How to handle fears when making a career pivot with Paul Ollinger

Criticizing, judging, & attacking yourself, Disengaging and using safety crutches

One way in which we play-it-safe is by “discounting what’s important to us or minimizing our needs.” Of course, in relationships sometimes we prioritize the relationships’ needs versus our individual needs. And yet, if this playing-it-safe move goes unchecked we may end up living lives that are unfulfilling.

In this conversation, I chatted with Paul Ollinger, a nationally-touring stand-up comedian, podcaster, and former digital sales leader.

Key Takeaways

This conversation was a powerful one because:

– Paul shares in detail how he made a shift, twice, from having a career that looked perfect on the outside and was enjoyable, – great benefits, stable, great people to work with – to creating a career path that was meaningful and purposeful.

– Paul shared the key questions he asked himself when figuring out what gives him meaning in this career: What would happen if I gave it all that I got in this life? What is my day to day life going to look like when I’m into this? What’s success? What’s my stress going to be about? Who will I spend time with?

– Lastly, Paul shared his behind-the-scenes process when preparing for a standing up show, starting with idea collection and ending in his mindset when performing in front of an audience.

You have heard me saying this before, we all play-it-safe. The challenge is when we do it, how often we do it, and how we do it. Discounting what matters to use is just another playing-it-safe move and we better watch out for it!

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how to handle fears

Resources

Show notes with time-stamps

01:32 Paul’s Journey from Business to Comedy
03:46 The Shift to Comedy: A Deep Dive
06:53 Navigating Fears and Embracing Failure
13:56 The Creative Process and Life as a Comedian
30:12 Making a Career Shift: Insights and Advice
34:54 A Hypothetical Coffee with Donald Trump
 

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About Dr. Z.

I’m originally from Bolivia, South America, and am a psychologist by training. I’m formally trained in empirically supported treatments, and when I say “formally,” I mean that since 2004 I have received intensive training in them, particularly in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). 

Over the past 18 years, I have created resources for and worked with overthinkers and overachievers dealing with all types of anxiety-related struggles: perfectionism, procrastination, productivity anxiety, uncertainty intolerance, indecision, impostor phenomenon, overthinking, phobias, rumination, panic, worry and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I absolutely love my job!

In 2019, I was nominated as a fellow by the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science because of my contributions related to the applications of ACT for anxiety-based struggles. I’m the author of seven books and the co-author of three (see the section on previously written books).

I’m the founder and director of the East Bay Behavior Therapy Center, a boutique private center in the San Francisco Bay Area that offers therapy and coaching for anyone experiencing anxiety-based struggles.

In 2023, I gave a TEDx talk, “Stop playing-it-safe and start living” that has more than 264K downloads.

While I’m a psychologist by training and science-based by passion, my style is jargon-free, accessible, caring, and lighthearted; teaching ACT skills doesn’t have to be boring or inaccessible, so I do my best to make every skill I teach—in any format—as engaging as possible. 

I believe that learning to navigate anxiety-based reactions is one of the key skills of the 21st century, and I’m passionate about it.

I'm passionate about disseminating ACT skills for anxiety-based struggles.

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