Understanding and prioritizing our values and goals can help us make meaningful changes in our lives.
Recognizing and respecting our own limits is essential to avoid feeling overwhelmed and prioritize what is important.
Developing coping strategies and tools to safely explore and process emotions is crucial for our overall wellbeing.
Reflecting on our core values can help maintain motivation during periods of change and growth.
Deep dives
Recognizing and prioritizing values and goals
In the podcast episode, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding and prioritizing our values and goals. They discuss how values are long-term guiding principles that shape our attitudes and behaviors. Goals, on the other hand, are specific achievements we strive for. The speaker suggests that regularly evaluating and checking in on our values and goals can help us stay focused and make meaningful changes in our lives.
Navigating overwhelm and maintaining balance
The episode acknowledges the challenges of feeling overwhelmed and the pressure to do everything perfectly. The speaker highlights the importance of recognizing and respecting our own limits. They emphasize that it's okay not to strive for extraordinary achievements and instead prioritize what is important and aligned with our values. They also discuss the significance of setting realistic expectations and finding a balance that allows us to fulfill our responsibilities while taking care of ourselves and our relationships.
Understanding and managing emotions
The episode delves into the topic of emotions and how they influence our wellbeing. The speaker suggests that embracing and understanding our emotions can be valuable, but acknowledges that it can also feel overwhelming for some individuals. They mention the importance of developing coping strategies and tools to safely explore and process emotions. The speaker emphasizes the need for self-compassion and curiosity when examining our emotional responses and behaviors.
Maintaining motivation during change and growth
The episode explores the concept of motivation and the challenges of sustaining it during periods of change and growth. The speaker emphasizes the value of reflecting on why we started a particular journey or pursued specific goals. They highlight that motivation may fluctuate, but anchoring it to our core values can help us stay committed. The speaker acknowledges that external factors, such as recognition or demands, can influence motivation, and suggests regularly checking in with ourselves to ensure that our actions align with our true motivations.
The Impact of Stress on Physical Health
The speaker reflects on the physical impact of stress, noticing that high-stress moments often lead to sickness or skin problems. They emphasize the importance of paying attention to the body's signals even when the conscious mind ignores them. The speaker also shares how pretending everything is fine can result in extreme and uncontrollable habits, highlighting the need to recognize and address underlying issues.
Changing the Narrative around Mental Health
The speaker observes a shift in societal attitudes towards discussing mental health, particularly among males. Despite stigmas, the speaker notes that many male followers actively engage, ask questions, and positively interact on social media platforms. They credit social media for enabling conversations that people wouldn't have face-to-face. The speaker also mentions the power of sharing personal experiences to help others and reduce the stigma around mental health.
Building Confidence and Self-Esteem
The speaker challenges the idea that confidence must be built to a certain level before undertaking something, arguing that action and repetition are key to developing confidence. They caution against relying solely on positive affirmations, highlighting that one's brain offers thoughts without conscious control. The speaker suggests holding thoughts with curiosity rather than judgment, examining their validity, and consciously choosing how to respond to them. They emphasize the importance of self-compassion and acting based on personal values rather than fleeting emotions.
Dr. Julie Smith is a clinical psychologist with over 3 million followers on Tiktok, as well as the author of the Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Before she was famous, she practised therapy for over fifteen years with the NHS and the Ministry of Defence. Julie offers practical advice to her millions of followers on everything from how to lead a meaningful life, to how to cope and what to do if you find yourself mentally struggling, to how to find motivation.
Julie has something for everyone. Her new book is not designed to be read in its entirety in one go, but instead is packed with applicable and real-world advice for a wide range of problems. The reader can digest as they need it. Julie has helped millions of people, and she dropped in to tell me about her plan to help millions more.
