Charlie is the author of Play It Away and Recession-Proof Graduate. He's spoken at the Pentagon, TEDx, and universities around the world. Charlie is the Head of Podcast & Video for Book in a Box. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two dogs.

Today we’re talking about Charlie's experience with extreme anxiety and how he cured it primarily through play and switching to a play mindset.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How he coordinated a huge event for Tim Ferriss
• The 1:3 sleep to wake ratio
• Charlie's slow and steady build to debilitating anxiety
• The various modalities Charlie tried to help relieve his anxiety eg. meditation, supplements, psychedelics, & fasting
• The book that was the tipping point during Charlie’s anxiety recovery
• How play completely cured Charlie of anxiety and depression within a few weeks
• How improv allowed Charlie to embrace what was going on in the moment
• Adopting a play mindset
• Children generally fall into one of 3 categories: secure, avoidant, or anxious
• We can all choose to view the world as a playground and the world tends to respond accordingly
• How to figure out what types of play best suits you
• Start by scheduling in as little as 30 minutes of play a week
• Outdoor sports are one of the best ways to reduce anxiety, especially in men
• Pay to play
• Fitting play into the workday
• It's ideal to find work that doesn't feel like work
• Finland has up to 2 hours of recess a day
• Are tracking devices such as Fitbit’s and social media taking away from the play experience?
• The less screen time you get, the happier you're going to be
• It's liberating to get rid of stuff - minimalism
• Finding an environment/location that supports your wellbeing
• Start smiling and saying hello to strangers on the street
• Intentional vs. random acts of kindness
• The more sleep you get, the better your work is
• The ultimate cheat in life... a 15-20 minute nap

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Related links:

Charlie Hoehn - Play It Away (book)

Charlie Hoehn's website

Follow Charlie Hoehn on Facebook, and Instagram

Charlie Hoehn - Play For A Living (book)

Charlie Hoehn - Recession Proof Graduate (book)

Author Hour with Charlie Hoehn (podcast)

Stuart Brown - Play (book)

Tim Ferriss - The 4-Hour Chef (book)

The Five-Minute Journal

Tucker Max (books)

John Bowlby (books)

Trophy Kids (documentary)

Cal Newport (books)

Move - Daily activity to stay healthy (iOS app)

Napoleon Hill - Outwitting the Devil (book)

Related episodes:

305: Dave Asprey – Game Changers, Practicing Gratitude & Forgiveness, Holotropic Breathing vs. Ayahuasca

303: Emily Fletcher – Stress Less… Accomplish More, Mindfulness vs. Meditation, Secrets To Manifesting

286: Cal Newport – Digital Minimalism • Create Time For Solitude • Stop Socializing On Social Media

252: Srinivas Rao – Creating For An Audience Of One • Creativity Leads To Happiness • Cognitive Bandwidth

222: Focus Friday – More Play

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