Stop Being Afraid To Be YOU - The Power of Bold Authenticity with Dr. Aziz Gazipura

In this episode, we explore how you can confidently be yourself - even if you’re afraid of what other people may do or think. We discuss how our obsession with niceness and people pleasing is often a problem and share specific tools you can use to overcome it. We also talk about the power and importance of saying no - and the right way to do it so that you can move away from approval seeking and step into bold authenticity with our guest Dr. Aziz Gazipura.  Dr. Aziz Gazipura is a clinical psychologist and founder of The Center for Social Confidence, which is dedicated to helping others break through their shyness and social anxiety. He is the author of the #1 Amazon best-seller Not Nice: Stop People-Pleasing, Staying Silent, & Feeling Guilty... And Start Speaking Up, Saying No, Asking Boldly, And Unapologetically Being Yourself. Aziz’s work has helped thousands of people through workshops, coaching, media appearances, and more.Do you struggle with people pleasing and being afraid to say no to people?What’s the difference between being nice and behind kind?A lot of the behaviors that we think are nice often come from fear, obligation, or guilt The opposite of niceness is BOLD AUTHENTICITYNiceness is a way of being that is focused on “damage control”- being in a place of “safety mode” When we are focused on being nice our #1 priority is to focus on avoiding possible danger - making sure everyone is pleased If you didn’t care at all what people thought of you - would couldn’t have any relationships - you would be a sociopath“Nice conditioning” - is a pattern that is conditioned into us from an early age. We’re systemically told not to trust our own desires and to instead “do the right thing” and “be nice” Why we’ve lost the ability to ask “what do I want” and how that is dangerousWhy you should be more selfishExcessive niceness is not benign - it’s coming from a place of fear, insecurity, and feeling threatened - and when you’re constantly in that space you are much more likely to experience symptoms of str