Overcoming Stress and Anxiety for Podcasters: Tips from a Stress Coach

How can you manage stress in your podcasting journey or professional life?

Lolita Guarin joins Freddy Cruz to share stress management strategies. She introduces the CALM method—control, acceptance/appreciation, limiting what doesn’t work, and multiplying what does. Lolita explains how childhood experiences and learned behaviors shape adult stress responses. She describes the importance of emotional regulation and recognizing subconscious patterns from early childhood. 

The discussion shifts to common pitfalls, like following ineffective advice out of loyalty, and the value of self-reflection. Lolita recounts her costly mistake hiring a podcast booking service and how she found success pitching herself. She encourages identifying what works in your process and letting go of attachments that are no longer valuable. 

For more on the CALM method and stress management resources, go to her website or check out her podcast, Be Amazing You on YouTube.

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Key Takeaways

1. Many of our stress responses and inability to handle emotions originate from patterns learned in early childhood, particularly before the age of seven. Without learning emotional regulation and coping strategies as children, we often carry unhelpful habits and fears into adulthood, affecting everything from our work to our relationships.

2. The CALM method (Control, Acceptance/Appreciation, Limiting what doesn’t work, and Multiplying what does) offers a practical, step-by-step approach to managing stress. The process involves identifying what you can control, accepting what you cannot, limiting behaviors that are unhelpful, and repeating the actions that bring positive results.

3. Sticking to old patterns—whether out of loyalty to parents, coaches, or even our former selves—can keep us trapped in ineffective or even harmful habits. Real freedom and reduced stress come from questioning these loyalties and consciously choosing what truly works for us now, rather than what we were taught to do.

4. Even costly mistakes, such as spending thousands on misguided advice or methods, can offer valuable lessons. By reflecting on what didn’t work, we can adapt, try new approaches (like self-pitching for podcast guesting), and ultimately find more authentic, sustainable success.

5. Whether it’s podcasting or personal growth, thriving comes from self-awareness and flexibility—paying attention to what actually yields results (instead of what “should” work according to others), and being willing to shift formats or abandon unproductive routines.

Timestamped Overview

00:00 "Stress Management Through Planning"

03:50 "Reflections on Fatherhood Habits"

07:23 "Control in Stressful Situations"

13:36 Human Relationships Shape Our Safety

15:17 Letting Go of Ineffective Habits

17:33 Stress Management Podcast Insights

21:18 "Successful Podcast Self-Marketing Journey"

25:53 Upcoming Book and Workbook Release

27:05 "Amazing Podcast and YouTube Chann