Emily McDonald

I mean, I just said doubt is a dopamine destroyer.

So you're not going to have the dopamine to go and do the things.

So you're not going to have the motivation to go and do the things that you need to do.

But also, I like to give this analogy of imagine you are walking around just day-to-day life with somebody next to you 24-7 constantly telling you you can't.

constantly telling you, oh, you're not going to do that well.

You're going to do a bad job.

What would that... You'd be constantly braced.

You would always be braced because this person is just constantly tearing you down and doubting you.

You would always be braced.

You would never be able to relax.

And so that's kind of what happens in your nervous system as well.

You're always kind of braced.

That dysregulates you when you're always...

I mean, really, it's just negative thoughts in general.

If you're always beating yourself up, tearing yourself down, doubting yourself, then you're always going to be in that braced state and that boosts cortisol, which boosts stress.

And if you're dysregulated, we haven't touched on this yet, but if you are dysregulated, if you are very stressed, then you're going to see increased activity in the amygdala.

And the amygdala is often associated with fear and really being kind of the fear and stress centers in the brain.

And when the amygdala is highly active, it hijacks your perception as well, which I've experienced in my life so many times in my past where maybe I'm really nervous, maybe I'm really stressed, and I walk away from a conversation, I'm like,

I said all these things wrong.

I didn't do well enough.