Today I had to do a big presentation at work to some important people. I was quite anxious as I’m still fairly new-ish to the job and still feel like a huge imposter. I’ve also got a new manager who sat in on the presentation to check everything went okay. 
I did it and when I came out the other side my anxiety was telling me it went terribly. Though I tried not to show it, throughout the presentation, the anxiety was saying, “oh god, you’re bombing, end it so the audience can stop feeling awkward and embarrassed for you.” I was sure that my manager must be quite disappointed. I fully expected to get a call from her to go over what went wrong and how to improve. 

Instead, she copied me in to an email between her and her boss giving me a “shout out” because I handled the tough questions “like a pro, giving extremely confident and good answers.” She also added that at the end, the head of department of the client I was presenting to had said the presentation was “one of the best” he’d seen and he’d found it “extremely useful and insightful”. 

I feel like she and I were at totally different presentations but it just goes to show, your anxiety is not always right about the situation and your perception does not always align with everyone else’s. 
Ignore the anxiety voice and just keep on going!