PLAYING-IT-SAFE

Imagine what would happen if you made choices to give just 10% more of yourself to your career? Imagine if you make choices to give just 15% more of yourself to your relationships?Imagine how your life would change if you make choices to give 20% more to your health? That’s what’s amazing about acknowledging the many moments of choice you have every time you're breathing. The possibilities are endless.Unfortunately, most people live in automatic pilot mode, without paying attention to the choices they’re making and without realizing, they live small and play-it-safe all the time.In this episode, I share with you 3 particulars states that you need to pay attention to in order to catch your moments of choices so you can stop playing it safe and starting living a purposeful life.Complete the Playing-it-safe questionnaire to figure out:- Your playing-it-safe profile- Which playing-it-safe behaviors keep you stuck- What you need to change is to stop playing small and start living a meaningful life.Click here to figure out your Playing-it-safe profile(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One way in which we play-it-safe is by “discounting what’s important to us or minimizing our needs.” Of course, in relationships sometimes we prioritize the relationships’ needs versus our individual needs.And yet, if this playing-it-safe move goes unchecked we may end up living lives that are not fulfilling, meaningful or rewarding.In this conversation, I chatted with Paul Ollinger, a nationally-touring stand-up comedian, podcaster, and former digital sales leader.This conversation was a powerful one because:Paul shares in detail how he made a shift, twice, from having a career that looked perfect on the outside and was enjoyable, - great benefits, stable, great people to work with - to creating a career path that was meaningful and purposeful.Paul shared the key questions he asked himself when figuring out what gives him meaning in this career:What would happen if I gave it all that I got in this life?What is my day-to-day life going to look like when I’m into this?What’s success?What’s my stress going to be about?Who will I spend time with?Lastly, Paul shared his behind-the-scenes process when preparing for a stand-up show, starting with idea collection and ending in his mindset when performing in front of an audience.You have heard me say this before, we all play-it-safe. The challenge is when we do it, how often we do it, and how we do it. Discounting what matters to us is just another playing-it-safe move and we better watch out for it!(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I never have heard a person say "I'm concerned about how kind, caring, and compassionate I'm with myself."Most of us may go into a judgmental mode when making a mistake, saying the wrong thing, or looking back at actions we took in the past. Sometimes, we may even hold onto beliefs that "by being tough with ourselves, we're keeping ourselves in check so we don't make the same mistakes again." We do have tricky minds!Here is what I can tell you: the science of self-compassion has shown us that "kindness takes us far."In this conversation with Jonny Say, part 2, he shares three different ways to practice self-compassion: (1) relying on empathic and validating statements, (2) noticing the common humanity of our vulnerable moments, and (3) self-correcting our actions.You will also hear me sharing a recent struggle I encountered and how self-compassion practices can be handy in those moments!(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fear of being a failure is more common than what we know, and it drives many struggles: perfectionism, procrastination, low moods, and many more.But are you aware of how it shows up and how you handle it?In this episode, I invite you to answer 3 questions that will help you to figure out how you handle the fear of being a failure!(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you ever wonder how a person makes ideas happen? How a person creates a concept and puts it into action in a campaign, art, or book? How do ideas scale to the point that they're so popular and well established? Do you ever wonder how a creative mind chooses an idea and how they discount hundreds of them when pursuing a creative project?In this interview, I chat with Aaron Harvey, co-founder of Made of Millions, a non-profit organization that is at the vanguard of creating social media campaigns in mental health. We learn behind the scenes how he and his team conceive ideas and execute them. Made of Millions has been rebranding mental health, developing impactful messages for the lay audience, and creating awareness about mental health in work environments.In a casual conversation, Aaron shared his process as a creative person and how he conceives an idea, how he handles creative stuckness, how he manages fears of his ideas not landing well, how he scales ideas and how he knows when to step back from an idea.This was a very special conversation and hope you enjoy it!(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When I ask people how often they get lost in their thoughts, most of them say "a lot." There wasn't a single I've talked to who said "never." Perhaps, that's not a surprise.Our minds are a powerful content-generating machine that is constantly generating all types of thoughts. If you pay attention, your mind is coming up with all types of soundtracks about the past or the future. Does that sound familiar?You cannot choose what picture, image, or thought your mind may come up with, but you can choose what to do next. In this episode, I share with you 3 tips to handle future-oriented soundtracks that your mind may come up with!Subscribe & review in iTunes!Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you're not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don't want you to miss an episode. I'll be adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix in the next couple of months and if you're not subscribed, you will them out.And if you have a minute, I welcome a review. I'll be very grateful if you leave a review on iTunes too! Those reviews are super helpful for others to find this podcast!Just select "ratings and reviews" and "write a review" and let me know your favorite part of the podcast! Many thanks!(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place ofworthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connectionto wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done andhow much is left undone, I am enough. It’s going to bed at night thinking,Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’tchange the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging."- Brene BrownIn this conversation, Jonny Say discussed with Dr. Z. his take on self-compassion, what's unique about Compassion Focused Therapy, what's behind our self-harsh criticism, and how we can learn different ways to relate to them.Jonny primarily uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy in his client work and has created a number of resources on his YouTube Channel and Guided Meditation Library to support mental health and well-being. He believes passionately in the power of ACT and CFT for mental health recovery, having experienced his own challenges with Anxiety & Depersonalisation, OCD and Depression in the past.You can connect with Jonny and the Mindfulness Circle on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulnesscircle/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvoYN3priYPLQ278FFu_J0wTwitter: https://twitter.com/mindfulcircleSubscribe & review on iTunes!Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you're not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don't want you to miss an episode. I'll be adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix in the next couple of months and if you're not subscribed, you will them out.And if you have a minute, I welcome a review. I'll be very grateful if you leave a review on iTunes too! Those reviews are super helpful for others to find this podcast!Just select "ratings and reviews" and "write a review" and let me know your favorite part of the podcast! Many thanks! (*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A lot of our struggles come from holding onto thoughts as rules - ruling-thoughts - without checking how they work in our day-to-day life. In this episode, I discuss 3 specific ruling-thoughts that could be keeping you stuck.Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love the Playing-it-safe podcast.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing this podcast!This helps me support more people — like you — that want to handle perfectionism, procrastination, anxiety, and all types of fear-based emotions effectively.You can go to apple podcasts, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Let me know what you loved most about the episode!Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. I'll be adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed and, if you’re not subscribed, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. It takes one second to subscribe!(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine for a moment that all knowledge is represented in the shape of a pie that adds up to 100%; there is maybe 5% of things we know, another 15% of what we don’t know, and 80% of things we don’t know we don’t know.The reality is that as much as we want, wish, and hope for, we don’t know the answer to many things: Am I making the right decision? Am I going to be accepted? Is this the right way to spend my time? Is this a good partner for me? Would I like this job?Though it is not comfortable, all those thoughts demand you to act and solve the unbearable “not-knowing” problem.In this episode, I share with you a single tip for you to check how you relate to uncertainty.Before you go, we do have a couple of things to tell you about!(1) ACT beyond OCD, an online class for any person struggling with OCD is opening doors soon; you can register in the waitlist here: www.actbeyondocd.com(2) If you want to get weekly free content from us right to your inbox, subscribe to the Playing-it-safe newsletter: https://playingitsafe.zone(3) If you're generous, we welcome a review on Apple podcasts; your review will help to make this free resource available to others that want to get unstuck from anxiety. It takes 30 seconds to write a review and we love reading them!(4) You can follow Dr. Z on Instagram @dr.z.passionatebehaviorist or Twitter @DrZ_behavioristIMPORTANT REMINDER: this podcast is for educational purposes and not a replacement for professional mental health.(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode of the Playing-it-Safe podcast, I chat with Sarah Peck, M.A., founder of Startup Parent, an open water swimmer, a trained yoga teacher, and a writer.In this conversation, Sarah shares how she gives herself permission to be a good enough parent, how she handles worry thoughts about her parenting, and how she manages her day-to-day activities as a mom, partner, and coach. Before you go, we do have a couple of things to tell you about!(1) ACT beyond OCD, an online class for any person struggling with OCD is opening doors on June 28th; you can register on the waitlist here: www.actbeyondocd.com(2) If you want to get weekly free content from us right to your inbox, subscribe to the Playing-it-safe newsletter: https://playingitsafe.zone(3) If you're generous, we welcome a review on Apple podcasts; your review will help to make this free resource available to others that want to get unstuck from anxiety. It takes 30 seconds to write a review and we love reading them!(4) You can follow Dr. Z on Instagram @dr.z.passionatebehaviorist or Twitter @DrZ_behavioristIMPORTANT REMINDER: this podcast is for educational purposes and not a replacement for professional mental health.(*) Show notes and resources of this episode(*) Receive free weekly science-based, compassionate, and actionable skills to stop ineffective playing-it-safe(*) Figure out your playing-it-safe profile in 5 minutes and identify the key thinking strategies that keep you living in your head(*) Learn ACT skills for anxious achievers by taking Dr. Z. ACT courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.