Zahra Ciardi - The True Self, Limiting Beliefs & Why Photographers Crave Validation, E118
6/4/20261 hr 26 min
Matt talks with psychologist Zahra Ciardi, founder of Ascendant Bali, to explore the inner life of the creative person: why so many photographers feel their work isn't truly theirs, the limiting beliefs that keep artists stuck, and how to put your work into the world without being ruled by validation.
By the end of this episode you'll understand why your photography stops feeling like yours, and what it takes to create from your true self instead of your need to be seen.
Zahra works in trauma recovery and peak performance, and she breaks down the psychology of high achievers, the anatomy of avoidance, the inner critic, and how childhood shapes the way we create as adults.
Other things discussed:
- The "bus" model of the self and why the inner critic ends up driving
- Highly sensitive people and why creatives feel everything so intensely
- Over-diagnosis, self-diagnosis, and the bigger problem of under-treatment
- Self-neutrality as the realistic first step before self-love
- Graded exposure for photographers afraid to share their work
- Using social media intentionally instead of being used by it
- Whether healing costs you your creative edge
- How childhood memory is stored in the body, not just the mind
- The single values exercise Zahra says works every time
Zahra's links:
www.ascendantbali.com
www.zahraciardi.com
https://www.instagram.com/zahra_ciardi/
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsZahra Ciardi· Guest0:00
Lots of artists, really creative, incredible people who've created magic in the world, they find themselves incredibly stuck at some point. And when we're in that space of going, "Uh, what brought me here is not the thing that can sustain me," that's where people begin to ask for help.
Matt Jacob· Host0:16
This is Zara Chiadi, a registered psychologist and founder of Ascendant Bali, a high-end mental health program for leaders, high achievers, and entrepreneurs. Zara specializes in trauma recovery, addiction treatment, and peak performance, combining evidence-based therapy with holistic approaches. Her focus is on helping clients break limiting patterns and unlock their potential. My conversation with her is for anyone trying to make something, and finding the thing in the way isn't the camera or the canvas or the page, it's the mind holding it.
Zahra Ciardi· Guest0:50
If we could all just do things, then we would, and my job wouldn't exist. My job is to break down the anatomy of doing. What is the belief? Because that's the weed in the garden. I can mow the lawn, and it looks okay for a temporary time, but the weeds are there. They're just gonna keep growing back. Or I can go in there and grab them from the roots and pull them out.
Matt Jacob· Host1:10
Zara has spent her career inside the human mind. What she sees there is what most of us have been taught not to look at, and what every creative person eventually has to face if they want to make work that means anything.
Zahra Ciardi· Guest1:25
I found myself resorting to things like self-harm,