This Seems Personal

Leigh Gall

This Seems Personal is not a perfectly packaged self-help space. It's me, Leigh Gall, telling the truth in real time and saying the things most of us are too scared to say out loud. I'm done hiding, done performing, done pretending any of us have it all together. This is for anyone who has ever worn a mask in their own life. The overthinkers. The achievers. The people pleasers. The ones who read every room, anticipate every need, and still feel disconnected from themselves even when everything looks fine on the outside. If you've ever wondered whether everyone else is faking it too, you're not alone, and you're in the right place. Here's what I keep coming back to. Your brain is a keep-you-alive machine running on outdated software. So we overthink. We over-function. We abandon ourselves without ever noticing, because by now it's as easy as breathing. We ran these survival responses so many times they stopped being reactions and became who we are. A skillset you never asked for but somehow mastered. And here's the part nobody tells you: it's also your superpower. So across these episodes I get into the real stuff. Self-abandonment, the nervous system, the inner critic, people-pleasing, overthinking, self-sabotage, and all the things we quietly do for everyone else without realizing it. I share the stories I used to hide. Nothing polished. Nothing perfect. Just the truth, the way I actually learned it. What you won't get here is "just go do it." I'm not interested in toxic positivity or faking it till you make it. I'm interested in what's actually getting in your way, and how to put that fire out instead of white-knuckling your way through it. I'm putting myself out here raw because someone has to go first. If you hear something and think, finally, someone is saying what I've been feeling, welcome. This is This Seems Personal. It always is.

  1. 2d ago

    S2 Ep.3: I'm the Problem, How You're Gaslighting Yourself

    Send us Fan Mail Gaslighting yourself is when someone upsets you and within seconds you've built the case for why you were actually the problem. It's the quietest form of self-blame — apologizing to the person who hurt you, deciding you overreacted, insisting "he'd never do that" — and if you grew up learning to keep the peace, you probably don't even notice you're doing it. In this episode I break down what self-gaslighting really is, why blaming yourself once kept you safe as a kid, and the environments that train it — conflict-avoidant homes, emotionally inconsistent ones, gendered conditioning, and the "responsible kid" who grew up to be the fixer. I get into why the charming, well-liked people are the hardest to see clearly, what this pattern quietly costs you (boundaries you never set, jobs and relationships you stayed in too long), and I share my own story of becoming the scapegoat in a leadership role and calling it my fault. The bigger truth: you were never the problem. You were just the only person you could safely blame. — 🗓️ FREE WORKSHOP — HAVE YOUR OWN BACK  Thursday, August 20th at 11am Central. One hour, free, and interactive. LINK: https://www.leighgall.com/event-details/have-your-own-back-2 — Let's connect:  Website — leighgall.com  Instagram — @theleighgall  TikTok — @thisseemspersonal  LinkedIn — @leighgall I speak and coach on all of this — the inner critics, the conditioning, the survival patterns that masquerade as being reliable. If this episode landed, come find me at leighgall.com.

    S2 Ep.3: I'm the Problem, How You're Gaslighting Yourself
  2. Jun 1

    Episode 10: I Swam in a T-Shirt: The Fear of Being Seen

    Send us Fan Mail The fear of being seen doesn't start in the bad relationship or the burnout job — it starts in childhood, the moment a kid learns the world is watching before she learns who she is. In this episode, Leigh shares the oversized t-shirt she wore to swim in as a child, and how that one small act of hiding became people pleasing, performing, perfectionism, and decades of self-surveillance. If you've ever rehearsed a text, scanned a room for disapproval, or talked yourself out of something because it wouldn't be perfect — press play. This one's freaking relatable. In this episode: Why Leigh swam in a t-shirt — and what it was really aboutHow the fear of being seen becomes self-abandonmentThe childhood roots: objectification, authoritarian homes, and "approval equals safety"People pleasing, performing, and assuming you're always being judgedThe "if I'm not perfect, why bother" trapHow it quietly turned into overachievement, promotions, and anxietyThe grocery store moment that broke the spellThe reframe: no one is watching — and you're allowed to be seenConnect with Leigh: Website: leighgall.com Instagram: @theleighgall TikTok: @thisseemspersonal LinkedIn: @LeighGall Work with Leigh: Leigh speaks and coaches on the conditioned thinking and survival patterns that get in our way. To bring her to your team or work together, head to leighgall.com. Enjoying the show? Follow This Seems Personal and leave a quick rating — it's how new listeners find it.

    Episode 10: I Swam in a T-Shirt: The Fear of Being Seen
  3. May 18

    Episode 8: People Pleasing Is Paralysis (And I Have Proof)

    Send us Fan Mail People pleasing isn't a personality trait — it's a freeze response. The fawn response. A survival skill that hijacks you in the moment and makes you say yes, take the blame, and lose your voice when you didn't want to. There's actual science behind it (it's called tonic immobility), and in this episode I prove it the hard way: by catching myself doing it on tape. This was supposed to be a guest episode. I scrapped it. When I watched it back, I saw myself people pleasing all over again — in an episode about people pleasing. So instead of showing you, I'm telling you what happened and what it taught me. In this episode: Why people pleasing is paralysis, not politenessThe science: freeze + fawn, and why you don't get a vote in the momentThe "ping" you feel but don't act on — and why that happensGiving yourself space: why you don't owe anyone an answer on demandWhy "I've thought about it and changed my mind" is allowedWhy you don't need to pinpoint where your conditioning came from to start changing itWhy this doesn't resolve overnight — and why that's okayIf you've ever walked away from a conversation thinking "why did I agree to that?" — this one's for you. Website: leighgall.com  Instagram: @theleighgall  TikTok: @thisseemspersonal LinkedIn: @LeighGall Work with me: I do speaking and coaching on inner critics, people pleasing, perfectionism, and the conditioned thinking that masquerades as drive. leighgall.com

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About

This Seems Personal is not a perfectly packaged self-help space. It's me, Leigh Gall, telling the truth in real time and saying the things most of us are too scared to say out loud. I'm done hiding, done performing, done pretending any of us have it all together. This is for anyone who has ever worn a mask in their own life. The overthinkers. The achievers. The people pleasers. The ones who read every room, anticipate every need, and still feel disconnected from themselves even when everything looks fine on the outside. If you've ever wondered whether everyone else is faking it too, you're not alone, and you're in the right place. Here's what I keep coming back to. Your brain is a keep-you-alive machine running on outdated software. So we overthink. We over-function. We abandon ourselves without ever noticing, because by now it's as easy as breathing. We ran these survival responses so many times they stopped being reactions and became who we are. A skillset you never asked for but somehow mastered. And here's the part nobody tells you: it's also your superpower. So across these episodes I get into the real stuff. Self-abandonment, the nervous system, the inner critic, people-pleasing, overthinking, self-sabotage, and all the things we quietly do for everyone else without realizing it. I share the stories I used to hide. Nothing polished. Nothing perfect. Just the truth, the way I actually learned it. What you won't get here is "just go do it." I'm not interested in toxic positivity or faking it till you make it. I'm interested in what's actually getting in your way, and how to put that fire out instead of white-knuckling your way through it. I'm putting myself out here raw because someone has to go first. If you hear something and think, finally, someone is saying what I've been feeling, welcome. This is This Seems Personal. It always is.