Do you feel confused about the dating game? You are not alone. Even though it seems like everyone is on some kind of dating app, teenagers and young adults are feeling lonelier than any previous generation and are having way less sex. There are many reasons behind this, but it just seems like many of us are dating for all the wrong reasons and can’t make up our minds about what we want. Dating apps and social media present us with an abundance of possible partners. How many of your matches on Tinder do you actually go on dates with? Do you ever think, “maybe I can find someone better if I just keep swiping?” It seems like the challenge in modern times, for many people, is not dishonesty, but decision-making.

Call me old fashioned or naive, but for me, nothing will ever beat meeting someone in real life without knowing anything about them only to unravel the mystery. I have never had to go on a Tinder date to know it is not for me, but I know that not everyone shares my opinion. I have made a few episodes about relationships before, but not one quite like this. I was lucky enough to get Sean Kernan, a top writer on Medium in Humor, Life, Business, Self-Improvement, Love, and Relationships to join me for a discussion on the state of online dating, common dating mistakes, toxic couple behaviors, and the ultimate first date question. He also shares some advice on what makes a good dating profile and how to recover from both breakups as well as bad dates.

Sean’s articles on love and relationships have been featured in Inc, HuffPost, and Apple News just to name a few. Over the last couple of years, he has amassed over 260k followers on Quora and at the time of writing 374 million content views. Sean is a witty, honest, relatable, and personal writer sharing his own trials and tribulations, life lessons, and advice for our enjoyment, inspiration, and learning.

Links

Sean Kernan

7 Surefire Ways to Die Single

Dating Profiles are a Highlight Reel of Bad Marketing

The Ultimate First Date Question — And How to Answer It

Quora @sean-kernan

Medium @seanjkernan

Instagram @sean_kernan

Twitter @seanjkernan

Do you ever wish you were someone else, perhaps someone not afraid to do all the things you dream of doing?

“Somebody once told me the definition of hell: On my last day on this earth, the person who I became will meet the person I could have become, and those two people are total strangers.

“But somebody also once told me the definition of heaven: On my last day on this earth, the person who I became will meet the person I could have become, and those two people are identical twins.” — Ed Mylett

I have heard so many stories of older people full of regret for not giving their dreams a real shot. This is something I fear myself. In this episode of Millennialism, Jordan Gross and I talk about realizing one’s full potential, living a life with no regrets, forging your own path, society’s definition of success vs our own, and much more. Jordan’s wise yet simple approach to many of the big, existential questions is truly inspiring, and hearing his thoughtful anecdotes made me think about what is actually important in life.

Jordan Gross is a 2x startup founder, writer, leadership coach, speaker, and corporate refugee turned trailblazer for positive change, optimism, and the belief that our daily actions can help us all overcome stress and anxiety. He has worked with corporate executives and employees at Google, Amazon, and various startup companies on behavioral leadership change. He has spoken on hundreds of podcasts, in libraries, at conferences, and in high schools around the US. He is also a top contributing writer on LinkedIn and Medium in the areas of Leadership, Self-Improvement, Inspiration, and Personal Development. His latest book, The Journey to Cloud Nine, (which you can now buy), has been hailed "as meaningful as The Alchemist; as brilliantly told as The Life of Pi, and as inspirational as Eat, Pray, Love.”

Links

Jordan Gross

www.journeytocloudnine.com

The Journey to Cloud Nine

The Journey to Cloud Nine Podcast

TED Talk

LinkedIn

Medium

In China and Italy, the air is now strikingly clean. Venice’s Grand Canal, normally fouled by boat traffic, is running clear. In Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta, the fog of pollution has lifted. Even global carbon emissions have fallen. To be clear, the coronavirus pandemic is a tragedy, but this global crisis is also an inflection point for that other global crisis, the slower one with even higher stakes: climate change. It may seem odd, insensitive, or even irrelevant to some people to talk about climate change right now, but as the United Nations’ secretary-general recently noted, the threat from coronavirus is temporary whereas the threat from heatwaves, floods, and extreme storms resulting in the loss of human life will remain with us for years.

Today I am joined by Environmental Communication student and sustainability advocate, Clara Wessel, to discuss eco-anxiety, a term defined by the American Psychological Association as “a chronic fear of environmental doom.” Worry about climate change is affecting people all around the world, but there are solutions that can help improve this anxiety and slow climate breakdown at the same time. We talk a lot about this as well as our own double standards and how we can live more sustainably without compromising the quality of our lives.

I know there are a lot of weird things going on in the world right now, but I actually think this global pandemic is a great opportunity for us to learn more about these issues, make some changes, and reflect on how we want to live our lives, what responsibilities we have towards the planet, and what’s actually important.

Links

Clara Wessel

Instagram @clara.sw

www.clarasophiewessel.com

Recommended Instagram Accounts and other resources:

@atmos

@itsfreezinginla

@theslowfactory

@storiesbehindthings

@ecoage

@futerra

@jackharries

@finnharries

@aliceaedy

@theearthissue

@earthpartner

@sustainablebk

@2040film

Websites

Ellen McArthur Foundation

IPCC

The Ecologist

The Guardian

Creative Climate Cities

This week I’m honored to be joined by Brian Pennie, a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience and lecturer at Trinity College and University College Dublin. In his new memoir, Bonus Time, Brian writes about his journey from a 15-year heroin addiction to a post-recovery career as a speaker, neuroscience lecturer, and Ph.D. student.

In this episode, Brian shares his story of overcoming addiction, how everyone can implement the lessons he learned, and the importance of affirming your own values (his include “boldness, connection, open-mindedness”), asking yourself the right questions, and visualizing the things you want to achieve.

Brian believes he was given a second chance (Bonus Time) in life and he does not intend to waste any of it, which makes me appreciate his wanting to come on the show even more. He is an expert on the nature of human suffering and has given more thought to the meaning of life than anyone I’ve ever talked to. I hope you have the chance to listen through the whole episode because Brian sprinkles wisdom throughout the whole conversation.

Links

Brian Pennie

https://www.brianpennie.com/

Medium Articles @bianpennie

“This One Question Changed Tim Ferriss’s Life”

Bonus Time: A true story of surviving the worst and discovering the magic of everyday

Amazon

Book Depository

Eason

Suggested Books

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

This week I am joined by the lovely Adrien Behn, a professional storyteller, public speaker, writer, and world traveler. She’s been featured in The New York Times and BuzzFeed listed her podcast, Strangers Abroad, as one of the best travel podcasts of 2017. Strangers Abroad started out as a series of conversations that Adrien had with the wonderful people she met while backpacking throughout Latin America for 5 months and in her new season she delves deeper to explore topics such as loneliness, anxiety, and identity.

In this episode, Adrien shares her experiences as a solo traveler and how she lived abroad for 7 months and never paid for a bed (on top of making rich connections with locals). We also get into some unexpected conversations about the creative process, the complexity of strangers, and finding yourself and your identity in loneliness.

Links

Latest episode of Strangers Abroad: Alone

Adrien Behn

www.strangersabroadpodcast.com

Instagram @strangersabroadpodcast

Strangers Abroad Podcast

www.adrienbehn.com

Today I’m joined by none other than Robert Farrington, a personal finance expert and founder of The College Investor. He is also a contributing writer for many major newspapers and his articles on investing, student loans, side-hustling, getting out of debt, and building real wealth have been featured in The New York Times, US Today, Forbes, and Huffington Post just to name a few. He started The College Investor in 2009 as a forum to discuss the myriad of financial issues facing young adults. The website gets over 3 million monthly visitors and helps millennials all over the world get out of student debt and start investing for their future.

We rarely talk about personal finance, managing student debt, and loans in school, so this is the perfect opportunity to get a quick crash course in all of it. This episode could change your financial future, so turn up the volume, press your earbuds or AirPods in even tighter, and enjoy this conversation with Robert Farrington.

Links

Robert Farrington

www.thecollegeinvestor.com

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube

Article: “Why Millennials Need to Start Investing and Why They Haven't Yet”

Free eBook: “Student Loan Debt: Getting in Smart, Getting out Painlessly”

I am joined by Norwegian-based American writer, Kelsey Ozuna. She is a top writer on Medium (Kelsey L.O.) that shares her experiences in life and love, varying from topics such as mental health, relationships, and breakups. Today, however, we talk about how to make the most of self-quarantine.

(I stole the following part from one of Kelsey’s articles)

Our day-to-day life has changed drastically over the past week as workers are encouraged to stay home, and schools, shops, and restaurants have closed in order to protect ourselves and minimize community spreading of the Corona Virus. We are so used to living in a safe and secure mindset, and suddenly we’ve found ourselves in a situation we’ve only seen in movies. Needless to say, it’s a lot to swallow. A similar thing happened in 1665 when the University of Cambridge temporarily closed due to the third wave of the bubonic plague. Sir Isaac Newton was forced to return home and lived much like we are being encouraged to live now, in isolation in order to avoid contagion and viral spread. During this time, he developed calculus and the theory of gravity. Both of which we all know have been monumental for our advancement as a species.

Even if you may not make any groundbreaking scientific discoveries, Kelsey and I both believe you can do more than just binge through Netflix’s latest shows.

10 Ways to Ease Your Coronavirus Anxiety

Kelsey Ozuna

Being Corona-tined Ain’t All That Bad

Medium (All Kelsey’s articles)

Instagram @kelseylowriting

Twitter @kelozu

Every week, I sit down to chat and interview a guest about a topic that interests me. I’ve had entrepreneurs, award-winning authors, esteemed academics, pioneering filmmakers, TED speakers, philosophers, and friends come on the show to discuss everything from social media to health, business to culture, self-development to global travel. I am collecting an ever-growing list of fascinating subjects to explore. Millennialism is the podcast for anyone who wants to learn more about anything and everything. Great conversations sprinkled with some actionable insights on how to get the most out of your life.

I post new episodes every Friday, so make sure to subscribe so don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss one. If you have any questions or just want to get in touch with me, you can do so on my website adamgavin.com or Instagram @adamgavin.

Books

Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home by Heather Anderson

Denali: A Man, a Dog, and the Friendship of a Lifetime by Ben Moon

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Movies

Parasite

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

1917

Little Women

The Gentlemen

Richard Jewell

The Invisible Man

Adam Gavin

www.adamgavin.com

Instagram @adamgavin

[email protected]

This week, I am honored to be joined by Sara Kuburić, a Canadian existential psychotherapist, researcher, writer, doctoral candidate, and speaker currently based in Amman, Jordan. In just a year, Sara has amassed over 330.000 followers on Instagram (@millennial.therapist) where she shares insightful posts about mental health, well-being, and existing in accordance with one’s true self.

Millennials are sometimes labeled as “the burnout generation” and are often unfairly criticized for being entitled snowflakes, but it’s not that simple (or arguably true). Research supports the claim that we have more severe mental health issues than previous generations, but few people are asking themselves why that is. In this episode, Sara and I delve into some of the causes behind our generation’s deteriorating mental health and the rising level of loneliness among young people. Sara interestingly points out that we have had to deal with things that older generations never had to, such as social media, longer working hours, stagnant wages, more expensive educations, and much more. We also talk a bit about the concept of online therapy, why you should consider it, and how being more open and transparent about your own struggles both in private and on social media can help destigmatize therapy and the conversation surrounding mental health.

Links

Sara Kuburic

Instagram @millennial.therapist

www.sara-kuburic.com

YouTube

Facebook

Pinterest

Linktree

Today I am joined by Robyn Agoston, an intrepid world traveler, multi-careerist businesswoman, and all-around amazing human being. She’s spent the past two decades working and adventuring all over the world collecting an encyclopedia worth of fascinating stories along the way.

During our chat, we tackle many big topics, such as the positives and negatives that come with living a nomadic lifestyle, finding a balance between a career and stability versus adventuring and traveling, and the sacrifices that come with never truly settling down.

Links

Robyn Agoston

Instagram @followtherobyn

Facebook

Books

The 100 -Year Life by Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott

The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

The Defining Decade by Meg Jay