Podcast Summary: Your Anxiety Toolkit – Episode 438

Episode Title: This 3-Minute Script Can Shift How You Face Your Anxiety Today
Host: Kimberley Quinlan, LMFT
Release Date: June 16, 2025

Overview

In this episode, host Kimberley Quinlan shares a practical, compassionate, science-backed approach for managing anxiety—a three-minute self-coaching script you can use every morning. She emphasizes the importance of how we speak to ourselves (our self-talk), particularly when anxiety is high, and offers listeners a ready-to-use, supportive script to help them face the day with courage, no matter what struggle they’re experiencing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Self-Talk

• Importance of How You Speak to Yourself:
  Kimberley explains that the tone and words you use to talk to yourself in anxious moments are crucial—sometimes even more impactful than other anxiety management skills.

  “How you talk to yourself, how you coach yourself through those difficult moments can determine whether you get up, do the things you need to do, or whether you avoid or beat yourself up.” (02:34)

• Self-Coaching:
  She encourages listeners to notice their internal dialogue and to use a kind, compassionate inner voice, especially in the morning when anxiety (and cortisol) levels are often heightened.

2. Why a Morning Ritual?

• Cortisol and Morning Anxiety:
  Kimberley explains the physiological reason mornings can be tough for anxious people—higher cortisol increases nervous system arousal and anxiety.

  “That will be higher in the morning, which often explains why you feel so anxious in the morning and why it feels a little harder to get going and move into the day.” (03:12)

• Self-Compassion as Regulation:
  Using a soothing, encouraging inner voice can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system, making it easier to face the day despite discomfort.

3. The 3-Minute Script (Main Segment)

[Start: 05:08]
Kimberley delivers a deeply supportive, permission-giving script aimed at shifting mindset from avoidance or perfection to compassion and courage.

Key Messages from the Script:

• You don’t have to eliminate fear.

  “This moment is not about eliminating fear. It’s about choosing how you want to meet it.” (05:25)

• Small, brave steps are enough.

  “You don’t have to take a giant leap today. Maybe just a small baby brave step. Maybe that step is getting out of bed. Maybe it’s brushing your teeth while your heart races.” (06:30)

• Courage is not about feeling confident or ready.

  “You do not have to wait to be confident. You do not have to wait to be certain. You don’t even have to feel ready. All you need is a willingness to take the next step.” (06:04)

• Let go of perfection.

  “You don’t have to get this right or perfect. … Let it be awkward, maybe even laugh if you can.” (07:06)

• Every step forward grows confidence.

  “Every time you take action in the presence of fear, you are training yourself to trust in you. Every step forward you grow confidence.” (07:24)

• You’re not alone.

  “Please remember that I believe in you wholeheartedly. You don’t have to feel brave to be brave. And today, today is a beautiful day to do hard things.” (08:03)

Script Structure:

• Recognize and honor your current feeling (fear, buzzing, what-ifs, physical discomfort)
• Take a breath—even if it’s hard
• Self-affirmation: “You can do hard things. Show up, even anxious and imperfect.”
• Gentle challenge to fear: “When your fear says you can’t, you answer: Actually, I can—imperfectly, but bravely.”
• Break tasks into small, manageable steps, naming routine examples (get out of bed, brush teeth, avoid compulsions)
• Encourage “permission to try,” not demanding perfection
• Growth happens in every action taken with fear, not in its absence

4. Encouragement to Customize the Tool

• Kimberley invites listeners to adapt or record the script in their own voice, choosing language and tone that feels best for them.

  “If you want to put it in your voice, you want to put it with your own tone, with your own language. Please feel free to just take this script and run with it.” (05:14)

5. Reframing the Goal

• The script is not designed to banish anxiety, but to foster a voice of encouragement and support as you live a valued life alongside anxiety.

  “This is not done in effort to make anxiety go away. Quite the opposite. These actions are done to have a voice that encourages you…as you take these steps with fear…” (08:39)

6. Additional Resources

• Kimberley highlights an extensive meditation vault at CBTSchool.com, with over 30 meditations tailored for different types of anxiety and moods, and encourages listeners to keep experimenting until they discover what’s most supportive for them.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “How you talk to yourself…matters more than most of the skills we teach here at your anxiety toolkit.” (02:33)
• “Cortisol is a hormone that…makes us feel very anxious. It makes our heart race. That will be higher in the morning, which often explains why you feel so anxious in the morning…” (03:08)
• “You can do hard things even when it feels super uncomfortable. You can show up anxious, shaky and imperfect. The strength is in the showing up.” (05:37)
• “You don’t have to feel brave to be brave. And today, today is a beautiful day to do hard things.” (08:03)

Timestamps by Segment

• [00:01 – 03:51]: Kimberley explains the purpose of the episode, why mindset and self-talk matter, and introduces the three-minute script concept.
• [05:08 – 08:39]: Delivery of the full three-minute script for facing anxiety with self-compassion and courage.
• [08:39 – End]: Summary, additional resources, and final words of support.

Tone & Language

Throughout the episode, Kimberley’s tone is warm, nurturing, and gently motivating—full of genuine encouragement and practical wisdom, explicitly naming common anxious experiences and speaking directly to listeners’ struggles.

Conclusion

Episode 438 offers both practical tools and emotional support for anyone living with anxiety, panic, OCD, or depression. Kimberley provides a ready-to-use morning script and reminds listeners that self-compassion, not perfection, is the key to courageously facing each day. The episode stands out as a hands-on, morale-boosting, and science-informed resource for cultivating resilience in the face of anxiety.