Finding Solace

Our smartphone-addicted world has caused a significant increase to the levels of social anxiety that young people are feeling. In today's episode, I talk about the book "how to talk to anyone" and how simple tricks can help to improve your social skills. --- My bookshop: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bookshop.org/shop/solacereads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out my habit tracking app: ⁠...

Modern life isn’t turning into 1984, but something more quietly brutal: a burnout society where we become our own overbearing bosses. In this episode, I talk about Byung-Chul Han’s ideas and how the constant pressure to optimize your productivity, career, body, and even hobbies slowly drains your energy, identity, and joy, all while making you feel like you’re the one failing. I share how this has...

Nobody hands you a manual on how to be a real adult; you just wake up one day and feel like you’re supposed to have it all figured out. In this episode, I talk about what actually matters beneath the surface-level advice about careers and finances: emotional maturity, owning your mistakes, taking responsibility for your life without ignoring how hard the world can be, setting boundaries, and takin...

Modern life is starting to feel flat, repetitive, and a little soulless, and it’s not an accident. In this episode, I talk about how consumerism and algorithms are quietly reshaping our cities, our art, and even our sense of self, turning culture into something optimized for profit instead of human connection, creativity, and meaning. I break down how everything from Marvel sequels and Call of Dut...

Feeling like a “loser” is almost inevitable in a world that worships money, status, and constant self-optimization. In this episode, I talk about why chasing those external metrics leaves so many of us anxious, insecure, and disconnected from what actually matters, and why opting out of that rigged game can be the first real step toward peace and meaning in your life. I share how redefining value...

Our dogs can teach us a lot about how to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. In this episode, I talk about how my ten year old Australian Shepherd has taught me how to be mindful, how to love, how to live in the moment, how to be satisfied with the things I have, and more. --- Check out my habit tracking app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://feelwrite.app/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Enjoy the show? Buy me a coffee or...

Eating “whatever” is quietly wrecking your mood, energy, sleep, and focus, and a lot of what we call mental health issues are made worse by the way we eat. In this episode, I walk through how ultra-processed foods drive inflammation and depression risk, and why getting more real protein, healthy fats, fiber, and key micronutrients can make you feel like a different person over time. I break down t...

Our phones are quietly running our lives, speeding up our days, and pulling us out of the real world without us even noticing. In this episode, I tell the story of breaking my phone, spending a few hours in a mall without it, and realizing how strange it now feels to simply exist in public without a screen to hide behind. I dig into how constant connectivity, news, and social media overload us wit...

Life starts feeling dull when every moment is scheduled, optimized, and tied to productivity, and you forget what it’s like to just do things for no reason other than curiosity. In this episode, I talk about the “art of winging it” as an antidote to that overplanned, joyless way of living, and how loosening your grip on outcomes can actually make your life feel more alive. I share how growing up t...

Modern dating feels broken for a lot of people, but this episode is about stepping out of that mess and rebuilding your dating life in the real world instead of on apps. I talk about how dating apps commodify loneliness, create unrealistic expectations, and train you to treat people as endless, disposable options, which quietly kills both your confidence and your ability to connect.​ From there, I...

Life can start to feel flat and joyless when every day blends together into work, scrolling, and numbing out, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. In this episode, I break down a practical reset for actually enjoying life again, starting with getting away from constant noise and overstimulation so your brain has room to think and feel present.​ I talk about carving out true silence, cutting back...

Big corporations, consumerism, and violations of modern privacy are some of the biggest issues facing free agency in the west. These companies control everything, from the food we eat to the content we consume. In today's episode, I talk about how to regain your life from large corporations, how to avoid being spied on, how to cut back on consumption to feel more fulfilled, and I touch on Byun...

When you’re constantly chasing women, it’s easy to feel stuck, anxious, and like something is wrong with you. In this episode, I talk about why trying to “attract women” as a goal is broken, and how things start to shift when you focus on building a life you genuinely enjoy instead of playing a role to impress someone. I share how letting go of shallow checklists and outcome-obsessed thinking help...

Alcohol is completely destroying your mind and body. In this episode, I talk about why I stopped drinking, how alcohol affects the body, and why drinking alcohol is the same as drinking poison. --- Check out my habit tracking app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://feelwrite.app/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Enjoy the show? Buy me a coffee or become a member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/solacespeaks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ My booksho...

Growing apart from friends can feel confusing and sad, especially when you start realizing you are not on the same path anymore. This episode is about accepting that friendships are meant to evolve, and that drifting is often a natural side effect of both people changing rather than anyone “failing.” I talk about looking back on old friendships with nostalgia without trying to force them to feel t...

When life knocks you down, it’s really easy to feel like you’re just losing over and over. In this episode, I talk about how to reframe those moments so that, long term, you literally can’t lose. I share personal stories about rejection, injury, and family chaos, and how each of those “failures” quietly turned into raw material for confidence, self-awareness, independence, and better relationships...

This is a guide to help you turn your life around, get better at dating, become more mindful, and improve your social life. This episode talks about being in tune with nature, not being attached to what women think about you, disconnecting from dating apps and social media, and more. These were originally uploaded onto YouTube before being repurposed for this podcast, enjoy :) --- Check out my hab...

Some days life feels completely pointless, like you are working, scrolling, and killing time without any real reason behind it. In this episode, I talk about that hollow feeling, why our generation is so overstimulated and directionless, and how constantly numbing boredom with screens keeps you from ever figuring out what you actually want. I share what happened when I forced myself to sit in sile...

Making friends as an adult feels way harder than it used to, but it’s not impossible if you’re willing to be intentional, observant, and a little uncomfortable. In this episode, I talk about moving to a new city, not meeting a single person for months, and what my friend Doug taught me about finding “connector” people who can open the door to whole friend groups. I break down practical ways to put...

Sometimes life piles on rejections, failures, and painful experiences to the point where it feels like you are just losing over and over again. In this episode, I talk about how changing the way you frame those moments can turn them into something you are genuinely glad happened, even if they were awful at the time. I share stories about approaching someone and getting shut down, destroying my leg...

We’re told we should be “well-rounded” — juggling tons of skills, hobbies, and goals — but trying to be decent at everything often just leaves you mediocre and burned out. In this episode, I talk about why specializing can be a lot more powerful, using examples like MrBeast obsessively focusing on YouTube and my own experience spreading myself too thin in college and ending up average at everythin...

Dating apps kind of suck, and in this episode I get into why they leave so many of us feeling drained, replaceable, and weirdly worse about ourselves the longer we use them. I talk about the empty swiping cycle, how gamified matching messes with your expectations, and why “more options” doesn’t actually mean better connection. Instead of treating apps like the main way to find someone, I shift the...

Most people say you can’t have it all, but I don’t really buy that—you just can’t have it all at the same time. In this episode, I talk about my own failed “do everything at once” self‑improvement era, why our 30-goal lists never work, and how watching a young millionaire friend made me rethink how progress actually happens. I break down the “marbles in buckets” idea: you only get so many hours a...

Sometimes it feels like everyone else has life figured out and you’re the only one barely holding it together. This episode is about accepting that you will never fully “have it together,” and learning to move toward your goals anyway without burning yourself out chasing some perfect version of yourself. I talk about the pressure to optimize every part of your life, the guilt that comes with falli...

A lot of us avoid risk because we’re scared to lose the comfort we’ve finally built, but that same comfort slowly kills our growth, ambition, and sense of purpose. In this episode, I talk about how staying “safe” with a stagnant YouTube channel and a comfortable routine drained my passion, and I use a story about a hunter hiding in a warm cave to show how comfort can quietly turn into a trap. I ge...