Dr. Z.

Dr. Z. online class: courses.thisisdoctorz.com
personal website: www.thisisdoctorz.com

06/06/2026

Most high achievers believe being hard on themselves is what keeps them sharp.

The research disagrees.

People with higher self-compassion show greater motivation after failure, not less. And they procrastinate significantly less.

New episode of Playing-It-Safe: why the second arrow might be the thing most keeping you stuck.

Listen to the new episode of the Playing-It-Safe Podcast
Apple: https://apple.co/2ZJH7GE
Spotify: https://bit.ly/4wpXgiJ

What would you do this week if you weren't playing-it-safe?

06/01/2026

External achievements account for only about 10% of lasting happiness.

The 40% within your control? How you spend your time and what meaning you attach to it.

New episode of Playing-It-Safe: the research on values, meaning, and the birthday party exercise that shows you exactly where the gap is.

Listen to the new episode of the Playing-It-Safe Podcast
Apple: https://apple.co/2ZJH7GE
Spotify: https://bit.ly/4wpXgiJ

What would you do this week if you weren't playing-it-safe?

Anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and worry take us away from being present and encourage us to play-it-safe.Shutting down or...
05/30/2026

Anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and worry take us away from being present and encourage us to play-it-safe.

Shutting down or hiding might ease anxiety initially but by doing so, we deprive ourselves of one of the most powerful tools for getting back on our feet: connecting with others.

Visit my website thisisdoctorz.com for help and advice to stop you from playing-it-safe!

05/25/2026

We use the choice point in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to remind us of a skill we already have, but may have forgotten to use: the ability to choose how we live a life guided by our values and doing what is important to us, or acting on fear.

Follow for more tips on dealing with anxiety, phobia, perfectionism, procrastination, OCD, and related struggles!⁠

Visit thisisdoctorz.com for help and advice:
✔️ Listen to the playing-it-safe podcast
✔️ Take the FREE questionnaire and get your playing-it-safe profile
✔️ Sign up to my newsletter
✔️ Read the playing-it-safe blog

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05/25/2026

Your mind isn't lazy!

Researchers found that people who chronically procrastinate are more threat-sensitive. Not less motivated.

Listen to the new episode of the Playing-It-Safe Podcast
Apple: https://apple.co/2ZJH7GE
Spotify: https://bit.ly/4wpXgiJ

What would you do this week if you weren't playing-it-safe?

05/22/2026

Indecision often looks like research. Hours of scrolling, reading reviews, checking options. But endless searching is your mind playing it safe.

Set a time limit (10 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever fits) and then decide with the information you have. That’s how you break the loop of analysis paralysis.

You don’t need more information. You need action guided by your values. Small moves forward beat endless thinking every single time.

Try the 10-minute rule today.

I break it down in my blog: https://www.thisisdoctorz.com/how-to-overcome-chronic-indecision/

And you’ll find more decision hacks in my indecision course: https://courses.thisisdoctorz.com/how-to-shift-from-indecisiveness-into-action

‼️ I’m so excited to be presenting at the 11th World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT) in San...
05/21/2026

‼️ I’m so excited to be presenting at the 11th World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT) in San Francisco!

I’ll be leading a second Master Clinician workshop, “Less Avoiding, More Doing: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workshop for Chronic ‘later-ers’,” focused on working with procrastination from a contextual and process-based ACT perspective.

Rather than relying on generic time-management strategies, we’ll explore the psychological processes that drive procrastination and use ACT and compassion-based skills to help clients build more workable patterns of action while relating differently to self-criticism, avoidance, and emotional overwhelm.

If you’ll be at WCCBT, please feel free to stop by and check it out. Looking forward to connecting with colleagues and sharing ideas on this topic.

REGISTER HERE: https://wccbt2026.eventscribe.net/fsPopup.asp?efp=SldRUlRJWVgyMTQwMg&PresentationID=1816828&rnd=8.704364E-02&mode=presInfo

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