PLAYING-IT-SAFE

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a core feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and depression. Recently, some studies have shown promising results with brief protocols of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) focused on RNT in the treatment of emotional disorders in adults. The current study analyzes the effect of an individual, 3-session, RNT-focused ACT protocol in the treatment of...

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).  Cognitive Behavior Therapy traditionally has been focused on delivering specific treatment protocols for specific struggles; for instance, if you were dealing with fears of public speaking as we see in social anxiety, then there was a treatment protocol for you to get better or sometimes five different tre...

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).  Cognitive Behavior Therapy traditionally has been focused on delivering specific treatment protocols for specific struggles; for instance, if you were dealing with fears of public speaking as we see in social anxiety, then there was a treatment protocol for you to get better or sometimes five different tre...

How to cultivate loneliness & why it is important to do so: Most people are uncomfortable with loneliness because it means facing yourself without distractions.  But, as much as you don’t like it, you can learn from it and perhaps even cultivate it. Sometimes, without realizing and other times, intentionally. We do all types of things to avoid feeling lonely and to manage our sense of lon...

“The average human lifespan is absurd, terrifying, insultingly short. But that isn’t a reason for unremitting despair or for living in an anxiety-fueled panic about making the most of your limited time. It’s a cause for relief. You get to give up on something that was always impossible - the quest to become the optimized, infinitely capable, emotionally, invincible, fully independent person you’re...

It was an honor to chat with Oliver Burkeman, columnist for the Guardian, journalist by training, and author of the books: “4000 weeks: time management for mortals and happiness: the antidote for people who can’t stand positive thinking.” I have been following Oliver’s work for years and had so many questions to ask him, but of course, there were time constraints. So I did my best to ask him about...

Are you getting in the way of your own best life? One of the ways in which many of us get in the way of our best life is by playing it safe. You might be playing it safe if you ... - Get stuck thinking doom and gloom scenarios - Ask others what to do so you don’t make a mistake - Feel like an imposter despite all your accomplishments - Doubt your competency and ability to handle challenging situat...

Are you worried about making poor financial decisions? Have you ever felt ashamed of your finances? How do you relate to money? Financial anxiety is real for most of us. Quite often we do play-it-safe by avoiding financial decisions, predicting gloom and doom scenarios about potential decisions or we get paralyzed with what-if financial scenarios. So, I’m excited to share with you a conversation I...

We often have mechanistic views about ourselves “I’m bad, ugly, stupid, etc” and believe that when having any negative thoughts, painful memories feeling or they need to be fixed, repaired, or replaced.  At times we believe that we lack “confidence” or “self-esteem”. But what if our internal experiences are just that, internal experiences. What if what we do with them or what we do in respons...

How do top athletes think about their physical struggles - pain, exhaustion, thirst - when competing? How do the top athletes push their bodies to the absolute limit over hours or days of competition?  When feeling under significant pressure or in high stake situations, It’s natural that our mind may jump to conclusions about what’s going on or what’s going to happen; it's natural that o...

Our minds need to make sense of things that happen to us, all the time, and one way in which they do so is by telling stories, narratives and tales about who we are, what has happened or not happened to us, why you behave in one way or another.  When your mind is in story-telling mode, all those thoughts - no matter how absurd or unlikely they are, - they seem so true to you.  Your mind...

“Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.” - Henry James This is a personal conversation I had with Chris Brock, a magazine editor and journalist, who kindly shares the stuckness he went through when feeling lost despite having done all things right on paper (e.g. having a job, getting married, completing a degre...

"You must be vulnerable to be sensitive to reality. And to me being vulnerable is just another way of saying that one has nothing more to lose. I don’t have anything but darkness to lose. I’m way beyond that." - Bob Dylan. We often play-it-safe by hiding, avoiding, minimizing, and acting as if we're not struggling. But it's human to struggle; it's human to ask for compassion; it's human to be emba...

We all play it safe, that's the norm and not the exception. Our playing-it-safe tendencies move in a continuum from being adaptive on one end to being unhelpful on the other. And one of the ways we play it safe is by pushing hard and working hard. In this conversation, I interview Diana Hill, a clinical psychologist, co-author of the book ACT daily Journal and co-host of the psychology podcast Psy...

As Chris Martin would say, "the curiosity didn't kill the cat. In fact, she's alive and well." Today, I'm sharing with you an interview with Chris Martin, a content producer and creativity coach who helps people unleash their creative fire by transforming imaginative ideas into tangible reality.  Chris is a very caring creative person that asks deep questions, creates engaging projects, and i...

As a species, we are hardwired to avoid, control, and escape whatever makes us uncomfortable. That’s natural and expected. To avoid is to be human. But what happens when we avoid things that we care about because they make us uncomfortable or sad? What happens when we disconnect from the things that matter to us because we’re trying to control what we feel? What’s the long-term outcome of avoidant...

How often do you play-it-safe by minimizing what's important to you and avoiding conversations? In this conversation, I interview Debbie Sorensen, Ph. D., a clinical psychologist, co-author of the book ACT daily Journal, and co-host of the psychology podcast Psychologists Off The Clock. In this episode, Debbie and I chat about different micro-skills, based on Acceptance and Commitment Training, th...

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 possibil...

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 nation...

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...

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...

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...

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...

"Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how 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’t change the truth that I am also brave and wo...

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 h...