Anxiety to Confidence - The Personal Development Unplugged Podcast
Anxiety to Confidence - The Personal Development Unplugged Podcast

Anxiety to Confidence - The Personal Development Unplugged Podcast

Paul Clough

Overview
Episodes

Details

A podcast for those wanting personal development but want it made simple and easy to understand and more importantly use, take action and make a difference to your life and the world you live in. If you want to change the way you feel and the way you act and react. If you have negative emotions, behaviours, that you want to lose forever and create something special in your life then I think you will like what you hear. This genre of self-improvement, self-development and mastery of your mind has, I believe, been made over complicated and secretive and here I am de-constructing the processes into their simple forms that we can all understand and easily use. There's no interviews just little ol' me ;0) Who am I and what do I do?………Paul Clough. I now love helping making changes in people and guiding them to create the life they really want. A personal look at me: The above sentence was not always the case and being the best in the financial realms of the building industry was my aim and getting there by any means. I now know this is, and was, the worst way ~ even if I did make director of one of the largest building companies in Cambridge by the age of 30. One of the major realisations came on my first ever training in hypnosis. I found that it's not a win lose world and that a win win is only a low basis to live. Being true to your beliefs and coming from a place of integrity where service is paramount. This understanding together with lots of NLP skills helped create my last partnership in the building industry grow from a turnover of £800k to £16m in less than twelve years and that can only be done with giving more than expected. Another shaping of me came from two traumatic events in my life that happened within six months of each other which created a number of major changes in me and by beliefs in what is possible. I have written about my experience and how I dealt with it but more importantly it really showed me my love for my three boys and theirs for me and resulted in the step up to become a trainer of NLP (which I never intended) and my close and exciting work with two of my sons. In supporting Joseph and help create change in people in our training's and his wonderful life changing 'Be your potential weekend' and with Luke the continuing development of Cambridge Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis processes. My relationship with my third son Daniel just keeps getting better and better too. Not knowing how good I had become in change work in the beginning I generally studied, practiced and saw clients then things started to happen when I started to work following just my instincts. Two clients come to mind both in effect dying from the effects of what was happening to them and the way they felt and within one and two sessions respectively not only won the will to live they changed virtually in front of my eyes and being apart of that process was and is the best feeling alive. The above are just three of many brilliant learnings I have had in my life. The more formal bit Paul Clough I am a Trainer and Master Practitioner of NLP and Hypnosis and am passionate in assisting those who want to reach their full potential and his special skills form a unique foundation for success. I constantly seek and develop new skills and learning's – through advanced levels of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Time Line Therapy ™, Hypnosis and to improve everyone I work with. I have an understanding of the mind/body connection which enables me to create in my clients the difference that makes the difference ~ from excellence to outstanding. For those that want qualifications: Certified Trainer and Consultant of Neuro-Linguistic Programming Certified Master Practitioner of NLP & Time Line Therapy Certified Master Hypnotist and Hypnotherapist

Recent Episodes

FMQ530 What Are You Afraid Of Losing?
APR 17, 2026
FMQ530 What Are You Afraid Of Losing?
FMQ530 What Are You Afraid of Losing? (And How It's Holding You Back) Here's a question for you… What are you afraid of losing? Not gaining… not achieving… But losing. Because here's the thing… I've been doing a bit of deeper work on myself lately — you know, when life shifts a little and things you've always done… just don't have that same spark anymore. And in that space… that little void… I found myself looking for something new. A new direction… a bit more passion… a bit more something. But the harder I looked… The more it seemed to disappear. Now that's frustrating, isn't it? And it got me thinking… What if it's not about what I'm trying to find… But what I'm afraid of losing? Because we all do it, don't we? We hold on to things — even emotional stuff, even old ways of being — And we don't always know why. And maybe… just maybe… That's what's getting in the way of finding what we really want. So this is just a seed… A question to sit with. What are you afraid of losing? And how might that be holding you back? In the longer episode, we're going to dive deeper into this… We'll explore what's really going on underneath… And more importantly… We'll go through a process together — not just talking about it, but actually finding your answer. Because that's where the change happens. What's the Next Step? If this got you thinking… stay with me. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss the next episode —What's the next That's where we do the real work. And maybe… just maybe… You'll find something you didn't expect. Share the Seed If you know someone who's searching… Or maybe feeling a bit stuck… Share this with them. https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/fmq530-what-are-you-afraid-of-losing and have a look at the video too https://youtu.be/R-bP_zzZfr8 Let's get more people asking better questions. Shine Brightly 🌟 Paul Hey there! I'd love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Podcast Ready to subscribe? Click here to explore your options. Or, if you're on Apple Music or iTunes, you can go straight to subscribe or leave a review here. Special Programs for You For tools on developing Supreme Inner Confidence, finding Freedom from Anxiety, or specialized Hypnosis Tracks, visit PaulCloughOnline.com. Free Hypnosis Tracks Want access to my FREE hypnosis tracks? Head over to paulcloughonline.com/podcast. Connect with Me Follow me on Twitter: @pcloughie Remember: I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. This podcast and any of my online resources are for educational purposes only. Never use the hypnosis tracks or exercises if you're operating machinery, driving, or if you have epilepsy or psychiatric conditions. Always consult a healthcare provider if you're unsure. Find Us on Other Platforms Catch the podcast on Spotify, Castbox, iHeart Radio, YouTube, or on our Libsyn page. Stay tuned, and keep shining brightly. ✨ Music Credits Music by Wataboi from Pixabay, Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay, Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay, Music by freegroove from Pixabay, Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay. Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay. Music by will |Marshall from will marshall. And the transcript WARNING if you're a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry - you have been warned - is it an 'ism Welcome to the Personal Development Unplugged podcast with me Paul. And this is a five minute quickie. A seed, where I sow a seed or some thoughts of mine, where I want to go with a longer podcast where we can dive deeper. But instead of just diving deep into subjects, I found that was sometimes too big a jump. And I needed to think along different lines and get my thoughts to germinate. And I want to do it with you too. So I wanted to share what I'm thinking about, so you can think about it too. And then on the longer podcast, we're together walking hand in hand, as it were, diving deeper into subjects. And the subject I've been working on is, as you can see from the title, what are you afraid of losing? What are you afraid of losing? Now, I've been doing something over the last couple of months, which is, for me, a little bit unusual. I've been doing even deeper work on myself. Yeah, deeper work on myself, because things have been changing in my life. And you see, those things, I've been losing some of the things I've been doing for years. And in that void that's been created, I felt lost a little bit. I felt I hadn't got things that I was passionate about anymore. Still get hypnosis and things like that. But there are other parts of my life that just seemed to, well, they didn't have that spark anymore. The little candle inside me just started to get dimmer. And I wanted to find new interest to spark passion. And I called it, this investigation, My North Star. Yeah, I have to keep looking that way, because I never know which blooming camera I'm on. But I'm back again. But My North Star is my direction, where I want my life to be filled with more passion, more interest, more creativity, and be more worthwhile. I feel my life has been pretty worthwhile up to now, but I want to be even more, especially with this, these voids I've created. I want them to be filled with good stuff, not just boring stuff. And I hope in my little adventure of creating this for myself, and I'm getting there, there'll be things of interest I can share with you too. So if you're having trouble with finding your direction, your passions, your mission, for being in the world, your best version of yourself and why you're here, stay with me. But the thing is, I discovered something quite weird. And what the weird thing was, is the harder I bloody looked, it was like the further it disappeared. It was really frustrating, because I looked and looked and looked, I kept thinking about that stuff. I just couldn't get it, as if I wanted something. I wanted something I could hold, to have, and it disappeared. And then something happened in my mind as I was thinking around this. What am I afraid of losing? Which is weird, isn't it? Put the two together, looking for something, looking for something that's really going to be really good, really, really, really, really good. But having this fear of losing something. And it got me thinking about emotional issues. We have emotional issues, but sometimes we hold on to them, don't we? Why is that? What are we afraid of losing? There's a theme there. Then I thought to myself, what about personal development? Which is a little bit like I'm doing myself. Sometimes when we're in this lovely bit of life of personal development, we're trying to progress ourselves, get that 1% better every day and all the stuff and all the good things, you know, creating that best version of ourselves or moving towards it. It's there, we've just got to move towards it. But sometimes we falter, don't we? We plateau. And there's reasons why we plateau. But sometimes we just don't move on from that plateau. Why is that? What are we afraid of losing? That's what keeps coming to my mind. Now I thought to myself, what about goals, our dreams, our desires? Sometimes we work on them and it just happens, doesn't it? But then there are other times. And to me, sometimes they're the big things, bit like this North Star of mine. My goal, my dream, my real passionate desire to find something new in my life, to create something which is a benefit to me, the people around me, a little old planet Earth, which makes it totally ecological and fun. Why don't we achieve them sometimes? And I put it again. I think sometimes we're afraid of losing something. And it's that fear of losing is stopping us creating marvellous, magical things in our life. What are we afraid of losing? And the thing is, these are just questions, aren't they? They're just questions. But the longer podcast, I think I've got a bit of the answer. I'm not going to say I've got the total answer because there's always more answers to find. But I think when you find the answer, as I did, boom. Once I understood what I was afraid of losing, things just got big. They became clear again. And the more I looked, the more I found. So on the longer podcast, if you come with me, this is of interest to you. We're going to go deeper into what we're afraid of losing, how we can let go of that fear, understand what's happening on the inside. Find that passion, find that purpose. And guess what? There'll be at least one process in that longer podcast. I don't know what it is yet. But we're going to have at least one or two processes because I love that is part of this passion that I'm finding now. I don't just want to do talk about stuff. I hear so many people talk and they don't back it up. They don't give you the how. They don't help you through that process. They just tell you, well, this is what you're going to look for. But no, don't tell you how to look for it. Well, I'm not going to tell you how to look for it. We're going to look for it together in a process. And those answers that you find through the process, and I hope through the thoughts that we have, the deeper dive, will allow you to succeed in your life. Because that's the whole basis, really, of personal development unplugged. It's using all the skills from NLP, hypnosis, everything I've ever got, into supporting you and me, by the way. You support me in finding our dreams, creating our dreams, succeeding in our dreams, and making little old planet Earth a better place to live. And there is an end. The end is finding that real you. The real you that's going to make this life so worthwhile. And I'll have a few questions along the way that'll make you think too. And the thing is, when we find that real you, and it's a simple little statement, it will create the ripples that will go so far and wide. It will change your life. It will change the lives around you, your friends, your family. And I think you'll make a difference to little old planet Earth. Which is, I know I repeat it so many times, but if we can make one little tiny difference, like that butterfly flapping on the other side of the world, we're going to make a hurricane of change. The wind of change. So please come with me. Please come with me on that longer podcast, which will be the one that follows this. And it'll be called something like, what are you afraid of losing? But it might be called, what are you afraid of? I don't know. I ain't got there yet. This is all in the making, and that's part of this. So come with me. Please share. So other people might be of interest, or it might be of interest to you. You're interested in this stuff. Maybe have a little listen to old Cluffy here. He might have something for you. The video is a bit bonky. They're not that professional, but hopefully the audio quality is pretty good. And he's got some real interesting things that help you change. If you do that, that'd be great. Just share it along and press that. I haven't got the old things that come up on the screen. Just press the bloody subscribe button. So you don't miss the longer podcasts. And they always pop on your playing device of choice. All that stuff. When you do that, we're going to make a change together. So come with me and sit down for a spell next time. Okay. Have more fun than you can stand. And guess what? It's time to fly. So before you leave this unplugged mind of mine, this hypnotic mind, if you enjoyed this podcast or any of the other podcasts, please do subscribe. It helps this podcast grow and affect so many more people. And we love to leave everyone in a better place than we found them. And this will help help the podcast. It will help you and it will help everyone that you know. So if you could just subscribe and share, share this podcast to everyone you know, that's the only cost, pay it forward to everyone. And when you do that, boom, we are all going to make a difference to this little old planet earth of ours and the people in it. Let's make a good world, a nice world. Okay. Okay. You can now prepare to leave this unplugged mind. Warning. You are now leaving the unplugged mind of Paul Clough. It's time to fly. Be brave, my friend. Personal development unplugged. Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited Personal development [self improvement] [self development] [NLP] [Hypnosis]
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11 MIN
FMQ528  Who or What Is To Blame For Your Failure
MAR 20, 2026
FMQ528 Who or What Is To Blame For Your Failure
Who or What Is To Blame For Your Failure What are you blaming right now? The weather? The economy? Your lack of time? Your past? Your boss? Your parents? In this Five Minute Quickie (that's never quite five minutes 😄), I'm planting a seed that might feel a little uncomfortable… Because blame feels justified. It feels intelligent. It feels protective. It even feels responsible sometimes. But what if it's actually costing you your power? In this episode I begin to unpack: The hidden cost of living at the effect side of life Why excuses can feel like safety How trauma (big T or little t) can become an identity Why dragging the past forward drains your energy And how learning — not reliving — is the real shift This isn't about dismissing your experience. It's about transforming it. In the longer episode, we'll go deep into: Letting go of blame (without diving back into trauma) Releasing anger, guilt, disappointment and resentment Healing the "parent story" Clearing unresolved emotional ties Moving fully to the cause side of life Because when you stop blaming… You start choosing. And when you start choosing? Everything changes. The Seed Question If nothing outside you was to blame… What would you do next? If this hits home, share it with someone who might be quietly carrying resentment or excuses around like heavy luggage. https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/fmq528-who-or-what-is-to-blame-for-your-failure And make sure you join me for the deeper dive — because we're not analysing the past… We're releasing it. Subscribe, follow, and visit the free hypnosis page at personaldevelopmentunplugged.com. More fun than you can stand. Wallow in pleasure. Shine Brightly 🌟 Paul Hey there! I'd love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Podcast Ready to subscribe? Click here to explore your options. Or, if you're on Apple Music or iTunes, you can go straight to subscribe or leave a review here. Special Programs for You For tools on developing Supreme Inner Confidence, finding Freedom from Anxiety, or specialized Hypnosis Tracks, visit PaulCloughOnline.com. Free Hypnosis Tracks Want access to my FREE hypnosis tracks? Head over to paulcloughonline.com/podcast. Connect with Me Follow me on Twitter: @pcloughie Remember: I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. This podcast and any of my online resources are for educational purposes only. Never use the hypnosis tracks or exercises if you're operating machinery, driving, or if you have epilepsy or psychiatric conditions. Always consult a healthcare provider if you're unsure. Find Us on Other Platforms Catch the podcast on Spotify, Castbox, iHeart Radio, YouTube, or on our Libsyn page. Stay tuned, and keep shining brightly. ✨ Music Credits Music by Wataboi from Pixabay, Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay, Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay, Music by freegroove from Pixabay, Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay. Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay. Music by will |Marshall from will marshall. And the transcript WARNING if you're a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry - you have been warned - is it an 'ism Welcome to the seed of a longer podcast, the FMQ, the five minute quickie that lasts even longer now, and gives you hopefully something to think about, something to ponder, digest, let it germinate and do whatever it does, so when you come to the longer podcast, boom, we can go even deeper and make some wonderful changes in our life. And this one's called, and I'm not quite sure what it's called actually, it's either Who Do You Blame? or Who or What's to Blame? You see, some people like to blame the weather for the things they can't do. Some people like to blame the economic environment. Some people like to blame, well, time, I haven't got enough time. And that's just a fact, isn't it? Living at the effect side of life. And they're all wonderful reasons, aren't they? Are they balls? They're not reasons. They're not reasons at all. They're bloody excuses. And we're going to dive deeply into that on the longer podcast. But we're also going to dive into something I think is even more important. Because everyone talks about cause and effect, living at the cause side, or living at the effect, living at the effect with all those excuses, or coming back to cause and becoming empowered. And we do that here. Because I believe in that 100%. Once you start living at the cause side of life, you take control. Everything is your responsibility. And with that comes all the glory. And the glory is just living the life you want to choose because you chose it, and you did it. But then again, what else can you blame? Well, we've all suffered trauma, haven't we? Some with a capital T, and some with a little t. I think I've maybe had a little t when I was younger, a big T in the middle. And now I don't know what the bloody hell I've got. And maybe you think you haven't had any trauma. Maybe you think you know that you've got trauma in your life, and you're still blaming it for what's happening into your life right now. And if I hadn't suffered it back then, and if those people hadn't been there back then, well, that's something we can really dive into to let go. Because it's draining. Drains all your energy dragging that crap around. But if you might think, well, actually, I don't think I've got any trauma in my life. Well, I think if that's the case, you created strategies to cope and also have the learnings from it. You've learned from it. So that trauma no longer exists in your life. It might be a distant memory. It was bad back then. But because you've learned it, it's in the past, past tense. And if you have, if I had a hat, which I haven't, I'd take it off you. And I'll go, awesome. I'd doff my cap to you. Because this is still going to apply to you, it is. You see, you might not have or can remember trauma, but you might have people that you blame. Blame for the things that didn't happen in your life. And now you're here. I mean, we're going to dive into in the longer podcast, who we blame. And why, what it costs us and what it wasn't and what it is. See, I have an example in my life when an ex-boss of mine, he let me down more than 100%. If you can get more than 100%, that's what he did. And he did it in front of other people. And he was my mentor. He did such good things for me. And then he did something which was terrible to me. But now, I can, I know if I met him, he might be dead by now. But if I did meet him, or if I knew when I did the work on myself, if I were going to meet him, I'd have been fine. I'd have been fine. I'd have started again. Because I'd have understood something. And it's understanding and learning, which then allows you to take responsibility for what you're doing now, and allows you to let go of that and be freer. No more reasons, which are bloody excuses. You see, that's where I want to go. And there's the other thing. Now these all might hit a bell, but the other one is, it's my bloody parents, my mum, my dad, or mother and father. I don't know, I call them my mum and my dad. You know, back then when we were little, little boys and girls, did they protect us from that thing? Did they encourage us? Or did they discourage us? Way back then. Now, did they do the things they should have done? They could have done? Well, maybe they didn't. What else didn't they do? Come on, fill in the blank. It's your experience, your thoughts, your limiting belief. It's a belief anyway. I don't think it's that supportive. But hey, they're the things we're going to be letting go in the longer podcast. We'll be diving to all of that and developing and creating a lovely process. In fact, I think there might be two, I'm not sure. I like to do two, but there's definitely going to be one. Well, there is, I know now. There's going to be two wonderful processes. One about our parent thing and one about letting go of other people. And you see, in that way, we let go of blame, anger, sadness, guilt, everything, emotion, disappointment, anything, because we can be at peace. And once we're at peace with it, and we've learnt from it, and we've had that experience in our life, we can grow from it. If you think of every person who's a thought lead and all that, they've all had shit lives right at the very beginning. I think some of them might have made it up though. But we do grow from the traumas, big T, little T, once we've learnt from, and they give us opportunities. And maybe we'll just sit and learn how to then create the life we want, because we won't have excuses, we won't have reasons, but we'll have empowerment. We'll have responsibility. But with that responsibility, we'll have the resources, because that effect, the emotions, limiting beliefs caused by our blame, has been holding us, holding us back, giving us all sorts of visions, visualisations, chatting in our head, why we can't do it, and all this stuff. Once we get that out of the way, the positive self-talk comes in, I got this, good day, I get to do this. And we start to plan because we can, we think we're, and we know, we have that opportunity, and we can grasp it. We're not going to be dragging around that old crap. It's there to let go now. So if you're ready for that, I think you are. You wouldn't be listening if you weren't. And if you know of somebody who you know is blaming other things, blaming everything, blaming themselves, then share this with them, please. Because on this deeper dive to come, the longer podcast, the hashtag podcast, I think it's very simple, by the way, and it's not traumatic. Don't worry about that. We're not going to delve into the trauma and all that rubbish, because we're going to let it go and let it go. You don't have to dive into it, let your unconscious mind learn. Just let go of all the things we're dragging around with us that we've been blaming, the people, the things, the trauma, maybe our parents. But please share that with someone you think might be secretly, sometimes they're secretly keeping it inside. But we know, we know by watching their non-verbals, their body language, as it were, the tone of voice, when something, oh, you can just see that little trigger, or maybe they're, you know, they're putting off things. And behind that is generally that thing that we're holding on to that we don't need to. And blame is a, is a crazy thing. Sometimes it makes us feel bad, doesn't it, in the short term. But hey, I would rather be encouraging myself, celebrating myself, of what's possible and the things I am doing and I'm going to do. So if that enthused you, like it's enthusing me, I'll see you on the longer podcast, and we're going to have fun letting go and creating the life we deserve. Okay, I'll see you then. Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited Personal development [self improvement] [self development] [NLP] [Hypnosis]
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10 MIN
Here's A new Hypnosis track from #475.1 Creating The Life You Haven't Lived Yet
MAR 1, 2026
Here's A new Hypnosis track from #475.1 Creating The Life You Haven't Lived Yet
HYPNOSIS Creating The Life You Haven't Lived - Yet I thought it would be nice to take the process from the longer podcast and remix it to a deeper and even more comfortable way to connect with your Unconscious mind and sow the seeds of what you dream of for you in the future. So please enjoy with my compliments And........ Let me know what you need now to ensure they happen bigger, better and quicker than you could imagine :o) Get your unique link here: https://paulcloughonline.com/podcast Oh! You will also find a further 65+ more complimentary deep hypnosis tracks and NLP processes Shine Brightly 🌟 Paul Remember: I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. This podcast and any of my online resources are for educational purposes only. Never use the hypnosis tracks or exercises if you're operating machinery, driving, or if you have epilepsy or psychiatric conditions. Always consult a healthcare provider if you're unsure. Hey there! I'd love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Podcast Ready to subscribe? Click here to explore your options. Or, if you're on Apple Music or iTunes, you can go straight to subscribe or leave a review here. Special Programs for You For tools on developing Supreme Inner Confidence, finding Freedom from Anxiety, or specialized Hypnosis Tracks, visit PaulCloughOnline.com. Free Hypnosis Tracks Want access to my FREE hypnosis tracks? Head over to paulcloughonline.com/podcast. Connect with Me Follow me on Twitter: @pcloughie Find Us on Other Platforms Catch the podcast on Spotify, Castbox, iHeart Radio, YouTube, or on our Libsyn page. Stay tuned, and keep shining brightly. ✨ Music Credits Music by Wataboi from Pixabay, Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay, Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay, Music by freegroove from Pixabay, Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay. Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay. Music by will |Marshall from will marshall. Personal development [self improvement] [self development] [NLP] [Hypnosis]
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3 MIN
FMQ 526 Writing Your Future
FEB 20, 2026
FMQ 526 Writing Your Future
Writing Your Future Everyone says, "There's a book inside you." But what if that book isn't about writing your past… What if it's about writing your future? In this Five Minute Quickie, Paul takes the metaphor of "the book inside you" and flips it into something powerful — a way to consciously create the next chapters of your life. Your past chapters? Already written. Some brilliant. Some messy. All done. But the unwritten chapters? They're rich with possibility. And here's the key — you are the author. In this short episode, you'll begin to: Reframe your past through learning and growth See your future as unwritten potential Fire up your imagination intentionally Start designing the emotional tone of your next chapters Prepare for a deeper process in the upcoming longer episode This isn't about fantasy. It's about engaging your unconscious mind through metaphor — the language it understands best — so it can begin spotting opportunities aligned with your dreams. The only limit? Your imagination. And you're in charge of that. Listen now — and become the author of your life, not lived. Share what you hear https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/fmq-526-writing-your-future Shine Brightly 🌟 Paul Hey there! I'd love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Podcast Ready to subscribe? Click here to explore your options. Or, if you're on Apple Music or iTunes, you can go straight to subscribe or leave a review here. Special Programs for You For tools on developing Supreme Inner Confidence, finding Freedom from Anxiety, or specialized Hypnosis Tracks, visit PaulCloughOnline.com. Free Hypnosis Tracks Want access to my FREE hypnosis tracks? Head over to paulcloughonline.com/podcast. Connect with Me Follow me on Twitter: @pcloughie Remember: I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. This podcast and any of my online resources are for educational purposes only. Never use the hypnosis tracks or exercises if you're operating machinery, driving, or if you have epilepsy or psychiatric conditions. Always consult a healthcare provider if you're unsure. Find Us on Other Platforms Catch the podcast on Spotify, Castbox, iHeart Radio, YouTube, or on our Libsyn page. Stay tuned, and keep shining brightly. ✨ Music Credits Music by Wataboi from Pixabay, Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay, Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay, Music by freegroove from Pixabay, Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay. And the transcript WARNING if you're a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry - you have been warned - is it an 'ism FMQ 526 Writing your future Welcome my friend, welcome to another FMQ. A seed, a seed that I want to sow to generate, create a richness in your life. A life to come, because you've already lived a good chunk of your life, or a part of your life, or what, well you've lived anyway because you're listening here. But we've got a runway, a runway that needs to be filled I guess, needs to be filled. And I heard the other day, and I forgot to make a note of the guy's name, but someone said, everyone, everyone has a book inside them. I thought, you see I get it when people say that, and people literally think, well I've got this book inside me, I've got to write it. And some actually do write it. I've written a book, I'm not going to say it's a very good one, but it was all about me giving therapy to myself when I went through a dark period. And it was called It Doesn't Have to Be This Way, because that's the way I felt. I didn't want it to be this way, and then I created processes to get me out of that. I know another guy, a friend of mine, who's written five books, five, five books, and none of them have ever been printed yet, because he's writing them for himself. He has books inside him that he wanted to write just for himself. Maybe one day he'll let them out, who knows. But taking that aside, that literal view, everybody's got a book inside them, you know, not everyone wants to write a book, do they? No, not everyone. But I do believe in the metaphor now, because I've got a different take on that. And in this different take, or with this different take, I'd like to use the metaphor to create something special. I'd like to be able to create a process using the metaphor, if you've got a book inside you, to create the life you dream of, to allow those dreams to become your reality. And that'd be good, because we all have dreams, don't we? And I'm here, well, I'm supporting your dreams. That's one of my aims for this podcast, to support your dreams and support you in achieving those dreams. You know, get you through the naysayers, the people who throw, metaphorically, throw rocks at our dreams. Sometimes they try to just hold us back, because they don't want to let us go. But we've all got dreams inside us. And I believe those dreams are on our runway, runway for the rest of our life, or they can be. And you see, if you think about the metaphor of having a book inside you, if you think about it, you've got a dedication where you would give thanks to the people in your life. You've got chapters, chapters you've already written, the past, the life that you've lived, some shit ones. And there's some great ones, you know, there's some great ones. But there's a huge difference in those chapters. But they've already been written, haven't they? Well, maybe not the complete dedication, because you know, there may be people you come and find along the way, like the hero's journey. You find mentors, friends, accomplices, people who support you, people who give you maybe a little bit of pushback, the challenges. But the past has already been written. It's all been done. It's been dusted. You got the t-shirt, you've been there, done that, got the t-shirt. And you can't you can, because the past is only your perception of the past, isn't it? And when you change, your perception changes. You see, when we can learn things from the past, it changes its role. The past changes role because it has new learnings for you. You see, when we, you, I, grow by learning from our experiences, those past chapters, we take on the learnings, they go inside, our perception changes, our view of those events of the past change because we have the learnings and our beliefs change. We grow. And then, this is what I think, the unwritten part, the rest of your book, the future that hasn't happened yet and is going to come into the now, hasn't happened yet. And it's rich in opportunities, isn't it? Wow, it's so rich because you can create those opportunities with new perceptions, new learnings, new dreams, goals, aims in mind, all of that. And the thing is, keeping that metaphor going, you are the author. You get to decide, no other fucker, as soon as we square in, but this came out, but no one else has the right to decide how you write your future, how you live your future. And that's where we're going to go on the longer podcast. We're going to dive in deeper because I know there's a process in this metaphor that we can find at least one, if not two processes, maybe more, that's going to allow you to follow the metaphor through, but give your unconscious mind, because it follows metaphors and imaginations so much better than you telling it, to create your dreams. So for you to write your dreams, to feel them and then have them come into fruition, wouldn't that be brilliant? So what I'm going to ask you to do, a couple of things. I want to get your imagination fired up. So I want you to begin to think, if this was a book, how would you like the final chapters to be? I'm going to say finally, you can have as many as you like, and you can make them as rich and imaginative as you want, because it's yours. And as you do that, you'll get a feeling. So I just want you to think about that for the moment. Just think of the things you'd like to write about, what those chapters may be, if you had that book. And that's what I just want you to think about for the moment. So when we get into that longer, deeper dive, I can get you to hook into and re-remember thoughts you've had from now until then. I'll also get you to think of even richer ones in the longer podcast. Think again. That's my aim. So we can take this metaphor and allow your unconscious mind to start creating, looking for opportunities to allow those dreams, those goals in mind, those aims to come to fruition. And maybe your imagination along the way will make them bigger and brighter, because you can. Because with each successful step in the now, as it comes along, you'll be able to think, well, if I could do this, what else is available to me? And the only limit, is there a limit Cloughie? You're saying there's a limit? Yeah, there is a limit. The limit is only your imagination and you're in charge of that. No other bugger. So allow your imagination to run wild for what you want, what will make you happy, what will make you feel so good, what will give you joy, what will bring love or any other emotion you want to have. Okay? Because when we get those emotions, everything else will just be right. If you would, just pass this on, pay it forward, so other people can come along into the deeper dive and allow them to write their future. If you do that, and press that subscribe button. So when the longer, deeper podcast comes along, bing, it flashes up for you. And then you can sit back, find a space, because there'll be, if there's a process, it's probably going to be close your eyes a little bit. Maybe just have a pad and pen or a pencil just to make a few notes as well. So you can be fully prepared to create what you want. Yeah. Okay. You go fly my friend. I'll see you on the deeper dive. So before you leave this unplugged mind of mine, this hypnotic mind, if you enjoyed this podcast or any of the other podcasts, please do subscribe. It helps this podcast grow and affect so many more people. And we love to leave everyone in a better place than we found them. And this will help help the podcast, it will help you and it will help everyone that you know. So if you can just subscribe and share, share this podcast to everyone you know. That's the only cost, pay it forward to everyone. And when you do that, boom, we are all going to make a difference to this little old planet earth of ours and the people in it. But let's make a good world, a nice world. Okay. Okay. You can now prepare to leave this unplugged mind. You are now leaving the unplugged mind of Paul Clough. It's time to fly. Be brave, my friend. Personal development unplugged. Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited Personal development [self improvement] [self development] [NLP] [Hypnosis]
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11 MIN
FMQ 525 They Don't Know I'm Suffering
FEB 5, 2026
FMQ 525 They Don't Know I'm Suffering
They Don't Know I'm Suffering We talk a lot about vulnerability these days — maybe too much, and often in the wrong way. In this Five Minute Quickie, I challenge the idea that vulnerability means oversharing or spilling everything too soon. Because for most people who are suffering — anxiety, overwhelm, feeling broken, or just "not quite right" — the real issue is this: People don't know what's going on inside. And we're embarrassed to tell them. This episode plants the seed for a deeper dive into: Why "suck it up" beliefs don't keep you safe How your unconscious mind is trying (and failing) to protect you A healthier, simpler way to understand vulnerability What freedom from inner suffering could feel like This is for everyone — whether you're suffering a little, a lot, or not right now at all. The deeper dive is coming next. Please share this with others so we can all come together on the longer episode https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/fmq-525-they-dont-know-im-suffering Shine Brightly 🌟 Paul Hey there! I'd love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Podcast Ready to subscribe? Click here to explore your options. Or, if you're on Apple Music or iTunes, you can go straight to subscribe or leave a review here. Special Programs for You For tools on developing Supreme Inner Confidence, finding Freedom from Anxiety, or specialized Hypnosis Tracks, visit PaulCloughOnline.com. Free Hypnosis Tracks Want access to my FREE hypnosis tracks? Head over to paulcloughonline.com/podcast. Connect with Me Follow me on Twitter: @pcloughie Remember: I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. This podcast and any of my online resources are for educational purposes only. Never use the hypnosis tracks or exercises if you're operating machinery, driving, or if you have epilepsy or psychiatric conditions. Always consult a healthcare provider if you're unsure. Find Us on Other Platforms Catch the podcast on Spotify, Castbox, iHeart Radio, YouTube, or on our Libsyn page. Stay tuned, and keep shining brightly. ✨ Music Credits Music by Wataboi from Pixabay, Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay, Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay, Music by freegroove from Pixabay, Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay. And the transcript WARNING if you're a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry - you have been warned - is it an 'ism Hey, welcome to the five minute quickie. Well, it's not five minutes, but it's a seed for a longer, deeper dive into something that I think is quite serious. You see, I get confused. I am confused. Why am I confused? Because every man, every man, his dog, wife, family, relations, talk about vulnerability, bloody vulnerability. It's over-talked. And to me, it starts, and the way they talk about it, it starts too far in. And those who follow that, and when I say follow that, I mean, they go overboard, don't they? And it's embarrassing. They give out so much personal stuff. And it's intense. And it's probably too soon. And it's just too much information. Too much. And it becomes embarrassing because what do you do? What do you do when you hear it? You know, for me, it's like, and I'm a therapist, not their therapist, but, and I could go into therapy mode, but I think, you know, this is not the, we're in the, maybe in a bar, pub. This is just too much. Sometimes you've only just met the buggers and it's like, gosh, you see, this is what I think in reality, when we suffer issues, experiences, you know, they could be large, could be small. Doesn't really matter inside. We would like other people to know that we are suffering because you can't see it. Can you? It's not as if you're limping or something like that. It's inside. You're suffering inside, large or small. Could be just anxiety. Could be, could be something massive. And they don't, don't know. And we just, we would like people to know, don't you? You do. I do. I know I do. I feel, you know, I'd love to be able to speak to you, but no, no, no, no. You see what happens is I think it's embarrassing to say it. It's embarrassing to let it out, you know, because we've got these things called like, suck it up, suck it up, buttercup. You know, you push it down, push it down, man up, woman up, get on with life. Just get on with it. And then there's old limiting beliefs. Those old limiting beliefs that go, well, they'll think less of me. They won't understand me. They just, you know, if I show weakness, that's a real bad thing. And it isn't by the way, it isn't. But here's the thing. They are all excuses. They're excuses. And you're choosing to use those excuses. And now in my notes, I thought to myself, fuck, that's hard, Cluffy. That's a hard one to take. But I have to take it myself because I do the same thing. And when I look back and I can look at myself in like a meta position, I can say, yeah, he chose to do that because who else chose? Who else chose to say those things, do those things or not say those things and suck it up, push it down. We chose. Now I'm not saying necessarily we chose consciously. I don't think we do. We just do it because they're like limiting beliefs. Those limiting beliefs are in there and they just, they just kick off, don't they? They get triggered. So it's unconscious. So it's an unconscious choice, but your unconscious mind is your unconscious mind. It's choosing, but it's choosing for you for a wonderful reason. Don't feel very good. Don't feel wonderful, but it's a wonderful reason trying to protect you. And it's given us all this bullshit beliefs. I call it bullshit because we could call them limiting beliefs, but they're bullshit beliefs and all that self-talk, but it's trying to protect you for your own good, but it's not working, is it? Because you see, this is my thought. You have a thought. You have a thought, Cluffy? Yeah, I have a thought about what vulnerability really is or could be in my mind. You see, I think it's more to do with honesty and that's not being straight with others or not straight with others. You know, it's about something else, which I'll go into in a minute. And that's where we're going to dive deeply into on that longer, deeper podcast of that episode. You see, I've got a plan. I've also got a process that I think just might make the difference. And what do I mean by that? Well, first of all, let's go back a little bit, rewind. Who is this episode for? The longer, deeper dive? Well, in my mind, it's bloody everyone. You see, it doesn't matter whether you're suffering a little, got a little bit of anxiety, got a little bit of this, a little bit of that, or you're suffering a lot. Or you're not suffering at the moment because there's always a time that you might, you see. And I want to deep dive into those beliefs, those limiting beliefs, those suck it up beliefs and all that stuff, and how they're not keeping you safe. How, although it's a wonderful intention to keep you safe, the behaviours and the beliefs and all that BS stuff is now no longer appropriate. It's no longer working. And how do you know it's not working? How do you know? Just have a little think. Have a little think that you know it's not working. And I'll tell you for why. It's because it doesn't feel comfortable. It doesn't feel safe. And if it doesn't feel safe, it doesn't feel comfortable, then it's not working. But we do want to feel safe, don't we? We want to be safe in the world. We want to be comfortable in the world. We want to let go of issues so we can really be, really be safe. We don't want to hide behind these things and keep our issues. We want to let them go. And that's how in the longer, deeper dive, we want to, in effect, explain to your unconscious mind what it's trying to do is a wonderful thing. However, it's no longer working. Let's find a better way. And you see, it's all about simpleness, simple ways. We know in simplicity, there is genius. In simplicity, there is genius. In simplicity, there is genius. Keeping everything in a nice, easy way so we can understand it consciously, and our unconscious mind can understand it even more better. And you see, we're going to use some lovely, simple steps that work to get you or your friend back from feeling broken. Because we do sometimes we feel broken, we can feel anxious, we can feel every bloody syndrome in the world. We get depressed. We get, you know, don't want to leave the house. I don't want to meet people, social anxiety in every way, shape or form. And they grow. If they don't get tapped, they can grow, they can get more intense. And even if they are intense, we can still work on this. So that's who we, that's who it's for. And I want you to be the person who you really want to be, who you really are. You know, let's let this go and be that person. And we can be vulnerable. But in a special way, we can be honest in a special way. I mean, just for a moment, just for a moment. Just before I go, if you're suffering a little, if you're suffering a lot, even if you're not suffering, but you could imagine that if you were just for a moment, just for a moment, take a breath and imagine what it would feel like to be free, to be free of issues and to have the tools to deal with any issues that came knocking on your door. What would that feel like? Just feel it now for a moment. Imagine it, make it up, make it up to just get an idea, idea what it would feel like, because we're showing our unconscious mind, this is a great feeling. And with this great feeling, I could probably do a lot more than I'm doing. And I can do it in a way that creates wonderful results. Then I get lucky, serendipity comes knocking on my door and all these opportunities keep coming. And I start to be my real self, my real me. So that's where we're going. That's the seed. So you know, come back to me, come back to the road. You can keep that feeling as long as you want, by the way. But that's the feeling I'm looking for to start off with, sowing the seed of what's possible. So if you're in any way, if you're part of everyone, either with a small issue, with a big issue or no issue at all, but it doesn't matter. You never know. It could be a friend you're looking, listening for and looking for. Just get to the next deeper dive and we'll have some fun. Because change can be fun, by the way. Serious fun, but it's fun nevertheless. So come with me on that deeper dive, on the next deeper dive. Come and sit with me for a spell. We love that way. Sit with me for a spell. Sit with me for a change. Come and listen for a change. Because change could be easy. It can be comfortable. So let's do that. Come to the longer podcast, the longer episode where we do the deep dives. Do subscribe, please. Press that subscribe button only because I want you to have that longer episode come straight into that device that you listen to, that you don't miss it. It's always there. And if there's anything that you want to dive into, just send me an email. Feedback at personaldevelopmentunplugged.com. That's me and we'll get into it. So until the next time, my friend, on that deeper dive and all the rest, have more fun than you can stand. And I'll see you, hear you. No, you'll hear me on the deeper dives. Bye-bye now. Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited Personal development [self improvement] [self development] [NLP] [Hypnosis]
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12 MIN