Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose

by Martha Beck

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Anxiety is the albatross around so many necks, maybe even yours. This book brings together sociology and science to create a way out of the endless spiral of worry.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
INDIE BESTSELLER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER

From bestselling author Martha Beck, a new path to overcoming anxiety by awakening the creativity within

We live in an epidemic of anxiety. Most of us assume that the key to overcoming it is to think our way out. And for a while it works. But there is always something that sends us back into the anxious spiral we’ve been trying to climb out of.

In Beyond Anxiety, Dr. Martha Beck explains why anxiety is skyrocketing around you, and likely within you. She also tells you how to not only reduce your anxiety but use it to propel you into a life filled with peace, meaning, and joy.

Using a combination of the latest neuroscience as well as her background in sociology and coaching, Beck explains how our brains tend to get stuck in an “anxiety spiral,” a feedback system that can increase anxiety indefinitely. To climb out, we must engage different parts of our nervous system—the parts involved in creativity. Beck provides instructions for engaging the “creativity spiral,” in a process that not only shuts down anxiety but leads to innovative problem solving, a sense of meaning and purpose, and joyful, intimate connection with others—and with the world.

The opposite of anxiety, it turns out, is a wonderful new way of life—one that can calm and inspire us as individuals and help us become a source of healing for everything around us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593656389
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	375
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Martha Beck, PhD, is a Harvard-trained sociologist, New York Times bestselling author, world-renowned life coach, and speaker. She is the author of one novel and nine nonfiction books, including the Oprah's Book Club pick The Way of Integrity.

Editorial Reviews

Advance praise for Beyond Anxiety:

“Martha Beck has changed my life with her words, her teachings, and her guidance. She is always ahead of the curve. This book will help you get curious about anxiety and tap into your divine creativity. Get ready to be transformed.”
—Maria Shriver

“In this book, Martha has tackled a subject that is the true virus of our time: ANXIETY. And with her characteristic humor, brilliance, detective-level research-skills and unconventional thinking, she has discovered actual real-life solutions to this dreaded mental scourge. In doing so, she has once again brought light, hope, and a welcome sense of excitement to us all.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and City of Girls

“I’m an anxious bunny. I opened this book hopeful but certain it wouldn’t work. It worked. It freaking worked. The gold on these pages gave me some life back. Thank you, thank you, Martha Beck. You did it again!”
—Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed

“In this new book from one of the most celebrated life coaches writing today, anxiety becomes something of a cage that, when acknowledged and replaced, generates curiosity, creativity, and a life lived on purpose. . . . Her turns of phrase make her points as clever as they are clear ... without ever putting cuteness over content. . . . Beck’s metaphors feel tailored to the individual, yet also universal. VERDICT: In this straightforward yet sophisticated work, Beck once again demonstrates why Oprah Winfrey has called her 'one of the smartest women I know.'”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“In this fascinating book, Beck provides exercises to practice a multi-layered approach that led her to change how she related to both her inner and outer worlds. We can comfort, nurture, and understand our anxiety, which allows it to relax and give access to other wonderful parts it has covered. I’m so grateful to Martha for showing us the way toward more courageous and connected lives.”
—Richard Schwartz, founder of the Internal Family Systems Institute and author of You Are the One You’ve Been Waiting For

“This is like finding a doorway between the fearful and the inventive side of your brain. It may be small and seldom used…but as you open that door…it will take you to a life beyond anxiety.”—Oprah Daily

“Beck never lectures, never talks down, and doesn’t spread doom and fear. Instead, she helps us engage with different parts of our nervous system where our own curiosity and creativity offer a pathway beyond anxiety.”
—Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of Omega Institute and author of Broken Open and Cassandra Speaks, and other bestselling books

“In her new book, Martha Beck teaches us a crucial lesson about our negative emotions: the goal isn’t to eradicate them, but to understand, learn, and grow from them. This shift can change your life.”
—Arthur C. Brooks, Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at Harvard University and author of Build the Life You Want

“A breakthrough book on understanding the profound connection between anxiety and the innate untapped creativity and purpose that beckons us all deep from within. A must-read for your mental, emotional, and spiritual health.”
—Shannon Kaiser, author of The Self-Love Experiment

“With her signature blend of science, compassion, and humor, Martha Beck upends everything we thought we knew about anxiety and how to overcome it. She shows us how to lean into our own natural capacity for creativity and tap into greater happiness. I love this book!”
—Marci Shimoff, author of Happy for No Reason

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2025

In this new book from one of the most celebrated life coaches writing today, anxiety becomes something of a cage that, when acknowledged and replaced, generates curiosity, creativity, and a life lived on purpose. Beck (The Way of Integrity) invites readers to join her in what she terms "the open field," a space beyond fear, shame, loneliness, and judgment. She distills three facts about anxiety (how it spirals, how society amplifies it, and how it can only end if it is replaced) before laying out an approach that moves from the creature to the creative and, finally, creation, or that elusive flow. Beck draws on real stories of individuals discovering that their anxiety is, in fact, a natural response to decidedly unnatural social forces. Her turns of phrase make her points as clever as they are clear (for instance, she titles a chapter the "Nuts and Bolts of Why You Go Nuts and Want To Bolt"), without ever putting cuteness over content. Unlike typical discussions of flight-or-fight, reptile brains, and Paleolithic responses to being chased by a tiger, Beck's metaphors feel tailored to the individual, yet also universal. VERDICT In this straightforward yet sophisticated work, Beck once again demonstrates why Oprah Winfrey has called her "one of the smartest women I know."—Emily Bowles

Library Journal