Coping with Quarantine Life

Dr. Chloe Carmichael: [00:00:00]

Hi and welcome to the high functioning hotspot with me, Dr Chloe Carmichael. I'm a clinical psychologist and former yoga teacher in New York city and I specialize in working with high functioning people. Thanks for joining me once again. On today's episode, you're going to learn a few simple actionable ways to cope with stress.

[00:00:29] Steering quarantine life. Since right now we're actually recording during the time of coven 19 but even if you happen to be listening to this after quarantine, life is a thing of the past. The tips are actually helpful for getting through any sort of big change or challenge successfully, which is something that high functioning people are definitely known for doing.

[00:00:51] I'll start by reading my short blog with four quick tips, and then I have a very high functioning person. Peter who's also a friend of mine from the entrepreneur's organization. EO is a hot bed of high functioning people. It has a minimum revenue requirement of a million dollars annually to join, but Peter is more than a high functioning person in terms of business.

[00:01:16] He's also a very high functioning person when it comes to emotional intelligence. In the four years that I've known him, he's gone from quote, just in managing gem advertising, which is his company that got him into EO to also completing his MBA at Columbia. Yeah. And starting a side company where he coaches other entrepreneurs to grow or start a successful business.

[00:01:40] And he's written a book called honest to greatness that will hit shelves everywhere later this year. So without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and start by sharing my blog with you, and then we'll. Follow up going right into this very interesting conversation that I was able to have with Peter about coping with big challenges like our current quarantine situation successfully.

[00:02:03] So thanks again for joining and let's get into the blog. Please listen and enjoy. Quarantine life has been called the new normal over the past couple of months. Although it may be normal in the sense that it's become common, it is understandably not feeling at all normal to us in terms of our wellbeing.

[00:02:26] In fact, quarantine life can pose some very unique challenges. While I can't take that stress away as a clinical psychologist, I can offer some practical tips on how to handle quarantine life from a cognitive, behavioral, and emotional perspective. Some of the tips that I will offer will be exercises or other behaviors that you can try, and some of them will just be simple ideas and perspectives that may be helpful.

[00:02:57] Many of the ideas and exercises will actually be helpful to you. Even after quarantine. So take heart in knowing that you are increasing your proverbial toolbox in ways that will be useful, even when coven 19 is a thing of the past, at least in terms of pandemic levels. So if you're open to ideas on personal growth, then you've come to the right place.

[00:03:22] Let's start by remembering that. Each person is slightly different in terms of their situation and each person has slightly different needs. This means that you may find some of the ideas here to be really helpful and some of them not. Of course, I encourage you to take whatever works for you and leave the rest.

[00:03:44] Take comfort in knowing that the very. Act of viewing some options and choosing the best ideas for yourself is actually part of a healthy process of self efficacy and self care, where you're getting in touch with your own needs and deliberately choosing whatever technique seems best for you. So without further ado, here are some tips to consider.

[00:04:09] Number one, let yourself chill. Many of us feel a responsibility to use our quarantine time to tackle projects. This is especially true, I think, for high functioning people who may have a high need for accomplishment or a high need for achievement. If you feel revved up to do this, good for you, by all means do it.

[00:04:31] On the other hand. If you find yourself wanting to sleep more, sometimes just sit quietly and let yourself idle or do other things that might seem less productive on the surface. Give yourself some latitude. You might actually be doing more than you realize. Quarantine life can stimulate us to think about big.

[00:04:54] Topics, consciously or unconsciously, things like our sense of connection to others, mortality fears for our parents or grandparents and financial issues to name a few. While the mind is processing all of these things in the background. Plus adjusting to big changes in routine. It is normal and oftentimes healthy to allow some time for your mind to settle itself without any pressure to jump into projects.

[00:05:25] In fact, many studies have shown that creativity often spikes just after a moment of boredom or mental idle time. While it can sometimes be good to push yourself to just take the first step on projects, since the first step is often the hardest, it can also be wise to listen to yourself if you feel a strong pole, to just watch the proverbial paint drive for a bit.

[00:05:52] The second tip I'd like to offer is the zone of control and the zone of control is actually a technique that you would do with pen and paper. If you find your mind is brimming with concerns. A good first step is often to sort those concerns out into two major categories. The items that you can control and the items that you cannot control.

[00:06:16] When our mind is full of concerns, we often feel a sense of anxiety. Remember that the healthy function of anxiety is actually to stimulate preparatory behaviors. That's why we can feel jittery or get some extra adrenaline or sweaty palms or a restless feeling from anxiety. This might sound weird, but it can actually be helpful to frame that extra adrenaline and nerves that we sometimes feel from anxiety as mother natures.

[00:06:47] Gift of extra energy to help us take healthy action around our stressors. That's why it's important not to waste the energy on things that we cannot control. For example, stressing yourself out regarding whether your parents or grandparents will get bed is mainly beyond your control. So you might want to tell yourself compassionately.

[00:07:10] To focus yourself instead on things that you can control, such as giving them extra phone calls and nice notes in the mail to express your love for them. Another example would be stressing about when lockdown will end. We cannot control, of course, when lockdown will end, so stressing about that question can be counterproductive, but we can control.

[00:07:32] How we will spend our lockdown time potentially building healthy routines, including meditation or even a brief five minute burst of physical exercise every morning. That will benefit us even when quarantine life is finally over. We can also control how we self soothe the stress that we feel about lockdown or potentially.

[00:07:54] Use that time if you are actually feeling like Blacktown really should be over. I know that there's a lot of different opinions about that for people in different physical geographical locations, and if you're feeling energized on that topic, of course you can use that energy. To, you know, write to your Congressman or write to your politicians and to just make your voice known.

[00:08:19] But either way, the idea is to just think about it in terms of things that we can do and take action and use the energy for those things and make sure that we're not using our energy on things that are truly beyond our control. Like just simply spinning our wheels about wondering when lockdown will end.

[00:08:37] So again, we can, we can control how we self sooth the stress that we feel about lockdown. Another good way to do that brings me to tip number three, which is journaling. Journaling is a super convenient way to pay attention to yourself. Many times, anxiety or other forms of mental stress are craving attention, and if we block those out or refuse to listen, then the anxiety can fester and start intensifying so that it can grab your attention.

[00:09:11] Not listening to our feelings can also lead to a sense of numbness. Since we have disconnected from ourselves. The good news is that journaling will often help to restore your connection with yourself or allow you to build on your connection with yourself in a positive way. Many psychologists believe that part of the reason that humans evolved into such intelligent beings with such sophisticated societies is because we have the gift of language, which allows us to observe and develop our things.

[00:09:45] Thoughts. A good way to take advantage of this gift is to journal. If you find yourself feeling blank, just challenge yourself to fill up a half a page every day, even if it's simply just you writing down that you don't know what to say. That in itself is actually part of you getting in touch with yourself and putting your ex.

[00:10:05] Experience into words. If journaling stirs up some heavy or uncomfortable feelings, please thank yourself for journaling to get clarity on them. Remember that journaling did not create those feelings. It just helped you to see that they are there so that you can potentially talk to a trusted person and get support with what you're feeling.

[00:10:28] Oftentimes the simple act of sharing with another person helps to increase comfort levels because it's a behavioral signal to yourself that you're not shouldering the challenge alone, and sometimes it even sparks creative discussion around how to handle the feelings or challenges. Speaking of support.

[00:10:48] Tip number four. The final tip is to lean on others. It will help them. Too many people are hesitant to call a friend or family member and ask for help with challenges that they're having, even just to talk about the challenges that they're having because they're afraid that it will be a burden. You may be pleasantly surprised.

[00:11:08] To learn that actually psychology studies show that asking others for support tends to make people feel special and valued because you're recognizing them as an intelligent and sensitive person. So if you try the zone of control, exercise and discover that you're overwhelmed because there's. So many things that you can't control, or if you journal and get in touch with some difficult feelings, consider asking a trusted friend or family member therapist to review the material with you.

[00:11:41] You may be surprised to see that adding a fresh perspective often brings new ideas to manage challenges, or even just experiencing a supportive conversation where you see clearly that you're not alone can be extremely helpful. In conclusion. The stressors that we encounter in life are much less important than how we handle them.

[00:12:05] This is why some people who have extreme challenges of third world poverty or terminal illnesses are somehow still able to find happiness and joy. While others who have endless resources may struggle to find happiness. The key takeaway here is that although Covin 19 and quarantine, life are tremendously challenging, our coping strategies are a huge part of what will shape how much these stressors actually impact us emotionally.

[00:12:36] So please do yourself a favor and make sure that you're getting lots of support. In fact, I'm offering a free live stream event with even more of my favorite coping strategies. Now. And the blog. It says, click here to join, but I'll just let you know that you can go to drchloe.com/ and sign up. That's D R C H L O e.com/ and there's a sign up button there at the top.

[00:13:02] It's going to be on May 29th, 2020 at 2:00 PM Eastern time, but if for some reason you're not able to listen to it, we'll email you a recording if you go and sign up. Uh, same thing. If you happen to be listening to this recording after May 29th but you'd still like to watch the live stream, we will have a recording of it, so you can always go to drchloe.com/ and listen to the recording.

[00:13:30] Thank you so much for listening to this recording and I'm looking forward to connecting with you soon.

[00:13:39] Peter, thank you so much for agreeing to drain me and talk about the blog, about coping tips with quarantine life and high functioning people. since you're such a high functioning person yourself, I was really curious how a blog like this would strike you. So what did you think of the blog.

[00:13:59] Peter Kozodoy: [00:13:59] Yeah. It's a pleasure to be here, Chloe.

[00:14:01] Thanks. I thought it hit a lot of the thoughts that I myself have been weighing since Corona virus particularly, you know, how do we balance the opportunity we have in front of us to do all of the projects that we've put on hold versus taking the time to be, you know, a little more. Tranquil and maybe a little more self care.

[00:14:23] And I think that's something I've thought about from the beginning and with many of the things I had on my project list. I did actually think to myself, even though I have the opportunity to do this right now, it doesn't mean this is. Yeah, the best time to tackle this because our heads are of course, filled with other sort of worries that are going on, not only because of the virus, but also because how in particular, you know, my business has been disrupted as an entrepreneur.

[00:14:48] I have a book coming out later this year, so I really had to sit down and prioritize, which I think is something important. You touched on.

[00:14:55] Dr. Chloe Carmichael: [00:14:55] Yeah. So thanks for putting it that way. That's, you know, for point number one about giving yourself the latitude to chill out a little bit.I think you're hitting the nail on the head there, that high functioning people sometimes think of.

[00:15:12] Time to be tranquil or restorative as somehow in competition with the side of us that wants to do and achieve and perform. And that's sometimes true. Um, but one of the things that one of my professors in graduate school told me once that really stuck with me is he said, you know, Chloe, you need to understand that listening.

[00:15:37] Is doing. And he said that to me because in sessions with clients, especially as a graduate school student, I was such an eager Beaver and always wanting to kind of jump in and offer, you know, an intervention or a tip or whatever. And he wanted me to know that. Really just giving clients, sometimes the space to talk and to be reflective themselves and to just pay attention to them during that process could be really powerful.

[00:16:05] Um, and so especially as they also went on to learn in graduate school, that idle time, mental idle time is often. What happens right before we do have a big burst of creativity, or especially in a time like covert, when we're processing so much like you said, about what does this mean, even in terms of opportunity on a business level, uh, you know, what does this mean personally?

[00:16:29] Um, we have so much happening on an unconscious level that giving ourselves the space to just sit on the couch and stare at the ceiling a little bit might feel as if it's, you know. Different from doing something productive, but in this particular situation, I want people to know that a little downtime and idle time is actually part of the recipe of being wow during this time and really giving your mind the latitude to sort this out.

[00:17:03] Right.

[00:17:05] Peter Kozodoy: [00:17:05] Completely. Yeah. I've definitely had to take a step back. And think more critically about that in this time, which I think is always an opportunity.

[00:17:15] Dr. Chloe Carmichael: [00:17:15] Yeah. I'm also curious, you know, Peter, since I know you're, you're an entrepreneur in so many interesting ways, you know, with your P Peter, you know, you have a very successful marketing company and that, I know you've recently also started some interesting work with coaching other entrepreneurs and your upcoming book, honest to greatness.

[00:17:37] You know, is it really just. Speaks to your desire to understand and think about psychology, which is awesome. Um, so I'm just curious, since you know, you have an affinity to begin with for psychology techniques, I think, how did that zone of control exercise and the blogs strike you?

[00:17:56] Peter Kozodoy: [00:17:56] Yeah, I thought that was fantastic.

[00:17:58] And it's something I have often reiterated to entrepreneurs that I coach because so many times. I think we as business owners get focused on the long term results, which is a fantastic way to be. And as I write about in my book, a very honest way to be, the problem is that those results aren't always within our control.

[00:18:21] Sometimes all we can control as the first couple of baby steps in front of us that we either think are too small or too insignificant, or maybe. Too simple, you know, it can't just be that simple, but I take those small steps right now, and that over time leads to an incredible outcome. A lot of the entrepreneurs I coach want to overcomplicate things.

[00:18:39] So yeah, I think coming back to what is in my control and what is in my control today and right now is a massive first step in any time, but especially in a time of a pandemic. In fact, it's funny you say that. You brought that up, Chloe, because I've gone to keeping a. Bigger, better to do list on the side of my Gmail recently that I've really clung to, and I spend time in the morning setting that list up and then I really can spend the rest of the day just running down the list.

[00:19:11] And I find that that frees up a lot of my creative energy. To do what's on the list versus trying to figure out what's important and urgent. Separating those has really helped me.

[00:19:22] Dr. Chloe Carmichael: [00:19:22] Yeah. I think that's so true. Like to make it really easy for yourself to not spin your wheels on the things that are in the zone of non-control, like, you know, when we'll lock down and, or, you know, whatever.

[00:19:36] The best way to, to not focus on the things that are in the zone of non-control is to make it super simple for yourself to focus on the things that are in the zone of control. Otherwise you end up in like the don't think about pink elephant situation. So that's really wonderful that you found a way to just take the things that are in your control, where you do want to put your energy.

[00:19:59] and just, you know, whether it be Google tasks or, you know, the other techniques that I. Suggest for people to do those types of things. Sometimes it's great that you figured out a way to do that. so I'm also just curious when the third tip and the blog was about journaling, um, Peter, do you journal?

[00:20:19] How did that one strike you?

[00:20:22] Peter Kozodoy: [00:20:22] You know what? My journaling is? My blog throughout Corona virus, I've taken to medium to take some of my thoughts and questions and turn them into helpful articles, not only for the folks that read them, but also for me to read them. Right. I read a great quote one time which said that people write the book that they want to read, and I think that's especially true for me of.

[00:20:46] Blogging, like that's sort of my outlet to get some of my thoughts down. And as I read them back, I'm like, Oh, that's really good advice. Maybe I should follow that.

[00:20:56] Dr. Chloe Carmichael: [00:20:56] Yeah, that's great. I imagine that there's also a fair amount of pre-writing that goes into your blogs as well, which is a nice way for people to, you know, just kind of inventory like what is.

[00:21:10] You know, happening inside of their minds. Because with high functioning people, we can actually get number one so busy because we have such full, rich, engaging lives that we can almost become distracted from some of the things inside of us that actually need a little attention or a little sorting out.

[00:21:29] And then also because. We're so good, high functioning people are very resilient and we can, you know, kind of just deal with and power through, um, you know, little kind of emotional snags or relationship disatisfactions or whatever, that we're just so good at powering through them that ironically. It sets us up to not give those little things enough attention until they're really at, you know, kind of a energy draining, you know, crisis level point.

[00:22:00] So it's wonderful that you know, you're doing journaling because that helps people to stay connected with how they're feeling, which I think is so important in this covert situation. One of the things I've seen a lot of people say is, you know what? I feel really. Stressed about this, you know, quarantine or I'm missing human touch or whatever it is.

[00:22:21] And then they say, but I know everyone's going through that. So you know, who am I to complain about it? And I always just want to let them know that in fact, staying in touch with the feelings that you're having. Even if other people are having the same feelings, um, is actually really important because if we don't stay attuned and aware of our needs, then we don't have any way, you know, to fulfill them or to, you know, practice good self care around them.

[00:22:49] So I'm really glad that you have found a way to make sure that you do that. So that's great. Um, but kind of coming then to the next part in the blog about. Being able to, you know, share with people when you do feel like you're at a stumbling black or maybe there's so many things in the zone of non-control that it feels a little overwhelming or whatever the situation may be.

[00:23:13] The idea that I was trying to share in the blog that. Sharing with other people and opening up about a need for support, or even if it's just a covert loneliness and needing to talk and connect with someone that high functioning people often tend to feel as if they're going to be burdening people.

[00:23:32] Cause again, high functioning people tend to have such a high level of personal responsibility that it's hard for them to imagine that it would be okay. You know, to ask someone else for help unless, you know, they're like really at a crisis point. So, um, high functioning people are often kind of surprised when I explained to them that.

[00:23:52] Sharing with another person, asking another person for a favor, letting another person know that you know you're not sure why, but you're having an off day and it would just feel good to chat, actually makes the other person feel good and it actually fosters trust and closeness. In the relationship, unless of course you're a drama queen and you're just always pinging people for help or whatever, but that in general situations, reaching out for a little support actually makes the other person feel special.

[00:24:23] How did that part strike you?

[00:24:25] Peter Kozodoy: [00:24:25] Yeah, well, I've seen it play out in my own personal life because since quarantine, my coworker and also my closest friend is also who was my roommate and wife. Right now, she has multiple roles, and so one of the most helpful things. Has been me allowing myself, um, and, you know, putting down those ego barriers that you talked about.

[00:24:50] It is difficult. I hate asking for help. Um, but I've sort of taken the tack that, especially with my book launch, I need all the help I can get. There's a lot that I don't know. And my wife is here 24, seven, so I may as well take advantage of her. So,we through. Brainstorming about this book and sort of being partners on it.

[00:25:10] Um, not only has it given me a lot of great ideas for the book, it's also, you know, you won't be surprised to hear, brought us closer in a lot of ways and made her feel like she's so much more valued and that she's, you know, part of the relationship. And I don't think I understood to the extent to which that would have an extremely positive impact on her.

[00:25:28] So I couldn't agree more. I mean, I'm seeing this play out, not to mention, um, there've been a lot of. Assumptions that she's questioned that have turned out were really crappy assumptions to make. So it's ended up challenging me in great ways and changing the direction of a lot of my previously laid plans that I would have sworn up and down were perfect.

[00:25:47] So, you know, sometimes a little asking for help as challenging to the egos that can be.

[00:25:56] Dr. Chloe Carmichael: [00:25:56] Yeah, thanks for sharing that. You know, and I just want to say that asking for help again can be for something as big as help me out with my book on like an ongoing big project basis. Or it can be something as small as just saying, you know. I'm going through like a Kobe cabin fever situation, you know?

[00:26:16] Can we like go on a walk and just be on our phone together? Because I feel like it would help me to just have some little feeling of connection. So whether it's big or small, I just encourage people. That might not be used to asking for help because they're so high functioning and they're so used to being able to meet their own needs and they pride themselves on that personal responsibility.

[00:26:38] Feeling, um, to just recognize that in fact, you could actually even be doing somebody else a favor. Um, if you let them know that they would be someone that you would feel. Lifted by the chance to get their input on something. Um, whether it just be knowing that you're not alone or even getting a little bit of a fresh take on some my ideas or some challenges that you're having.

[00:27:04] So, Peter, I know that you know, you're a busy guy, so I definitely won't keep you, but I just wanted to check with you first if you have any questions or comments about the blog that you didn't get a chance to ask or share, by all means do it. And also. Yeah. If you want to just say a little bit about your upcoming book on us to greatness, I think it might be something that high functioning, hot, spotless listeners could be interested in.

[00:27:30] Peter Kozodoy: [00:27:30] Yeah, sure. So first, I do have a question, which is I struggled a lot to be able to ask people for help. It's been a multi-year habit that I have built for someone who wants to build that habit quickly and overcome that really tough, you know, ego barrier of admitting that, you know, maybe we don't know something.

[00:27:51] What are a couple first steps that people can take to get there faster than what it took me to get there?

[00:27:59] Dr. Chloe Carmichael: [00:27:59] Well, there's one thing that we can do in psychology. It's called narrating your experience. So just simply putting it into words, um, and saying to someone, Hey, you know, this isn't my first thing to do, isn't always asking for help, isn't always my first choice, but I really feel a little bit stuck here.

[00:28:19] And I'm trying to learn a new pattern of asking for help. So this is me giving it a try. Would you be able to talk with me about such and such? So that's one way of doing it. Another way of doing it is, you know, to, to blame it on this podcast, right? If anyone out there is thinking, I'd like to give this a try, but I feel a little awkward about it.

[00:28:39] You can totally blame it on Peter Causa, do I? And dr Chloe, you can say, you know, I listened to the high functioning hotspot podcast and they talked about. You know how important it is to ask for help. And so I'm giving it a try. So sometimes it can help to just feel like you have some sort of a, of an external reason, you know that you're doing it.

[00:28:59] Another thing that you can do is to make sure that you always return the favor to someone. So you could say to someone like, Hey, you know, I wanted to ask you for some help with something and I want you to know, I always view. That relationship is a two way street. So whether it be now or in the future, I just want you to know I'm always here for you too.

[00:29:21] Um, but right now I was just actually hoping I could, you know, ask a favor, get your input about such and such. So. Those would be some ways to start it. Um, one other just thought or two about that is to think about when, say if you've ever been in college. When I taught adjunct of when I was an adjunct professor in psychology, um, learning how to say, I don't know, in front of my students was such a wonderful thing.

[00:29:50] And I always thought of it. Not only is just obviously important for intellectual honesty and to relieve myself of having to pretend I knew the answer to something, but also to be able to let them know that they had asked a question that I didn't know the answer to was actually quite flattering for them.

[00:30:10] Um, and that it was also really important for my role, you know, as a professor to be able to model saying, I don't know that that was actually. Important for them to realize that intellectuals and academics have a meta awareness about what we do know and what we don't know. So the way that I think that relates, Peter, to the idea of asking for help is that you're modeling, if you can think about it in a positive sense, that you're modeling, whether it be for your kids or your spouse or your friends or anybody else in your life.

[00:30:46] Sorry, I just want to retake that cause I had a little bump there. Whether you're modeling for your kids or your spouse or anyone else in your life that you're modeling for them how to ask for help. And so sometimes when something is challenging for us to just do for ourselves, if we can think about how it's going to affect our community in a positive way, that can be helpful.

[00:31:08] And one more tip just to like. You know, if for some reason it's really hard to ask for help. Um, just something that you can do as well is to pretend this might sound like a little bit silly, but it, I think it would work for some people, um, is to actually just pretend like you're in a movie and to just pretend like my line that I have to say is, Hey, I could use your help with something.

[00:31:31] And so to just kind of almost psych yourself out and pretend for a moment, that's all I have to do. I just have to be up. Person in a movie that's gonna pick up the phone and say to somebody, Hey, I have to ask for your help about something. And that kind of helps people sometimes to get into the mind over matter space.

[00:31:47] And that little trick would work for just about anything where there's something that you have to say or do that for whatever reason, feels really intimidating for you to depersonalize it a little bit for just a moment. You know, you can just pretend like, you know, you're an actor in a movie and you just have to say your line.

[00:32:07] Peter Kozodoy: [00:32:07] I love that. I love all of those. In fact, a lot of them, especially like saying, I don't know, they are exactly what I talk about in my book about honesty, called honest to greatness because I tell the story of Bethany Frankel who basically built an empire from reality TV star to a hundred million dollar beverage brand.

[00:32:26] By just stopping people every time she didn't understand something and asking, I don't know. And of course, over time, the power of that compounds into knowing so much more than people who continue on pretending. So I love that. And I love the narrating your experience too, because that sounds like something I talk about in the book, which is, it's one thing to be honest in business, but the really powerful thing is also to point to it, to say like, I am being.

[00:32:54] Honest with you, and here's why I'm being honest with you. And now here are the facts of the situation. Because even that, even setting it up, uh, to let people know what's, what's happening here and how you're phrasing and couching whatever situation is going on is a powerful way to set the stage. For what's about to happen and what the expectations are after the fact.

[00:33:15] So yeah, I love those. Those are great, Chloe.

[00:33:18] Dr. Chloe Carmichael: [00:33:18] Right? Thanks. Yeah, I mean, so certainly asking for help or to talk something over is so important, and of course that's one of the markers of high functioning people. That's how we become high functioning people. As you said, whether it's by talking about, I don't know, or I need help.

[00:33:32] It's somewhat all kind of under that. Same umbrella. So Peter, although there is so much that we don't know, uh, something I do know is that it's been so great to talk with you and to get your honest take on all of this stuff. I hope that you'll come back to the high functioning hotspot sometime again in the future.

[00:33:54] Thanks again to Peter  for joining me today. It was so interesting to get his perspective on the zone of control and asking for help. Since as a psychologist, I can definitely affirm that having the awareness of when you need help and having the willingness to ask are actually part of the markers of a high functioning person.

[00:34:16] Sometimes high functioning people can get that one a bit confused since they're so used to being able to be self-reliant that they're asking for help or leaning on others skills can almost get a little bit rusty sometimes. So it was great to talk that one through with Peter sowed of the high functioning hotspot.

[00:34:34] I'll have an extremely high functioning person here, Dr. David Tareq. It's almost hard to say just how high functioning he is. As one example, just one of the patents he holds is the fundamental patent on voice over internet protocol. VO IP, the thing that carries six of the 9 billion calls placed in the world each day.

[00:34:59] He also has his PhD in cognitive psychology, so he understands a lot about how the mind works. So with his background, I'm really excited that he is going to talk with me about goal attainment. You won't want to miss it. Thanks for listening to the high functioning hot bath with me, dr Chloe Carmichael. I hope.

[00:35:19] That you've enjoyed it and I hope that you'll hit the subscribe or follow button. Nick, your player has one so that I can stay on your radar. And of course, if you'd like to actually read the blog yourself, you can click right through directly to the blog in the detail section for this episode in your podcast, Claire, or go to the high functioning hotspot.com that's the high functioning Hutson.

[00:35:44] dot com also, I'm all over social media, so whether your thing is Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, or whatever. I'm there in some version of dr Chloe that's D, R C, H, L, E, and my social media accounts are linked in the detail section of this. In your podcast player or you can just go to the high functioning hotspot.com and there'll be all kinds of links and things there where you can sign up for my newsletter if you want.

[00:36:12] But otherwise, just please, definitely, definitely, definitely give me five stars and hit the describer follow button if your player offers one, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you so much. The high functioning hotspot is produced by Evo Terra and simpler media. For more information on the high functioning hotspot and to access the complete archive, please visit www.thehighfunctioninghotfat.com.

[00:36:39] Thanks.