Struggling to say NO? You’re not alone! Anthony Chow gets real about overcoming guilt and setting boundaries.

Ever feel bad saying no? Let’s talk about it. We dive deep into saying no without feeling guilty. Learn how it can actually improve your life and relationships. What are your biggest challenges with saying no? Tell us in the comments!

🎯 Key Takeaways

- Embrace discomfort to foster growth. Seek challenges. This mindset makes saying no easier, as it reframes difficulties as opportunities for learning and development.

- Recognize that saying “no” creates space for saying “yes” to other opportunities. Weigh opportunity costs, considering both gains and losses, to make informed decisions.

- Align decisions with personal values. Prioritize a relationship with a higher power. This will help in making tough choices.

- Be honest about personal capacity and boundaries when committing to relationships and activities. Communicate honestly with friends and family when saying no. Make your yes mean yes and your no mean no.

- Adopt a learner’s mindset. View challenges as opportunities for growth. This helps in reframing difficult situations.

- Acknowledge the impact of choices on others. Balance personal growth with consideration for family and friends.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction & Alarm Preferences

(03:16) Anthony’s Story: Moving Out

(07:23) Recreating Life: A Clean Slate

(14:10) Choosing Discomfort for Growth

(18:48) Saying No to People-Pleasing

(23:54) The Power of Saying Yes

(34:14) God’s Yes, No, and Wait

(40:54) God’s Yeses and Nos in Relationships

(45:42) God’s Perspective and a Learner’s Mindset

(52:54) Reflections, Prayer, and Next Episode

Like, subscribe, and share your thoughts below!#SayingNo #Boundaries #SelfCare #Adulting #TheGoodLife

In this new episode, we dive into David's story, his upbringing, and how his childhood plays a role in his worldview today. Join us as we talk about uncertainty and tackle the deeper questions. Uncertainty is a common experience, but how do we navigate life when it begins to consume us? How do you typically react to uncertainty in your life? Let's start the conversation.

🎯 Key Takeaways

- Acknowledge the struggle of post-grad life by recognizing uncertainty and seeking support systems for sustenance and growth.

- Intentionality matters. Look back at college experiences to identify acquired skills. Then, figure out how to apply them to keep moving forward.

- Adopt a “go-getter” attitude by chasing opportunities and hunting down goals. Do not be afraid of a challenge.

- Develop crucial soft skills, such as active listening, presence, clarity, and directness. Maximize every opportunity and persevere by being resilient.

- Embrace grace. Have grace for others, but more specifically, yourself. Choose grace over anything else to facilitate conversations and forgiveness, which allows for progress.

- Acknowledge luck and God’s providence in life, integrating faith with actionable steps to find opportunities and maximize potential.

Timestamps00:00 Post-College Struggles and Fast Food Favorites

03:29 The Post-College Struggle and Intentionality

07:34 College: Preparation or Tools for Life?

12:28 Upbringing, Independence, and Grit

16:55 Defining Moments and Pivoting Perspectives

22:50 Navigating Uncertainty with Faith and Grace

29:56 Actionable Steps: Passive, Assertive, Aggressive

33:48 Job Applications: Strategy and Providence

43:40 God’s Providence and Living with Hope

Share this episode with someone who needs it!What are your thoughts? Drop a comment below!

#PostGradLife #AdultingStruggles #FaithJourney #CollegeLife #TheGoodLife

🎯 Key Takeaways

• Gen Z faces stereotypes of laziness and emotional softness. But they’re also advocates for mental health, influenced by social media’s emotional exposure.
• Social media can cause comparison and curated perfection. Algorithms drive validation through likes and shares, potentially causing anxiety and body image issues.
• Doom scrolling, fueled by social media’s design, offers a dopamine reward system. It leads to decreased family time and less time with loved ones.
• To combat social media’s negative effects, be aware of habits and seek alternatives. Realize discomfort leads to growth and build resilience over time.
• Detox from social media to reconnect with genuine conversations and basic human needs. Learn to sit with discomfort for personal empowerment.
• Instead of tearing down technology, use it to push God’s story. Flood social media with God, promoting mental health advocacy as divinely designed.

🔍 Summary

Gen Z Stereotypes and Mental Health: This episode explores the stereotypes assigned to Gen Z. These include being lazy, entitled, and emotionally soft. Despite these stereotypes, Gen Z has become the biggest advocate for mental health. This advocacy shifts how Gen Z deals with mental health compared to previous generations. Parents and grandparents often suppressed emotions due to cultural norms or survival priorities.

Social Media’s Impact on Emotions and Validation: The conversation explores social media’s effects on emotional awareness. It highlights that increased emotional exposure has led to a comparison culture. Social media typically portrays curated, perfect versions of life. This skews our expectations. The podcast stresses that algorithm-driven validation via likes and shares can correlate with higher rates of anxiety and body image issues.

The Dangers of Doom Scrolling: Doom scrolling is discussed as a detrimental habit driven by social media’s design. Social media platforms are made to grab and keep attention through infinite scrolling. This behavior functions as a dopamine reward system. Despite it being draining, people continue doing it. This behavior is culturally accepted, and its harm is often dismissed.

Strategies for Combating Negative Effects: To address these negative impacts, the speakers advise being aware of habits. They also advise seeking alternatives to doom scrolling, such as reading or spending time in cafes. Embracing discomfort, akin to working out, is crucial for personal growth. Gradual exposure helps build resilience.

Practical Steps for Building Resilience: The speakers recommend cold turkey detoxes to reduce social media consumption. They suggest using social media solely on laptops. This physical separation limits constant access. Resilience develops over time, like a muscle. Consistent effort, with ups and downs, leads to significant improvements.

Using Social Media for Good: The podcast shifts towards using social media for positive means. This approach involves flooding social media with content that promotes God’s message. They also recommend using social media with an understanding of one’s identity. Viewing mental health challenges as opportunities to not look away.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Welcome to the Good Life
(01:30) The Weight of Finals and Mental Health
(03:10) Understanding Gen Z Stereotypes
(07:00) Advocacy for Mental Health
(10:30) The Impact of Social Media on Emotions
(14:30) Therapy and Resilience
(19:00) The Dangers of Doom Scrolling
(24:00) Creating vs. Consuming
(28:30) The Business of Social Media
(31:30) Awareness of Our Habits
(34:00) Finding Alternatives to Doom Scrolling
(37:00) The Power of Detoxing
(40:00) Building Resilience Through Discomfort
(44:00) The Illusion of Social Perception
(48:00) Using Social Media for Good

College. Was pursuing education at college worth it? In this episode we dive into the honest takes of college being worth the journey. Whether it helped, challenged, or mirrored all its experiences, let’s see what our co-hosts have to say about their time at college, and if there was any value that came from it. We delve into the financial investment, the things we weren't aware of, and everything in between. Grab some popcorn or a nice warm of hot cocoa, find a seat, and let's get this show started.

Timestamps:

(0:30) Introduction
(11:22) Asking the BIG questions
(17:50) Commitment in uncertainty
(19:08 Return on investment (ROI)
(21:57) Learning how to learn
(25:50) Honest perspectives
(27:19) Embracing discomfort
(29:29) Worldview
30:18) Not everyone loves you
33:40) Navigating Hatred
37:39) Next steps
38:31) Money's false guarantee
43:16) Life as the greatest teacher
43:02) Career after college
45:43) Challenge & perseverance 
48:25) Pay vs purpose
52:09) Conclusion

Ep. 3: Friendship. What makes us stay with the people we hold around us in our lives? As we dive into the dynamics of social influence, personality, and connection, hold on for a bumpy ride that you may have already been on, or might help you from getting on in the future. We appreciate your time!

(0:00) Intro/Road trips
(4:05) FOMO
(6:19) Help in uncertainty. Processing Pain.
(8:40) Knowing your circle
(15:25) Who influences you?
(20:09) Qualities of a good friend
(22:12) Have diverse friendships
(25:04) Weight of expectations
(27:20) What do you attract?
(30:41) Everyone has a STORY to tell
(34:33) Faith in friendship
(36:38) What do you takeaway from life’s experiences?
(38:08) Drawing equations
(38:45) How to choose good friends
(39:29) People pleasing
(41:41) Intentionality/depth
(43:39) Saying “No”
(46:25) How to learn
(49:06) Letting go of friendships
(51:07) Essential friends to have in your toolkit 
(53:20) Conclusion/Recap

Burnout. Stress. Setting boundaries. Finding Purpose. Saying No. The struggle to manage our lives efficiently as we truly want to live them. When does it happen? How can it happen to us? In this episode, we discuss various perspectives on what keeps us from and approaching the deal of burnout. We are glad to have you here!Feeling burnt out? We share our personal stories about managing stress and finding purpose. They discuss tips for setting boundaries and practicing personal growth. Check it out!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(05:01) Why go Backpacking?

(08:55) Are you doing too much?

(09:51) What does Burnout feel like?

(12:16) Starting with your Why

(13:34) Josh breaks down (the Why)

(14:32) Imposter Syndrome

(17:27) Know your limits of productivity

(18:09) This is how you reach Burnout

(19:14) What are you ignoring?

(21:40) The 5Ws and H

(22:48) Conviction of Why, Understand the How

(23:22) The “Why” Equation

(25:18) Choose Self-Care

(26:24) Is your plate spread too thin?

(27:23) How many Monkeys on your shoulder?

(28:10) Anthony’s justification to preserving

(28:52) At what cost is your “YES”?

(29:28) So, What is Burnout?

(31:52) Step 1: Be Aware

(32:55) Josh and David battle for mic!

(33:15) Josh walking through the model & equation

(35:22) What’s the risk, and what’s the cost?

(36:53) Sinking ship analogy

(37:39) 3 practical steps

(39:50) Opportunity Cost

(41:14) Story Time of Josh & Anthony

(43:51) Weighing the Pros & Cons

(46:59) Finding balance in your Yes and No(s)

(48:50) Reviewing The Key Steps

(50:04) Conclusion & Final Thoughts

THANKS FOR WATCHING!! Like, comment, & subscribe for more episodes. Turn on post notifications to be notified of our next upload next Wednesday 10am PDT!Follow on Instagram: @itsthegoodlifepod

Welcome to episode 1! Blasting off 🚀

Ep. 1: What is the good life? Does it start with us? Is life ever so easy to navigate? Well, all good questions to ask, and to unpack we start with our introductions, purpose, and focus for this launch of “It’s the Good Life.” Thank you for joining us and stay tuned for the coming episodes!

Timestamps:

(00:53) Living in the moment

(05:56) Navigating Identity

(08:45) Why start this Podcast?

(11:23) What drink is that?

(13:39) Greatest challenge

(16:10) What is “Home?”

(19:27) Dissecting “Home”

(21:37) Anthony’s conviction & purpose

(22:45) What’s most valuable?

(24:53) It’s all about perspective

(26:30) Different types of motivation

(28:26) David’s “Why”

(30:45) Life is a Marathon

(31:45) Are you pouring from an empty cup?

(33:57) Help others, help yourself

(34:33) Closing prayer

(35:48) Peace & Remarks

IT'S FINALLY HERE! FIRST EPISODE OFFICIALLY LAUNCHING SEPTEMBER 23.Very excited to invite you guys into this journey. We have a lot of fresh ideas and dreams for this podcast and are eager to share it all with you! Join us in launching the our first podcast hosted by Anthony Chow and co-host David Herring. "It's the Good Life" is about living your best life in the modern world through the lens of recent graduates. This talk show/podcast format invites listeners/viewers to participate in the conversation. Thank you so much for everyone that has been consistently supporting us along the way. We love you guys!Tune in September 23, 10am PDT. See you there! Don't miss this it!