Celebrating 50 Episodes of Your Anxiety Toolkit!
Celebrating 50 Podcast Episodes of Your Anxiety Toolkit
Well, today is an EXCITING day! Today is the day we Celebrate 50 Episodes of Your Anxiety Toolkit!
This day is quite an interesting one for me, as I reflect on how much Your Anxiety Toolkit has grown and changed. This podcast started in my kitchen, while my son napped next to me. From that sweet beginning, I have received so many wonderful blessings, the biggest being able to "meet" all of you. Thank you again for your support and encouragement. From that first kitchen recording, we went on to create CBT School and CBT School Campus. It has been SO FULFILLING.
So, THANK YOU!
In today's podcast, I detail the 5 most important things I have learned from hosting Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast. Don't worry! This is NOTana episode about technology and stats. It will apply to you, I promise.
You can listen to the episode for FREE on iTunes HERE
You can listen to the episode for FREE on Stitcher HERE
You can listen to the episode for FREE streaming HERE
Here are the FIVE Things I learned Since Starting Your Anxiety Toolkit
1. Make Things Entirely With LOVE
Recently, I was going through some old papers and I was reminded of something very sweet. Two yrs ago when I started Your Anxiety Toolkit, I had to come up with a password for my Libsyn account (where the podcast is hosted). On the piece of scratch paper was the password I used when originally signing up to host Your Anxiety Toolkit. The password was “Doitwithlove”.
Still, to this day, I try to only sit down and work on CBT school project with love in my heart. I don't mean for this to sound cheesy. I really believe in it. And, I would encourage you to try it. When you sit down to relax, actually allow love to fill you. Or, as you do a hard thing, "do it with love". As a person with anxiety myself, I have to often remind myself to react with love, instead of certainty or with hypervigilance and “hyperawareness.” I just try to sit in this moment and allow myself to trust that love will carry me. And it has been nothing but true.
And look! You all have been the perfect outcome! I could go as far as saying, this has been a very good experiment for me. I have learned that people won’t hate me for being imperfect or silly. I have learned that love gives me much better outcomes than fear.
2. No Mud, No Lotus
I won't lie. I haven't all flowers and unicorns. There are days where I am overwhelmed and I literally feel like my head will spin into space. There are some days when I feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew and self-doubt comes in like crazy. There are days when I am tired and I have nothing to say to you guys. But, I just keep going, in a slightly stubborn way.
But then, days like today come when I can see a milestone being reached and I can look back and see how important the work it. Or, days when I see you all supporting each other and being the kind of people we need in the world.
You see, there is no lotus without mud. There is no beautiful blooming flower without the gooey, brown slosh that supports it and allows it to open up.
Could you maybe apply this to your recovery? Can you use this as a reminder for when you feel like nothing is going right and that you will never get to the light at the end of the tunnel? It gets REALLY hard before it gets easy. This is normal for earths wonderful creature and it is true for us too.
Please don't forget, “No mud, no lotus”
3. Comparison Gets You Nowhere But Down
This one is super important and it isn't the first time I speak to you about this. You cannot compare yourself to others.
Please know that I am totally aware that reaching 50 episodes is nothing compared to many podcasts out there. I am very aware that other podcasts have way more followers and many more subscribers. I am sure you could very easily spend your valuable time listening to some other podcast that is more successful, more……something. However, I have been very disciplined in not engaging in comparison as I have hosted this podcast.
Sure, I could compare with others, but I have come to learn that I don't want exactly THIER followers. I don't want THIER success. I want the followers just like YOU! Followers that feel like I fit them. I want followers who I can inspire, in my own way. And, I want the followers that inspire ME!
I remember getting to a point in my life where I was so exhausted with trying to make everyone happy. There was one day, in therapy to be honest, where my therapist put the heat on me and questioned me on why I was trying to please people that aren't even MY people. I want to use this episode as a reminder for you to stop comparing your recovery or success with others. Their recovery wouldn’t work for you. Their steps are not your steps. Their win mightn’t be your struggle. Which brings me to my next point.
4. Compassion Brings People Together!
I had no idea how much people needed compassion. I had NO IDEA!
I really had no real awareness of how hard people were on themselves. I know, that might sound weird. I am a therapist. I see people being hard on themselves every day. But, if I am being honest, I had NO idea how many people would report to me that they had no idea what compassion was until they came across my podcast or my Instagram or my Facebook live chats.
The beautiful part is hearing how the introduction of compassion changed their lives. It really is quite beautiful.
5. We Can DO Hard Things
I know, I know! Please don't roll your eyes. The last big thing that I learned is that we CAN do hard things. No joke. We can. We are.
I try not to share too much about myself on these podcasts, because I would never want to make my clients uncomfortable (in my office), but I seriously did NOT think I would be able to do this. I think the reason I am so thrilled to make it to 50 episodes is because I didn’t actually consider for one second that I would get to this point. It isn’t that I thought I would give up. I just didn’t even think that far ahead.
So, there you have it.
The FIVE THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM HOSTING YOUR ANXIETY TOOLKIT
- Make Things Entirely With LOVE
- No Mud, No Lotus
- Comparison Gets Your Nowhere But Down
- Compassion Brings People Together
- WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!
Once again, thank you for supporting CBT School.
Forward we go,
Kimberley
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