Dr. Julie Smith

suddenly becomes anxiety-provoking. So you take that out of your life so you can't travel. And then being in a crowded restaurant, even with friends, suddenly becomes fearful. So you stop doing that too. And what happens is every time that something falls outside of your comfort zone and fills you with fear, the natural instinct is to avoid it, right? And even the moment you decide to avoid it...

you get this relief, this, oh, phew, I don't have to deal with that today. So it's quite addictive. But what happens is over time, when you keep doing that, when you live by that rule, your life shrinks.

you get this relief, this, oh, phew, I don't have to deal with that today. So it's quite addictive. But what happens is over time, when you keep doing that, when you live by that rule, your life shrinks.

you get this relief, this, oh, phew, I don't have to deal with that today. So it's quite addictive. But what happens is over time, when you keep doing that, when you live by that rule, your life shrinks.

And suddenly there's so much stuff that you can't do because your life is sort of focused on, and all of your decisions are based on that rule that I cannot do things that cause me anxiety or fear.

And suddenly there's so much stuff that you can't do because your life is sort of focused on, and all of your decisions are based on that rule that I cannot do things that cause me anxiety or fear.

And suddenly there's so much stuff that you can't do because your life is sort of focused on, and all of your decisions are based on that rule that I cannot do things that cause me anxiety or fear.

and by the time people come to therapy they've got rid of a lot of these layers and and they feel that you know life is depressing because it's so much smaller than they ever imagined it would be and a lot of those layers include things that mattered to them right so you know your best friend's wedding or traveling across the world to visit family or whatever so it puts all of these different things out of bounds so it becomes so difficult to live in line with your own values it's so sad

and by the time people come to therapy they've got rid of a lot of these layers and and they feel that you know life is depressing because it's so much smaller than they ever imagined it would be and a lot of those layers include things that mattered to them right so you know your best friend's wedding or traveling across the world to visit family or whatever so it puts all of these different things out of bounds so it becomes so difficult to live in line with your own values it's so sad

and by the time people come to therapy they've got rid of a lot of these layers and and they feel that you know life is depressing because it's so much smaller than they ever imagined it would be and a lot of those layers include things that mattered to them right so you know your best friend's wedding or traveling across the world to visit family or whatever so it puts all of these different things out of bounds so it becomes so difficult to live in line with your own values it's so sad

Yeah. Absolutely.

Yeah. Absolutely.

Yeah. Absolutely.

I think the key is you don't have to do it all at once. Okay. I would get clarity, you know, do that values exercise. I think it's in both of my books, actually, because it's so helpful with so many different scenarios.

I think the key is you don't have to do it all at once. Okay. I would get clarity, you know, do that values exercise. I think it's in both of my books, actually, because it's so helpful with so many different scenarios.

I think the key is you don't have to do it all at once. Okay. I would get clarity, you know, do that values exercise. I think it's in both of my books, actually, because it's so helpful with so many different scenarios.

But really simple, you know, do that pen and paper bit and look at what matters most to me at this point in my life, because that makes all the decisions about the direction you want to go in much easier. Because why face your fears if it doesn't matter to you? And that's key. You don't have to, you know, if you have no inclination to ever travel, then Don't worry about going on planes, right?

But really simple, you know, do that pen and paper bit and look at what matters most to me at this point in my life, because that makes all the decisions about the direction you want to go in much easier. Because why face your fears if it doesn't matter to you? And that's key. You don't have to, you know, if you have no inclination to ever travel, then Don't worry about going on planes, right?

But really simple, you know, do that pen and paper bit and look at what matters most to me at this point in my life, because that makes all the decisions about the direction you want to go in much easier. Because why face your fears if it doesn't matter to you? And that's key. You don't have to, you know, if you have no inclination to ever travel, then Don't worry about going on planes, right?

But I think most