Musings of a High Achiever

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 course correct. 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. 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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

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. For more personal development content like this, please check out my book, The High Achiever's Guide, and blog! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

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: Understand what limiting beliefs are Learn the two main variations that cause trouble Hear examples of common limiting beliefs that high achievers struggle with Discover how to identify your beliefs and the techniques for defusing/reprogramming them 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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

Fear is a commonly discussed topic in personal development (as it should be), but trite advice and clichés like "feel the fear and do it anyway!" dismiss the very real and important role it plays. Fear is critical to our survival and for that reason needs to be taken seriously. It's key evolutionary purpose is to ensure we live to fight another day, However, for many of you listening, your survival needs are covered and it's thriving that's the challenge. In this episode, we will take a deeper look at the fear that comes with taking healthy risks, and how to assess and overcome fear in that context. Topics covered: The role of the ego and why you need it The inevitability of fear Questions to ask yourself as you assess your fears The three illusions fueled by fear and how to shift your perspective on their meaning --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

When you're ready for a shift in your experience, the process of making change can be daunting. There are a lot of reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is that when we start to think about what needs to change, the list can be overwhelming. You get to thinking about work, your personal life, your health, your mental state, and it's like hot mess central where you have no freaking clue where to begin, or even HOW to begin.   The good news is that what feels like hundreds of different things boils down to handful of tendencies that you'll begin to see more clearly as you tune into one small thing at a time to address. It's through small changes that you can see massive results, but the key is to understand where your conditioning is working against you so you know specifically what needs to shift.   In order to make that easier, this episode discusses the 4 challenges common to success conditioning. Proving yourself People-pleasing Conforming/emulating Tying your value to what you earn Conditioning in these areas can lead you to seek confirmation of your worth through external sources, but no amount of external validation can ever fill the internal void of not truly knowing your value. Are you facing any of these challenges? Listen to gain clarity and tips for moving forward. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message

As a high achiever, it's easy to be stuck in your conditioning and listening to the voice inside you that tells you what you "should" be doing. When I had the personal recognition that much of my life was being driven by external expectations, it was eye-opening to realize that as contrary and cynical as I can be, I was basically doing what I was told. More accurately, I was doing what I'd been taught to do through success and achievement conditioning. Well. F all of that. That's a one-way ticket to feeling stuck, trapped, and resigned in ways that suck the life out of you. When you tell yourself what you "should" be doing, it's a red flag. It means: You're acting from a sense of duty and obligation You're getting ready to do something that is out of alignment with what you would choose to do Your conditioning is dictating what needs to happen next rather than you deciding from a place of clarity This is a tricky place to operate from. On the one hand, you're prioritizing the needs and expectations of others above your own and you may get the quick payoff of making the other person (or system) happy. On the other hand, the more you do what you don't want to do, the more that thing you don't want to do is expected of you. You can shift out of this energy relatively quickly by making baby steps in a different direction. If that resonates, this episode is for you. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maki-moussavi4/message