And hello to you and welcome to the Richard Nichols podcast, the Personal Development

Podcast series that's here to help inspire, educate and motivate you to be the best you can be.

I'm psychotherapist Richard Nichols, and today you'll learn about boundaries.

And if you're ready, we'll start the show.

Hi folks, happy August. If it is August for you, I don't know when you're listening to this,

do I? But it might be Friday the 1st of August for you today I don't know when you're listening to this, do I? But it might be Friday the 1st of

August for you today. And if it is, I do apologise, because I also put out a short five-minute

bonus episode every Friday, don't I? So if you listen to me on a podcast app, this morning,

it pushed two episodes to you at the same time. Sorry about that.

It only happens once or twice a year, so I shouldn't worry about it, but it feels a bit intrusive

giving you two on the same day, like I've crossed a line. And that's what I want to talk about

today. Boundaries, why they're important, how to set them, and how you know if someone's crossed the line.

So, most people think of boundaries as being a physical thing, like there's a personal space around them that's not for other people to be in, as if there's a chalk outline on the ground everywhere you go.

And if someone steps into it, it makes you anxious.

The thing is, the only one that knows it's there is you.

It's invisible to everyone else, but you.

And these boundaries can be about anything and everything. If your boundaries are about

how much time your next door neighbour spends chatting with you on your drive when you've come home from work

and they keep on crossing the line, then it needs to change. If you have a boundary between what's

acceptable and what isn't about anything and you

feel that people keep on crossing over it, then it needs to change because if it doesn't, you will

resent it eventually if you don't already. And it's going to lower your self-esteem if it hasn't already.

...