Tune into the episode that addresses the success conditioning that creates blurry lines between culture and conformity, and how the pressure to conform in our personal lives influences our collective experience as a society.

Timestamps:

"(00:21) Update on podcast topics"

"(02:13) The tie between professional and societal experience"

"(03:56) Company culture and cult of personality"

"(08:20) When greed trumps integrity"

"(10:21) Drinking the culture Kool-Aid"

"(12:08) The breeding of toxic leadership"

"(15:03) Normalizing complacency"

"(18:23) Your individual power"

"(20:11) Refuse to be easy to control"

The conditioning associated with the traditional success paradigm has reach far beyond the way we prioritize achievement. It has real implications for how we interact with and view the world at large.

Now, more than ever, it's critical to know what you do have the power to influence within your own life and to do the inner work necessary to deprogram from what professional constructs have taught us to tolerate in service to "success," as that same programming can make us feel hopeless in the face of uncertainty.

No matter what's happening in the world, you get to decide where to place your focus and energy, not just for your own good, but for the good of others. If you're having a hard time processing the reality we find ourselves in, this episode is for you.

*This podcast has been renamed to The Conditioning Culprit!! Just an FYI that the intro reflects the previous name.

If you're feeling stressed, exhausted, stuck, time poor, anxious - the list goes on - it's a clear indication something is off in your life. You're likely in survival mode, caught in the loop of what you've gotten used to, even if it's not actually working or you.

There's no need to overengineer the solution to this problem. In fact, there's a simple question you can ask yourself with the power to change the way you approach your life.

This may sound entirely too basic to be useful, but it does work, and powerfully so. If you're in need of a shake-up, this episode is for you.

If you're ready to dig deeper, check out my book, ⁠The High Achiever's Guide⁠, and my ⁠blog⁠ for further exploration of the conditioning challenges that high achievers face and what to do about them.

*This podcast has been renamed to The Conditioning Culprit!! Just an FYI that the intro reflects the previous name.

What is a dark night of the soul? It can be anything that triggers an extremely difficult time in your life, like the loss of a job, a relationship, an illness, etc. It can also be a very internal process, like having the realization that something in your life isn't what you'd hoped or worked for, a sense that something is off that feels heavy, and comes with a lack of clarity or confusion about how to

Often, even if it's one specific area of life that's calling your attention to the fact that something is off, the challenges are not confined to that area. In other words, that one area is serving as a catalyst for you to tune in and pay attention to what's happening in your life holistically.

It's normal to experience a dark night of the soul, but sometimes it sneaks up on you. Learn what signs to look for and how to handle it when it shows up in your life.

*This podcast has been renamed to The Conditioning Culprit!! Just an FYI that the intro reflects the previous name.

It's the time of year when you start to consider what comes next, but resolutions aren't for everyone. Sometimes they're too big, try to do much, or cyclically end up as a resolution, only to be dropped soon after the year begins.

If resolutions feel like too much pressure or not a good use of time, you can take an honest, hard look at your priorities instead and resolve (ha!) to make 2024 the year you allow your priorities to lead where you put your energy.

This may sound like a boring no-brainer, but it can actually be difficult to discern the difference between what you prioritize and put energy into versus your real priorities.

There are times when more effort doesn't yield different or better results. Now is the time to take advantage of what you learned last year and try an approach that will keep you aligned with what matters to you most.

Small note - I had some editing challenges so there's no intro for this episode! I hope you enjoy this one.

This episodes covers the ways in which your social groups (professional and personal) can have a profound impact on your trajectory. It's natural for us to gather and socialize, but it's important to ensure that what you're getting from those interactions supports your growth rather than stagnation.

Listen for the major things to be aware of and suggestions for how to handle tendencies that limit your potential.

*This podcast has been renamed to The Conditioning Culprit!! Just an FYI that the intro reflects the previous name.

Do you feel as if you're always getting ready to be ready?

Do you overthink, overanalyze and generally try to "perfect" something before you take action?

It's tempting to think you must have every detail, answer, and concern addressed before you initiate something new, but the reality is that this approach can be a form of self-sabotage that keeps you stagnant.

There are two main conditioning challenges to be aware of when you're stuck in the preparation phase or when battling analysis paralysis. This podcast episode explores these challenges with concrete examples and offers tools for overcoming the conditioning blocks that keep you spinning your wheels rather than moving forward.

*This podcast has been renamed to The Conditioning Culprit! Just an FYI that the intro reflects the previous name.

Limiting beliefs have the power to keep you from moving forward in your life, often in ways that go undetected due to how deeply ingrained they can be. Learning to identify and take inventory of your specific limiting beliefs puts you back in the driver's seat rather than allowing fear and doubt to dictate the way you move through (or stay stuck!) in life.

Inside this episode:

Check out my book, The High Achievers Guide, for in-depth discussion and exercises on this topic and others relevant my fellow achievement-oriented people out there.

*This podcast has been renamed to The Conditioning Culprit! Just an FYI that the intro reflects the previous name.

Understanding the difference between self-confidence (knowing your sh*t) and self-worth (knowing your value) is critical to your ability to show up in the world authentically.

As a Type A, high-achieving personality, you may be highly self-confident (and for good reason), but the sneaky part of self-confidence is that it involves a feedback loop of validation and recognition from others. While this is an important part of building appreciation of your abilities, it is *not* the same as having a fundamental sense of self-worth, which makes it possible - even likely - that despite being confident, your sense of your inherent value could use some work.

*This podcast has been renamed to The Conditioning Culprit! Just an FYI that the intro reflects the previous name.

Do you tell yourself that certain conditions need to be met before you can take steps toward a particular goal or intention? If you regularly engage in thinking like "When x occurs, then I'll do y," that's a red flag that you are potentially sabotaging yourself without being conscious of it.

High achieving individuals are conditioned to put work ahead of everything and make promises to themselves that eventually the time will be right to put energy and effort toward other priorities. This is actually not the case as your conditioning will keep you trapped in the cycle of keeping work in the ultimate position of priority, even when it's depleting and stressful to continue doing so. Perfectionist tendencies and fear of failure play a critical role in this cycle, as well, and it's important to identify whether those factors play a role so you can be aware and make different decisions in the moment when the opportunity arises.