1183634221760266 Get on the map so you know where you are going - Thrive Beyond Pornography (Formerly The Self Mastery Podcast)

Episode 52

full
Published on:

6th Sep 2020

Get on the Map

Download the roadmap free here:

zachspafford.com/roadmap

Sign up for my free webinar here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1515981173927/WN_9S9QoOmaQwW8fiFYXFYE8g

Get on the map


Free webinar on Sunday Sept 13 at 830 Mt time. 



When I lived in Alaska my friends and I loved to go out into the woods and camp


I loved the ferns. I loved the birch trees that had such great bark for starting fires. 


I loved four wheeling and snow mobile-ing with my friends.  


But, on occasion I would go out alone.  I would test my capabilities. I would camp on the side of a mountain alone.  


In those moments I needed to rely on my ability to read a map and orient myself on the map. 


One of the most important skills in reading and following a map is knowing where you are. 


Knowing where you are is the very first thing you must do if you want to end up getting to where you want to go. 


If you don’t correctly identify your position on the map you are trying to follow, you will invariably end up in a place you were not intending to go. 


The same is true of pornography use 


In fact, just this week I had a conversation with someone who enrolled in my individual coaching program who was very frustrated because he had done so much work, put in so much effort in so many important and critical ways. Yet, he didn’t feel like he was succeeding. 


As we spoke it became clear to me that he had not yet admitted to himself that he had been using pornography because it had helped him deal with his stress and with his loneliness. 


That’s right, I said it helped him.  In those moments when he had been stressed, it had provided relief.  In those moments when he had been lonely it had given him a break from his feelings. 


So many of us would just like to demonize pornography and users of pornography.   It is a convenient and easy story that makes it so we stand on moral high ground, seemingly above the problem. 


We say things like, pornography is just the next step toward infidelity.


We believe that people who use pornography are addicted and powerless. 


We hide it and hide from it whenever people discuss it because that kind of person is disgusting and they look at things that are disgusting and everything about pornography is disgusting. 



When this is what we believe about pornography and by extension, inference and explicitly users of pornography we are creating shame that withholds from the users and from ourselves the love that we all truly crave and wish for all of our HF’s children. 


-       Just ask yourself, where did Jesus spend his time?

-       

-       

-       Moral high ground doesn’t help anyone


What I really find interesting about this is that it is not just the wives who think and believe and behave this way. 


It is the user’s themselves. 


Just like my client who had up to that point, not really accepted where he was on the map, we all try to pretend that things are different than they really are. 


We do this so we can feel good about ourselves. We do this so we can feel good about our judgement of ourselves and others. 


Strange right:


Pornography users judge themselves for using pornography the same way non-users do. 


Here’s the problem.  None of that helps you become the person you want to be. 


None of that helps you find the path away from pornography. 


None of that is even true.


All of those thoughts actually hold you back from becoming the person that you want to be, if you are the user, and can hold your spouse back from being the person they want to be, if you are the spouse of a user. 


So, what do we do? How do we properly orient ourselves on the map that leads to eliminating pornography use from our lives?


Start at the beginning.  Start by taking a clear and simple assessment of where you really are. 


I have a  free download on my website you can follow the link in the description, or you can go to zachspafford.com/roadmap if you have not gotten this already, please go to my website and get it so you can follow along. 


But lets take a few minutes and talk about how you can orient yourself properly on the map.


Show artwork for Thrive Beyond Pornography (Formerly The Self Mastery Podcast)

About the Podcast

Thrive Beyond Pornography (Formerly The Self Mastery Podcast)
(Formerly The Self Mastery Podcast) This podcast is for Couples who want to overcome pornography. We teach you how to retrain your brain to completely quit pornography. If you are excited to move past pornography, this is the...
Learning to Thrive Beyond Pornography use was the greatest challenge of our life and marriage. It had rocked my self confidence, tainted all of the most important experiences of my life and become the most impossible challenge I had as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
With this podcast or at https://www.zachspafford.com you'll learn about the struggle, how to overcome pornography use, and where to find additional resources to begin to thrive beyond pornography with your spouse.
At some point I took a step away from all the 12 step meetings and councilors and started to figure out my own brain, to look at my issue as something that I had the answer to and I was going to figure it out. Here I share those lessons and give you the power to start your own journey free. Whether you struggle with unwanted pornography use or are the spouse or partner, whether you feel stuck or just don't know where to start, here I will teach you principles, tools and skills that you can use today to change how you think and, in the end, what you do.
You'll hear interviews with my spouse, with experts on human sexuality and with former and current pornography users on how you can overcome your own struggle with addictive behavior.
The Thrive Beyond Pornography podcast will bring new perspective to your struggle and keep you coming back to improve all aspects of your life. (formerly, The Self Mastery Podcast: Overcome Pornography Forever)
Support This Show

About your host

Profile picture for Zach Spafford

Zach Spafford

Zach Spafford is an Acceptance and Commitment Coaching, Be Bold Masters, and The Life Coach School trained life coach with over 25 years of experience with addictive behaviors.
He has been coaching in the business world for over 15 years and changing lives through increased productivity and achieved results.
Zach has a passion for making peoples lives better through helping them move past their addictive behaviors and becoming the people they want to be.