit. If you are on a quest to find a calmer, less stressed, and less frantic life, learning to slow down can go a long way toward achieving that goal.Seven Percent Slower will help you understand how the fear center in your brain drives your speed habit, why this was a good idea thousands of years ago, and why this is a bad idea in the modern world. The book will teach you how to recognize your speed habits and how to slowly change them over time. Seven Percent Slower will help you understand why you may be resistant to slowing down, how slowing down can change your life, and how concepts like mindfulness come into play.Full of practical advice and sprinkled with humor, Seven Percent Slower is destined to become a useful addition to your stress management and coping skills toolbox.
- GenresNonfictionMental Health
117 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 11, 2021
About the author
Drew Linsalata
3 books87 followersDrew is the creator and host of The Anxious Truth, a slightly unorthodox anxiety podcast that’s been in full swing since 2014 with over 2,000,000 downloads (and growing). The Anxious Truth podcast and the community surrounding it are recognized sources for anxiety education, support, inspiration, encouragement, and empowerment.
In 2020, Drew published two books on anxiety and anxiety recovery. The Anxious Truth and An Anxiety Story have quickly become required reading for anyone suffering with anxiety and in need of education, instruction, inspiration, encouragement and empowerment.
In 2021, Drew published Seven Percent Slower, a simple friendly guide to slowing down and being more mindful to move past anxiety and stress.
In 2020, Drew published two books on anxiety and anxiety recovery. The Anxious Truth and An Anxiety Story have quickly become required reading for anyone suffering with anxiety and in need of education, instruction, inspiration, encouragement and empowerment.
In 2021, Drew published Seven Percent Slower, a simple friendly guide to slowing down and being more mindful to move past anxiety and stress.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 9, 2021
Does the book have helpful information? Theoretically, yes.
Does it worth spending two and a half hours? Not really; I found it quite distracting to repeat the same ideas through each chapter.
However, I strongly recommend listening to The Anxious Truth podcast before considering reading the book.
Does it worth spending two and a half hours? Not really; I found it quite distracting to repeat the same ideas through each chapter.
However, I strongly recommend listening to The Anxious Truth podcast before considering reading the book.
October 30, 2021
In Seven Percent Slower, Drew Linsalata does not set out to reinvent the wheel or come up with a newfangled gimmick to cure all of our stress and anxiety. Rather, he reminds us of a simple concept that we’ve probably all heard of before: slow down and stop rushing through everything! It’s tempting to look for more information, more techniques, more therapeutic modalities, and more tips when we’re faced with chronic stress. In truth, the simple things are often the most overlooked because in the end, practical application and habit are what make anything useful actually work for us. I’ve never seen anyone make the case for slowing down as practically and engagingly as Drew does here. There’s nothing abstract and airy about this book, and he’s not out to waste your time and attention. Give this short book a read and gain a better understanding of how to show your lizard brain it’s okay to chill out a little and take life just a bit slower and easier.
November 9, 2023
I picked up this book because I love Drew's podcast and this book has the same friendly yet matter-of-fact vibe. The concept is a great idea, I've been implementing it the past couple of days and I feel it would definitely improve my panic response to rush around constantly, I just hope I remember to keep implementing it, sometimes that's the hardest part with good advice! I wish the book had been a little longer and given some more practical exercises, that's the only reason I took off a star. I definitely recommend this book for the constantly stressed people (like me) who do everything at lightning speed and handle everything like it's a crisis that needs action taken immediately.
December 15, 2024
Going into this I wasn't really sure if the concept of moving slower throughout the day each day was something that would benefit me, but once I started thinking about it more I realized whenever I am out and about, mainly going for walks, especially when I'm in a time crunch and I need to be somewhere by a certain time, I will feel rushed and therego anxious. It's gotten to the point where I'll check my heart rate through my Apple watch several times during my walk, and even at most other points in the day when I'm just around the house or eating, as a means to kind of ground myself in knowing whether I am going too fast and having more of an awareness of my body, which I think definitely takes practice, and then even more practice to slow down without being overcome by the anxiety and emotions in that moment. However, the more I relax the less I feel inclined to constantly check up on what my watch is telling me. All things considered, I've made tremendous progress with silencing my lizard brain.
What I also realized, and this is maybe something I was already somewhat perceptive to, was the fact that I let my fear and anxiety mold how I approach daily life, where my goals are fear based in terms of wanting to avoid certain feelings as opposed to doing what it is that I want to do, and even though those might seem like the same things it really comes down to what the motivational factor is.
If it wasn't obvious already, there is a reason that I read this book, and it's because I've been struggling with certain feelings of anxiety, which I wasn't even sure was anxiety, after months of feeling terrible and thinking I had a physical condition. I've made a lot of progress this year, but I can still sense that something, essentially that lizard brain response I guess, is amiss. I usually feel it in my stomach or my neck or my head where I sense something is physically wrong with my body and it puts me into a panic. I've heard of the lizard brain concept before, but no one really teaches you how to deal with it, we kind of just normalize having anxiety and if it's unbearable then we are told that we aren't trying hard enough or we have to toughen up or whatever. Maybe it isn't so normal. How common should it really be if we are never truly in physical danger? If there are situations where we actually are in danger, then that is a good reason to normalize anxiety, because that fight or flight reflex may as well save our lives. So what should be normalized really depends on our situation, but regardless we shouldn't normalize it dictating our lives. It feels like it's so easy to fall in the trap of letting my lizard brain control and overcompensate, drowning out my other mental faculties. It's almost as if an unconscious part of my brain has held me, or the rest of my brain, captive, and in order to regain my freedom I have to practice taming my lizard.
It's all in our habits. Just focusing on what we're doing rather than how we're feeling just like Drew says, and although this book didn't hit me quite as emotionally as the first short book that he wrote about his personal journey, I still feel like there is a lot here that is valuable in terms of approaching anxiety. Even though I've heard some of it before from other sources and have already been trying to apply some of these tools, there was still a lot that was new to me and it's very calming that someone is actually telling it as it is and I'm very appreciative of Drew for this. This stuff should really be taught in school from a young age, but no one really teaches us how to deal with anxiety, even something as simple as how to breathe properly. For months I wasn't sure if I was breathing right because no one told me how to do that, you kind of just do it. I got in the habit of taking a lot of deep breathes, which might as well have been causing more anxiety than alleviating it. There were also times where I was inadvertently holding my breath without even realizing it.
I've made a lot of progress with letting tension in my body go and just relaxing my muscles as often as I can be aware of my body. I'm not quite sure what it really is a lot of the times, but I know I still have an issue with certain foods that will trigger anxiety, but in terms of being social, I've made so much progress and can do things again that I couldn't when I didn't physically feel comfortable, although I haven't really worked my way back into going to as many concerts as I was in the last few years. But something about getting outside, and practicing being out and about doing things and being around people is very healing, and the more I do it the more relaxed I feel. With time it seems whatever it is that is feeding my anxiety will eventually become relaxing, and it is in that relaxed state when you are aware of moving in slow motion and are able to catch yourself and say, oh I'm feeling a lot better than I used to in this situation, and you are able to be present with how you feel and your surroundings without feeling like you need to escape. It seems like no matter how bad it gets, with time, you can train the lizard and relax in situations you never thought would be possible, and you can be more present with the world instead of constantly worrying about how you're feeling.
It's been over a month since I read this until I actually got around to writing most of this, and Drew's words helped me a lot, but there is a lot that he doesn't cover that have been huge in terms of my progress. Between therapy, chiropractic, supplements recommended by my dietician, cold showers, balanced meals, I feel more relaxed than I have in a long time, but reading what Drew has put out there helped me realize what it was that I've been trying to achieve. Anyway, four stars.
What I also realized, and this is maybe something I was already somewhat perceptive to, was the fact that I let my fear and anxiety mold how I approach daily life, where my goals are fear based in terms of wanting to avoid certain feelings as opposed to doing what it is that I want to do, and even though those might seem like the same things it really comes down to what the motivational factor is.
If it wasn't obvious already, there is a reason that I read this book, and it's because I've been struggling with certain feelings of anxiety, which I wasn't even sure was anxiety, after months of feeling terrible and thinking I had a physical condition. I've made a lot of progress this year, but I can still sense that something, essentially that lizard brain response I guess, is amiss. I usually feel it in my stomach or my neck or my head where I sense something is physically wrong with my body and it puts me into a panic. I've heard of the lizard brain concept before, but no one really teaches you how to deal with it, we kind of just normalize having anxiety and if it's unbearable then we are told that we aren't trying hard enough or we have to toughen up or whatever. Maybe it isn't so normal. How common should it really be if we are never truly in physical danger? If there are situations where we actually are in danger, then that is a good reason to normalize anxiety, because that fight or flight reflex may as well save our lives. So what should be normalized really depends on our situation, but regardless we shouldn't normalize it dictating our lives. It feels like it's so easy to fall in the trap of letting my lizard brain control and overcompensate, drowning out my other mental faculties. It's almost as if an unconscious part of my brain has held me, or the rest of my brain, captive, and in order to regain my freedom I have to practice taming my lizard.
It's all in our habits. Just focusing on what we're doing rather than how we're feeling just like Drew says, and although this book didn't hit me quite as emotionally as the first short book that he wrote about his personal journey, I still feel like there is a lot here that is valuable in terms of approaching anxiety. Even though I've heard some of it before from other sources and have already been trying to apply some of these tools, there was still a lot that was new to me and it's very calming that someone is actually telling it as it is and I'm very appreciative of Drew for this. This stuff should really be taught in school from a young age, but no one really teaches us how to deal with anxiety, even something as simple as how to breathe properly. For months I wasn't sure if I was breathing right because no one told me how to do that, you kind of just do it. I got in the habit of taking a lot of deep breathes, which might as well have been causing more anxiety than alleviating it. There were also times where I was inadvertently holding my breath without even realizing it.
I've made a lot of progress with letting tension in my body go and just relaxing my muscles as often as I can be aware of my body. I'm not quite sure what it really is a lot of the times, but I know I still have an issue with certain foods that will trigger anxiety, but in terms of being social, I've made so much progress and can do things again that I couldn't when I didn't physically feel comfortable, although I haven't really worked my way back into going to as many concerts as I was in the last few years. But something about getting outside, and practicing being out and about doing things and being around people is very healing, and the more I do it the more relaxed I feel. With time it seems whatever it is that is feeding my anxiety will eventually become relaxing, and it is in that relaxed state when you are aware of moving in slow motion and are able to catch yourself and say, oh I'm feeling a lot better than I used to in this situation, and you are able to be present with how you feel and your surroundings without feeling like you need to escape. It seems like no matter how bad it gets, with time, you can train the lizard and relax in situations you never thought would be possible, and you can be more present with the world instead of constantly worrying about how you're feeling.
It's been over a month since I read this until I actually got around to writing most of this, and Drew's words helped me a lot, but there is a lot that he doesn't cover that have been huge in terms of my progress. Between therapy, chiropractic, supplements recommended by my dietician, cold showers, balanced meals, I feel more relaxed than I have in a long time, but reading what Drew has put out there helped me realize what it was that I've been trying to achieve. Anyway, four stars.
September 15, 2024
Excellent information in this book. I would have given higher stars if it was written a bit better. People suffering from anxiety so need to here things repeatedly but it's a bit too much repetition in one short book. I highly recommend the author's podcast "The Anxious Truth" and the "Disorderd"podcast with Joshua Fletcher. Best wishes to everyone dealing with anxiety.
Read
May 8, 2026Though Drew is not a Christian author, a parallel could be drawn between this and The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Going 7% or more slower in life teaches you brain and body to slow down and can reduce anxiety. A short read - would recommend.
January 26, 2023
Solid tips and concept to apply today
April 19, 2025
Lovely, simple, and intelligent guide to slowing down a bit to calm down stress/anxiety. Quick and wise read! Also a bit of humor which is always good!
April 14, 2026
so good
May 23, 2024
A great tool for managing anxiety, added to the kit. Don't expect much more than that though!
January 8, 2026
Despite feeling Iike I was being called out and seen, I absolutely loved this book - it helped me slow down, stay present and focus. In fact, I think I need to read it again, I'm slipping! Great job, Drew!
August 27, 2024
2.5 - this had some good information but i felt like it was just repeating itself over and over again. this could’ve been a 50 page book and i would’ve gotten the gist
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews