19 Year Old Shrink

In this episode I discuss something we’ve all experienced which is not having all the answers. Something that I’ve struggled to accept and especially up to this point in my life which can be tough

And sometimes detaching yourself from a situation or being vulnerable can be really intimidating to start off, especially when you have so much running through your mind. Maybe you’ve never experienced these feelings before and you’re trying to push them away, or you really don’t know how to feel about yourself or practically anything in these moments.

Some of the steps discussed involve reaching out to important people who are struggling and listening to their problems and trying to help them, so you can remove yourself from your own head.

And from there you can start doing things that you thought you wouldn’t be able to do. Those being detaching yourself from people who are the source of these feelings, or sharing things you never thought you would, but you’re glad you did. And the reason you’re glad is that you start to realize other people are lacking answers just like you are.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one of these people, so if you are someone who has trouble accepting that you don’t have the answers and wants to find ways to get through it,  definitely recommend giving this one a listen. 

In this episode I talk about the lessons I learned during startup weekend at LMU, where we had 54 hours to build a prototype for a business idea.

I start off talking about how much your initial plan for a business idea changes and how looking back on it five years down the line, you realize you took a completely different path. Our product, “The Dream Machine” was an app designed to help people journal about their dreams so that they can be able to track how they are feeling in a specific period of their life based on their dreams.

And just designing a product made me realize how even in our life, there are so many things that we are adjusting to along the way to make something completely different on the other end.

As the episode continues, i use that idea to help relate it to the habits of entrepreneurs that I’ve learned from who have been successful. And the point to take away is that even if you aren’t building a company, having the entrepreneurial mindset in every area of your life can yield success.

In this episode I discuss the struggle that exists of people quitting right before they see the results. A lot of times we are putting in the effort day after day and we start expecting that this effort will immediately show results and when it doesn’t, we give up. And a lot of that comes from the perception of instant gratification that is portrayed on social media and other outlets.

In our society today with the vast amount of opportunities and different industry’s developing, it can sometimes be more attractive to quit something because we always know that there is another option. If we aren’t good at this, then we could always try something else that we could be better at.

In this episode, we learn about deciding when it’s right to quit versus if this is something that is worthwhile that I just haven’t seen the results for yet. And this ties into the idea of the compounding effect that has been discussed before. If you are someone who may have struggled in sticking with your goals, definitely recommend giving this one a listen!

This episode explores humility in the context of current society. We are inundated with visions of comparison and there is often this understanding that others might be getting more recognition than ourselves. And we begin to crave that feeling so much, that when we don’t get it, we begin talking about our accomplishments until we do.

And in my opinion, this relates back to our past experience of receiving recognition. When we did something great, we were acknowledged. In my opinion we begin developing this idea that we should be getting that acknowledgement every time we do something great. And when we don’t get it, our expectation leads to disappointment. If humility has been an issue for you or if you’ve had moments where you sacrificed your true personality to get recognition, highly recommend tuning in.

In this episode,  my friend Josh Nutson joins to discuss his experience with mindfulness. Josh is a Management major and Psychology minor at Loyola Marymount and has spent much of the last year focusing  not only on the benefits of mindfulness but the different ways an individual can experience it. 

For college students, Covid was definitely a time for self discovery, and in our conversation Josh reflects on him learning more about becoming more present and mindful of his experiences.

We spend time talking about how to build the habit of meditating, what important tasks vs. urgent tasks are, and why it’s important to learn these skills as soon as possible. It’s definitely cool seeing individuals like himself explain why building these skills now is important rather than waiting 10, 20, maybe even 30 years to get going.

Lastly, Josh talks about terms like “Memento Mori” which is to remember that you will die. And at face value this might be tough to think about, but he explains why it brings a lot of humility into each day that you live. Other terms discussed are the Premeditation of evil which is not the belief that something will go wrong, but having a well adopted plan in place if your plans do fall short. Everything that he discusses all ties back to living a life that has more appreciation for the moment and being open to everything but attached to nothing. 

In this episode, I discuss something we have all struggled with at one time or another; caring about what people think. And sometimes it's good to care about what people think, because they are doing it in your best interest. One example of this discussed in the episode involves cheating on a test, and your friend telling you it's not the right thing to do. Being open minded to your friends advice and realizing that habit needs to end is important. But, where we get into trouble is changing who we are in a negative way based on what others are telling us to do. 

And in these situations, most of the time it's based on perception of what people will say, rather than them outright telling you to do something that goes against you as a person. Examples include  fearing what people will think of your post on social media, rejection, changing personality based on different groups of people, and drinking at parties. Of course, outright criticism of who you are still manifests itself in disapproval of career path, life partners, and your overall success. 

As the episode progresses, I provide multiple solutions to help handle situations of peer approval when they come up. One is becoming familiar with people's opinions you have cared about in the past, and realizing many of those people are no longer in your life. After realizing this, you can approach your relationships  with a future oriented mindset and be more at ease with being yourself around people. And also recognizing that people aren't thinking about you, they are thinking about what you're thinking about them. This is something that will help you every single day and completely change your perspective of other people. If peer approval is something that has impacted you, definitely recommend giving this episode a listen!

Trevor Shevin, Intervention Specialist joins me to discuss his experience of addiction and how it led to him becoming an interventionist for those who struggled like he did.

We start off hearing about his life on Wall Street where he was ultra focused on results and spent a lot of time trying to people please. We dive into his struggles with alcohol and drug abuse  that led to him being intervened on by his friends.

From here, Trevor mentions his process of intervening on someone and the Johnson approach that he uses. This involves love first and not blaming and shaming the person struggling with the addiction. Included in this conversation is the discussion of alcohol and drug use from a college perspective and when someone can distinguish being young and having fun versus having a problem they need to address.


If you want to learn about addiction as a whole and the broader impact it has on a persons life outside of just the substance, this is the episode for you. 

In this episode, I talk about something that we’ve all dealt with in the past, which is hurting people close to you.

And during this, I bring up a small metaphor from when I was a kid that holds a similar meaning to our experience of apologizing to others. Sometimes it’s difficult, and our ego gets in the way of fully admitting we’re wrong. We start coming up with little excuses and deflecting our mistakes on other people by creating a story where we aren’t in the wrong.

And sometimes, over apologizing is also a sign that your ego is rearing it’s ugly head. Because you would rather just apologize than to make improvements for the next time. And this is something I’ve struggled with on multiple occasions.

Maybe you’re dealing with a relationship right now where you are struggling to do this, or you’ve struggled with it in the past. But, this episode can help give you insight into how apologizing can help strengthen relationships that have been struggling in your life. 

In this episode I sit down with Lea Durante, nurse practitioner and outspoken educator on the importance of caring for the Endocannabinoid system. She helps others find relief from various physical and mental ailments using USDA organic hemp CBD.

During our discussion, she mentions how the Endocannabinoid system affects every aspect of our health and CBD is used as a way to help regulate the system and much of our functions as human beings. We learn that being selective with the CBD brands you purchase is vital considering this industry is like the "Wild West" where certain products aren't regulated.

In addition, we begin to understand why CBD is more useful in todays society considering there are many more stressors that trigger that lack of balance in the Endocannabinoid system. If you're a runner, you learn some interesting information about the "Runners High" that shows how the Endocannabinoid system is more present than the endorphins in your body. For interesting information about a booming industry that is only going to grow, tune in for more!

Learn More Here:

 https://youtu.be/oJbOQ9P2NYQ (Inspiration for Lea's work)

IG: @lea.durante.np

email: [email protected]

Shop clean, safe, USDA organic hemp CBD with me as your resource & guide: leadurante.greencompassglobal.com 

Paul Lamar Hunter joins me to discuss his experience growing up as the 19th of 21 children. He mentions the poverty and neglect he experienced as well as how the family and community reacted to his brother and fathers death when he was still a young kid.

Paul discusses the emotionally taxing experience and affect losing his brother in a house fire had on him but how having the support of his large family helped him through it. In addition, we learn how his mother coped with losing her husband, especially when she became  a single parent raising 21 kids. Despite her raising a great kid, Paul described his mother as being very neglectful considering she never showed up to his graduation for college.

But through this, we’re able to learn how Paul found the strength to keep going even when those close to him didn’t want to see him succeed. And although they didn’t, he was able to ask the questions and build relationships with people outside of his family who ultimately became apart of it. He has written a book "No Love, No Charity,"  that has been featured in the US Reporter, NY Weekly, LA Wire, Ebony Magazine and more. He has also appeared on several tv shows including Face the Truth, Good Things Utah, and the Morning Blend.

Here are the links to get in touch and support Paul!

https://www.paullamarhunter.com/

 https://cash.app/$PaulLamarHunter

 https://twitter.com/APLH19

 https://www.instagram.com/paullamarhunter/