Let's be honest, avoidance rarely looks like hiding under the covers. Most of the time it looks like staying busy, saying "I'm not ready yet," keeping your distance in relationships, not having the conversation, and never quite letting yourself explore what else might be possible for your life. And here's the thing nobody says out loud: avoidance isn't the opposite of settling. It is settling. Just with more sophisticated excuses.

In this episode, we're getting into all of it: what avoidance actually is, how it shows up in your relationships, creative work, community, and daily life, and why the cost of staying frozen is so much higher than we want to admit. We're also talking about what it means to live a purposeful life and why you genuinely cannot afford to let fear be in charge of how you use your time and your gifts.

In this episode:

• What avoidance actually is — and why it's not laziness or weakness
• How fear keeps you frozen and what that really looks like in everyday life
• Why avoidance of conversations, community, and new possibilities is avoidance of hope
• How avoidance quietly becomes settling — and what that's costing you
• Why you have one life and your gifts were never just for you
• The difference between courage and confidence (and why you don't need to feel ready)
• What your nervous system needs before you can take the next step
• Six things to consider as you start moving toward the scary thing — one small step at a time

You don't need a big breakthrough. You don't need to feel ready. You just need to be willing. This episode is going to feel like a diary entry — and that's completely on purpose.

🎧 New episodes every Monday! Follow so you never miss one.

Let’s Connect!

Website: www.adjustingpod.com

Social Media: @adjustingpod on Instagram | Facebook | Youtube | TikTok

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adjusting-podcast/id1748188929

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Lyu594jw5luH1rujNcTZZ?si=386a7e7728f5461b

Amazon Music/Audible: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7863b34c-b85c-4f67-8044-10dd08cfb660/adjusting-podcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdjustingPodcast

Substack Channel: https://justingnelson.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

Guest/Topic submissions: adjustingpod@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Adjusting Podcast is NOT a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment.

What if the most powerful thing you could do when fear shows up… is just get curious?

In this episode, we're trading "what if it goes wrong" for "I wonder what this will teach me" — and exploring why that shift is so much harder than it sounds. Curiosity isn't toxic positivity. It's a deliberate, nervous-system-level practice that can change the way you move through fear, relationships, creative work, and healing.

We're getting into:

• Why fear closes us down and curiosity opens us up — and what that actually looks like in your daily life
• How shame — especially around sexuality and desire — shuts curiosity down at the root
• The body-based difference between anxiety and curiosity (polyvagal theory, but make it relatable)
• How to shift from what if to I wonder in real time
• The connection between curiosity and self-compassion — including insights from Dr. Thema Bryant's Homecoming
• What it means to get curious about yourself after religious trauma or spiritual deconstruction

This one is going to feel like your journal entry come to life, bestie. Settle in.

Adjusting is a podcast for creatives, everyday people, and those healing from trauma and relationships who are learning to live with less fear and more freedom.

Season 3, Part 2 Series: From Fear to Freedom — What If It All Works Out?

Let’s Connect!

Website: www.adjustingpod.com

Social Media: @adjustingpod on Instagram | Facebook | Youtube | TikTok

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adjusting-podcast/id1748188929

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Lyu594jw5luH1rujNcTZZ?si=386a7e7728f5461b

Amazon Music/Audible: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7863b34c-b85c-4f67-8044-10dd08cfb660/adjusting-podcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdjustingPodcast

Substack Channel: https://justingnelson.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

Guest/Topic submissions: adjustingpod@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Adjusting Podcast is NOT a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment.

Most of us aren't just afraid of bad things happening, we're afraid of not knowing. In this episode we explore what it actually means to live in the grey, why certainty feels so necessary and what it costs us when we demand it, and how black and white thinking keeps us stuck in our relationships, our creative work, and our healing journey.

We talk about how to expand your tolerance for uncertainty, what the body does when ambiguity feels like a threat, the connection between trust and the unknown, and the spiritual roots of certainty-seeking including what faith actually says about living without all the answers. Plus five things to consider as you start making peace with the in-between.

If you've been waiting for everything to feel certain before you move forward, this episode is going to meet you right where you are.

Let’s Connect!

Website: www.adjustingpod.com

Social Media: @adjustingpod on Instagram | Facebook | Youtube | TikTok

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adjusting-podcast/id1748188929

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Lyu594jw5luH1rujNcTZZ?si=386a7e7728f5461b

Amazon Music/Audible: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7863b34c-b85c-4f67-8044-10dd08cfb660/adjusting-podcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdjustingPodcast

Substack Channel: https://justingnelson.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

Guest/Topic submissions: adjustingpod@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Adjusting Podcast is NOT a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment.