Self-Coaching

Self-Coaching

By Dr. Joe LucianiHealth & FitnessMental Health
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Self-Coaching episodes

  • Life Is Short—Please Don’t Remind Me
    In this Self-Coaching episode, I take you inside Rome’s infamous “bone church,” a place that forced me to confront a truth we all quietly avoid: life is short. But this isn’t about death—it’s about how we live. Why do we push certain thoughts away? And what happens when we stop running from them? You may find parts of this unsettling—I did—but what lies on the other side of that discomfort may surprise you. Because sometimes, the very thoughts we avoid are the ones that wake us up, sharpen our priorities, and remind us what really matters.
    17 min
  • Stop Obeying Insecurity
    Insecurity talks to all of us. Don’t risk that. Stay safe. Don’t say too much. Don’t let people see too much. Most of us assume those feelings are something we have to obey.
    But what if that isn’t true?
    In this Self-Coaching podcast, I explore a simple but powerful discovery: you can feel insecure without letting it run your life. The breakthrough isn’t eliminating insecurity—it’s learning that you don’t have to obey it.
    21 min
  • Be Yourself. Stop Living a Lie
    Living a lie usually isn’t intentional. It grows out of a long-standing habit of feeling that, somehow, you’re just not okay as you are. To manage that feeling, you learn to monitor yourself, avoid conflict, and keep parts of who you are hidden to feel safe. Over time, adapting and self-editing can start to feel like maturity or self-control, rather than a cover-up.
    Over time, that way of living creates pressure. Constant self-monitoring can lead to anxiety, chronic tension, and a feeling of never fully being at ease. Decisions start revolving around what won’t upset, won’t expose, or won’t risk rejection. This Self-Coaching podcast looks at how that pattern takes hold—and how learning to be yourself again can ease anxiety and restore a sense of freedom and self-trust.
    20 min
  • Why therapy doesn’t always work
    Therapy works. It can reduce suffering, offer clarity, and help people feel less alone in their pain. And yet, many thoughtful, self-aware people quietly ask a question they’re almost embarrassed to voice: If I understand myself so well, why hasn’t my life really changed? In this episode, I explore why therapy doesn’t always work—not because it fails outright, but because relief, insight, and safety are often mistaken for transformation. Feeling better is real progress, but it isn’t the same as living differently.
    In this Self-Coaching episode, we’ll look at how therapy can unintentionally become palliative—soothing distress without interrupting the habits that keep recreating it—why insight alone rarely sets us free, and how understanding the past can sometimes delay change in the present. This isn’t an attack on therapy. It’s an honest examination of its limits, and a conversation for anyone who’s been “doing the work” and still feels stuck. If you’ve ever wondered whether therapy is helping you cope—or helping you change—this episode is for you.
    24 min
  • Why everything feels harder than it should
    Life often feels hard, not because something is wrong, but because we carry more into each moment than the moment requires. We’re rarely just living; we’re evaluating, interpreting, and judging how we’re doing while we live. That constant self-monitoring turns ordinary tasks into tests and quietly drains energy, leaving us tired even when nothing is falling apart.
    In this Self-Coaching episode, I explore why much of our struggle comes not from life itself, but from the overlay of insecurity we add to it. When we stop treating every moment as a measure of our worth, something lightens. Life doesn’t become easy—but it becomes more manageable, more honest, and less exhausting.
    18 min
  • Why time seems to fly the older you get
    This podcast explores the psychology behind why time seems to fly as we get older. We don’t experience time directly—we experience moments. When life becomes routine and automatic, those moments blur together, and time appears to disappear.
    But when we’re present, attentive, and engaged, moments leave an imprint—and time expands. This Self-Coaching episode looks at how attention, memory, and presence shape our experience of time, and how reclaiming even small moments can change the way life feels.
    17 min
  • How do I know if my reluctance to change is normal–or neurotic?
    Change has a way of stirring unease even when we know it’s necessary, and hesitation is often interpreted too quickly as weakness or fear. But reluctance isn’t automatically a problem; in many cases, it’s a natural, protective response that deserves attention rather than dismissal. In this Self-Coaching episode, we explore the psychology of this resistance and ask a more helpful question: how do you tell the difference between healthy caution and a neurotic pattern of insecurity? Instead of assuming that all resistance is something to overcome, we look at what reluctance may be trying to communicate—and when it’s signaling something worth respecting.
    This podcast will help you examine your own patterns around change. We’ll look at how insecurity amplifies uncertainty, and how to evaluate whether your reluctance is grounded in self-trust or driven by fear. The goal isn’t to push yourself toward change indiscriminately, but to develop the discernment to know when change is being avoided—and when it’s wisely being deferred.
    14 min
  • The winter mind: How shorter days distort our perspective
    In this Self-Coaching episode, I explore what I call the “winter mind”—the subtle psychological shift that occurs as daylight shrinks and our internal sense of possibility shrinks with it. Shorter days don’t just affect our energy; they quietly distort our interpretations, making ordinary stresses feel heavier and old insecurities feel more convincing. I discuss how this seasonal contraction interacts with the habit of insecurity, why our thoughts sound more personal in the quiet of winter, and how small acts of intentional warmth—what Norwegians call koselig—can counter the distortion and restore perspective. Through practical Self-Coaching steps, I show how to meet winter’s narrowing with clarity, steadiness, and renewed trust in your capacity to navigate life as it is, not as the season would have you believe.
    21 min
  • Thanksgiving Therapy
    This isn’t your typical “holiday episode.” Thanksgiving has a surprising way of slowing us down, even when we try to outrun it. The gathering, the familiar faces, the rituals—we don’t realize how much they interrupt our usual rushed, distracted rhythm. For one day, life pulls us back into connection, memory, and emotional reality.
    In this Self-Coaching episode, I explore why Thanksgiving hits harder than any other day of the year and how it quietly resets us. The warmth, the chaos, even the bittersweet moments all bring us back to what truly matters. It’s a rare chance to step out of autopilot, feel the day, and reconnect with the people and traditions that help us remember who we are.
    17 min
  • Compared to Others, How Do I Know If I’m Okay Enough? Normal Enough?
    In this Self-Coaching episode we explore the quiet, relentless habit of measuring ourselves against everyone around us. Whether it’s feeling outmatched in a conversation, watching how easily others seem to navigate life, or seeing social-media posts that make your own progress feel small, comparison turns ordinary moments into silent self-judgments. But these doubts aren’t really about being “normal”—they’re about seeking reassurance that we’re okay, worthy, and not falling behind. Using Self-Coaching principles, we break down why comparison feels so instinctive, how it distorts our sense of self, and how to shift from external measuring sticks to internal self-trust. You don’t become “enough” by matching others—you become enough by reclaiming your own path.
    23 min

About Self-Coaching

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A revolutionary, new approach to alleviating life’s emotional struggles