17/06/2025
One of the toughest things I’ve had to face is navigating my own poor mental space, which I somehow lived with for many years.
For a long time, I just got through the days and months without even realising I was riddled with stress, anxiety, and burnout. I knew I was stuck... that I didn't like where I was heading, but beyond that I couldn't really put a finger on it.
Helping others in this space is still one of my greatest challenges. It’s easy to offer solutions, but far harder to break through the secure prison people have built in their own minds - what I’ve come to understand as psychological safety.
In conversations about my work with Tomorrow Mind, a GP once warned me about this: one of the biggest barriers to change is the dysfunctional but 'safe' normal people have created for themselves. Leaving that behind can feel more terrifying than staying stuck.
When it comes to helping people move beyond that place (the dysfunctional-but-somehow-doable daily behaviour) I’m reminded that we have to start where they are: in the 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, the 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 (rigid assumptions held about ourselves/others/life) and the 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐬 shaped by chronic stress and anxiety. We need to acknowledge that many of us are, or have been, in these 'mental prisons' that can be incredibly well hidden from others around us.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞:
“The most secure prison is not one made of stone.
It is a prison we build for ourselves,
out of our fears, our prejudices, and our false beliefs.”
— Stephen R. Donaldson
I'd love you to share this post - not so much to increase my engagement, but to increase the chance of engagement with someone in this mental kind of prison - so they feel a little less 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.
tomorrowmind.com.au/coaching
