EPISODE · Jun 9, 2026 · 21 MIN
How to be happy, single & confident - how self-esteem impacts single life & building unbreakable self-worth
from Last Year of Single
I used to say I loved myself. I also used to people-please, stay in situationships that made me feel worthless, and spend every night alone wondering what was wrong with me. Those two things cannot both be true. One of them was lying.If you would say you love yourself, but you keep accepting less than you deserve, chasing people who don't choose you, and feeling like being single means something is fundamentally wrong with you; this episode is the one that explains why. And what to actually do about it.Clinical psychologist Dr Adia Gooden joins Bree to break down what self-esteem actually is, why so many high-achieving women have dangerously low self-worth without realising it, and how to build the kind of unconditional self-worth that doesn't crumble when the world: dating apps, rejection, situationships, the stories in your own head, confirms every insecurity you've ever had.Because it will confirm them. Repeatedly. And your self-worth needs to be built for that.Dr Adia Gooden is a licensed clinical psychologist with a BA from Stanford University and PhD from DePaul University. Her TEDx talk "Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth" has over 1 million views. She hosts the Unconditionally Worthy podcast and coaches high-achieving professional women to stop making their worth conditional on achievement, approval or being chosen.In this episode you'll learn:What self-esteem actually is and the difference between self-esteem and unconditional self-worth that changes everythingThe hidden signs of low self-worth that look like being a good person: people-pleasing, over-giving, settling, chasingWhy hating being single is a self-esteem problem disguised as a relationship problem and why no relationship will fix itHow the stories we tell ourselves: "I'm too much," "I'm not enough," "nobody stays", become self-fulfilling and how to break themWhy the world, dating apps, rejection and situationships are specifically designed to confirm your worst fears about yourself and how to build self-worth that survives all of itThe four practices Dr Adia Gooden uses to help women build unconditional self-worthWhat genuinely loving yourself looks like in practice, not as a concept but as a daily experience that changes how you date, how you live single, and how far across the world you're willing to go alone on gut instinctWhether you're newly single after a breakup, stuck in self-sabotage and people-pleasing, exhausted by attracting people who treat you as less than you're worth, or a solo female traveller who moved countries alone and still wonders if she's enough, this episode is the foundation everything else builds on.Dr Adia Gooden's free ebook: 4 Practices to Cultivate Unconditional Self-Worth - dradiagooden.com Unconditionally Worthy podcast — Dr Adia GoodenTEDx: Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth dradiagooden.com · 📸 @dradiagoodenFollow Bree on Instagram: @breesteele.mp3 Substack community + Last Year of Single List hereEmail: [email protected] Host and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What this episode covers
I used to say I loved myself. I also used to people-please, stay in situationships that made me feel worthless, and spend every night alone wondering what was wrong with me. Those two things cannot both be true. One of them was lying.If you would say you love yourself, but you keep accepting less than you deserve, chasing people who don't choose you, and feeling like being single means something is fundamentally wrong with you; this episode is the one that explains why. And what to actually do about it.Clinical psychologist Dr Adia Gooden joins Bree to break down what self-esteem actually is, why so many high-achieving women have dangerously low self-worth without realising it, and how to build the kind of unconditional self-worth that doesn't crumble when the world: dating apps, rejection, situationships, the stories in your own head, confirms every insecurity you've ever had.Because it will confirm them. Repeatedly. And your self-worth needs to be built for that.Dr Adia Gooden is a licensed clinical psychologist with a BA from Stanford University and PhD from DePaul University. Her TEDx talk "Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth" has over 1 million views. She hosts the Unconditionally Worthy podcast and coaches high-achieving professional women to stop making their worth conditional on achievement, approval or being chosen.In this episode you'll learn:What self-esteem actually is and the difference between self-esteem and unconditional self-worth that changes everythingThe hidden signs of low self-worth that look like being a good person: people-pleasing, over-giving, settling, chasingWhy hating being single is a self-esteem problem disguised as a relationship problem and why no relationship will fix itHow the stories we tell ourselves: "I'm too much," "I'm not enough," "nobody stays", become self-fulfilling and how to break themWhy the world, dating apps, rejection and situationships are specifically designed to confirm your worst fears about yourself and how to build self-worth that survives all of itThe four practices Dr Adia Gooden uses to help women build unconditional self-worthWhat genuinely loving yourself looks like in practice, not as a concept but as a daily experience that changes how you date, how you live single, and how far across the world you're willing to go alone on gut instinctWhether you're newly single after a breakup, stuck in self-sabotage and people-pleasing, exhausted by attracting people who treat you as less than you're worth, or a solo female traveller who moved countries alone and still wonders if she's enough, this episode is the foundation everything else builds on.Dr Adia Gooden's free ebook: 4 Practices to Cultivate Unconditional Self-Worth - dradiagooden.com Unconditionally Worthy podcast — Dr Adia GoodenTEDx: Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth dradiagooden.com · 📸 @dradiagoodenFollow Bree on Instagram: @breesteele.mp3 Substack community + Last Year of Single List hereEmail: [email protected] Host and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How to be happy, single & confident - how self-esteem impacts single life & building unbreakable self-worth
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