Ep. 122 - My Addiction to Being Needed — And the Joy It Cost Me

What happens when the dopamine hit of being needed becomes more addictive than the quiet joy waiting in your own living room? In this deeply vulnerable episode of The Manifestation Method, I"m exposing an addiction I carried for years - one that looked beautiful from the outside but was stealing my presence from the people who mattered most. I"m sharing the raw truth about how I lived under a quiet illusion, constantly giving away every drop of my presence to clients, messages, and notifications. While I was genuinely helping others and excelling at my work, my nervous system was pulled in a thousand directions, leaving me energetically depleted by the time my own children came home from school. You"ll witness the heartbreaking moment I realized I was experiencing "counterfeit pleasure" - the rush of being needed that felt like love, meaning, and purpose, but was actually keeping me from the abundance of joy already living inside my home. I was missing the tiny fingerprints, the puddle jumping, the breathless giggles - the ordinary miracles unfolding before my very eyes. I"m revealing how I broke free through what I call "the sacred pause" - learning to feel the tug of being needed without immediately responding, asking my body if I was a "heck yes" or a "no," and choosing presence over performance. This simple practice transformed not just my life, but my family"s entire dynamic. Drawing on positive psychology research, I"ll expose the happiness trap that keeps us chasing external validation while missing the fact that up to 50% of our happiness comes from intentional activity - how we choose to engage with our lives in the here and now. Whether you"re caught in the cycle of constant availability, struggling with phone addiction, or ready to reclaim your presence from the scattered pieces you"ve given away, this episode offers the keys to coming home to yourself. Press play and discover that happiness isn"t a destination you achieve - it"s presence, aliveness, and the courage to slow down enough to feel what"s already here. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Manifestation Portal App - https://www.ayeletpolonsky.com/mm FREE 5-Day Kabbalistic Activation - https://www.ayeletpolonsky.com/opt-in-5f881604-c276-48fe-ad33-7f649faf0d3e FREE MEDITATIONS: 3-6-9 MANIFESTATION METHOD: https://www.ayeletpolonsky.com/opt-in-c5f07fcc-9839-43d6-998f-3476f50c49c1 FREE Visualization to Manifest Love: https://www.ayeletpolonsky.com/gifts Ayelet’s Courses: THE ULTIMATE MANIFESTATION MINDSET COURSE: https://www.ayeletpolonsky.com/manifesting 21 DAY JOY CHALLENGE COURSE: https://www.ayeletpolonsky.com/joychallenge MANIFEST ABUNDANCE MEDITATION SERIES: https://www.ayeletpolonsky.com/abundance Connect with Ayelet: Instagram:instagram.com/ayeletpolonsky/ | Tiktok: tiktok.com/@manifestationmindset | Youtube:  youtube.com/@AyeletPolonsky