Overcoming Depression, Burnout, Anxiety and Insomnia with Dan Murray-Serter | E54

Mental Health and Overcoming Bulimia

In this section, the speaker talks about their experiences with mental health issues such as depression, burnout, anxiety, and insomnia. They also reveal that they had been struggling with bulimia for several years.

Depression and Mental Health Struggles

• The speaker discusses their struggles with depression, burnout, anxiety, and insomnia.

• They reflect on how these mental health problems affected their life and how they overcame them.

• The speaker shares that they had buried another mental health problem - bulimia - which they only recently admitted publicly.

Overcoming Bulimia

• The speaker reveals that they struggled with bulimia for four to five years.

• They clarify that it was not intentional but a deeply rooted psychological issue.

• The speaker reflects on the difficulty of admitting to themselves and publicly that they had a mental health condition like bulimia.

• They share how labeling the time when they experienced different mental health problems helped them remember those moments in their life.

• The speaker talks about how some personal experiences can be so painfully embarrassing that one can even bury them from oneself.

Cause of Bulimia

• It is hard to say what caused the speaker's bulimia since it started after they lost weight.

• They share a random but hilarious story of being hospitalized due to throwing up too much which led to coughing fits and eventually coughing a hole in their throat.

Overall, this section highlights the importance of acknowledging and addressing mental health issues. It also emphasizes the difficulty of admitting to oneself and publicly that one has a mental health condition. The speaker's personal experience with bulimia sheds light on the complexity of psychological issues and how they can manifest in different ways.

Coping with Mental Health Issues

In this section, the speaker talks about how growing up fat helped him develop a good personality and sense of humor. He also discusses how self-deprecation can be a defense mechanism and how he coped with his mental health issues.

Growing Up Fat

• The speaker grew up fat but developed a good personality and sense of humor.

• Self-deprecation can be a defense mechanism for people who are bullied.

• The speaker reflects on why he had mental health issues later in life.

Coping with Mental Health Issues

• The speaker had mental health issues from 23 to 27 years old but overcame them naturally.

• He learned what foods would make him more sick than others.

• His depression was linked to the lack of belief in a higher power after his father passed away.

• Depression is not something to claim you have when you feel down or sad.

• Losing faith in religion can be destabilizing, as well as losing one's sense of purpose.

Overcoming Loss and Finding Purpose

In this section, the speaker talks about overcoming loss and finding purpose. He shares personal experiences related to his father's death, losing faith in religion, and finding his sense of purpose.

Overcoming Loss

• The speaker experienced depression after his father passed away due to a lack of belief in justice or a higher power.

• Losing faith in religion can be destabilizing, but eventually led the speaker to find peace with his own beliefs.

Finding Purpose

• Losing one's sense of purpose can be destabilizing, as the speaker experienced when he was offered a large sum of money for his business.

• The speaker realized that he was not motivated by money and found fulfillment in pursuing his vision and purpose.

Finding Stability and Belief

In this section, the speaker talks about losing her sense of stability and belief in life after her father's death. She also discusses her connection to spirituality and religion.

Losing Sense of Stability

• The speaker lost what she believed in this world after her father's death.

• She went through three years of not believing in anything.

• The speaker felt like she didn't have a connection to spirituality or anything after her father passed away.

Connection to Spirituality and Religion

• The speaker grew up Jewish but doesn't personally like any religion.

• She would question people a lot when they talked about their religious beliefs.

• After an ayahuasca experience, the speaker believes in nature as something greater than herself.

• Having a belief has helped guide the speaker to work on things like personal values.

Ayahuasca Experience

In this section, the speaker talks about her ayahuasca experience and how it changed her perspective on spirituality.

Ayahuasca Experience

• A friend told the speaker about ayahuasca, which is tree sap from the Amazon that has been practiced for thousands of years.

• During the experience, 90% of the speaker's hallucination was observing what happens in nature with cycles.

• The speaker believes in nature and its cycles as something greater than herself.

• The ayahuasca experience helped guide the speaker to work on personal values.

Ayahuasca Experience

In this section, the speaker talks about his experience with ayahuasca and how it differs from other psychedelics. He also discusses the concept of a spirit guide called Mama Ayahuasca and how the experience can be painful but transformative.

Ayahuasca as a Psychedelic

• Ayahuasca is different from other psychedelics in that it takes you to another plane of existence.

• The experience is guided by a spirit guide called Mama Ayahuasca.

• The experience is incredibly painful but transformative, allowing you to confront your worst realities and learn more about yourself than you could with therapists.

Unlocking the Brain with Psychedelics

• Christian Angermayer runs a company called ATAI which develops psychedelics as a way to cure treatment-resistant depression.

• Taking these drugs can unlock the brain and help you discover truths about yourself that have a lasting transformative impact on the way you see the world.

• It corrects your thinking and helps overcome grief.

The Hallucinogenic Experience

• Michael Pollan's book "How to Change Your Mind" talks about how describing psychedelic experiences can be boring, but discussing outcomes can be more interesting.

• The speaker describes his first hallucinogenic experience with ayahuasca where he saw cycles of the earth develop.

• During an ayahuasca trip, one lies down in pitch-black fluid while shamans play music. It's a completely guided facilitated experience where they help if needed.

Lessons Learned from Ayahuasca

• The speaker's most important experience in life was with ayahuasca, despite it not being pleasant.

• The single greatest lesson learned from ayahuasca is about gratitude.

• Ayahuasca can take you to a place you don't want to go, but you can negotiate and say you're not ready for that yet.

Lesson on Gratitude and Personal Branding

In this section, the speaker talks about the importance of gratitude and how it can lead to unlocking more opportunities. They also discuss personal branding and the challenges of putting oneself out there on the internet.

Gratitude Leads to More Opportunities

• The lesson is about having gratitude for what you have, which unlocks the path to more opportunities.

• The speaker shares a personal example of carrying a stone imbued with a message of gratitude as a reminder every morning.

• Learning lessons without taking action wastes powerful experiences.

Challenges of Personal Branding

• The speaker shares their personal experience with struggling to put themselves out there on the internet due to self-consciousness and fear of judgment from others.

• They discuss how promoting oneself takes away time and energy that could be spent promoting the brand instead.

• While personal branding may not be necessary for B2C products, it was crucial for B2B products like Social Chain.

Overall, this section highlights the importance of gratitude in unlocking more opportunities while also acknowledging the challenges that come with personal branding.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Building a Personal Brand

In this section, the speaker discusses her experience with imposter syndrome and how she overcame it. She also talks about building a personal brand on social media.

Imposter Syndrome

• The speaker experienced imposter syndrome when starting her first business in an industry where she had no prior experience.

• Despite her success, the internal monologue of "not being good enough" persisted.

• To overcome this, the speaker created steps to improve herself, such as starting a newsletter to read and distill science papers into three minutes.

Building a Personal Brand on Social Media

• When her last company failed, the speaker looked at social media platforms to build her personal brand.

• She chose LinkedIn because it was a place where she could be authentic and share her values as an entrepreneur.

• By being herself and writing about her failures and what she was working on next, the speaker gained almost 25,000 followers without putting money behind anything.

Importance of Openly Connecting with Other Entrepreneurs

• The speaker believes that openly connecting with other entrepreneurs is important for creating an environment where people can talk about their struggles instead of just pretending to be successful all the time.

The Stupidity of Stealth Mode

In this section, the speaker talks about how "stealth mode" is a stupid concept and why it's important to share your ideas with others.

Sharing Ideas in Stealth Mode

• The speaker thinks that "stealth mode" is a stupid concept.

• He believes that people who say they're working on something in stealth mode are afraid of feedback or think their idea is so amazing that someone will steal it.

• The speaker doesn't talk to anyone who says they're in stealth mode because he thinks it's a waste of time.

Fear of Feedback

• The speaker gives direct feedback on LinkedIn and finds that many people ask for help but are afraid of feedback.

• He compares being in stealth mode to being afraid of feedback.

• The speaker thinks that saying you have something you can't tell someone is like attention-seeking behavior.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome on Social Media

In this section, the speaker discusses his fear of sharing his thoughts and ideas on social media platforms like Instagram and how he overcame imposter syndrome.

Choosing a Platform

• The speaker believes that choosing a platform where you feel least impostery is the best way to approach sharing your thoughts and ideas online.

• He started with LinkedIn because he felt comfortable there, then moved on to Twitter, which is now his favorite platform.

• Instagram was not initially appealing to him because he thought it was only for young beautiful people.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

• Inspired by the person he's speaking with, the speaker has started sharing insights on Instagram by going through some of his high-performing LinkedIn posts.

• He admits that he still struggles with imposter syndrome and constantly worries that no one wants to hear what he has to say.

• The speaker realizes that 90% of his fear of what people will think is based on his school friends, and he needs to shed some of those relationships to move forward.

Shedding Old Identities

In this section, the speaker talks about shedding old identities and how it can be difficult but necessary for personal growth.

Shedding Old Identities

• The speaker believes that shedding old identities is necessary for personal growth.

• He thinks that people often overcompensate their identity with their business, which can lead to struggles.

• The speaker advises being mindful of who you're editing out of your life and who you're welcoming in as you grow and change.

Mental Health and Burnout

In this section, Steve Bartlett talks about the importance of embracing change and setting a clear understanding of one's purpose. He also emphasizes the significance of taking time to reflect and plan in order to make good decisions. Additionally, he discusses the negative impact of burnout on mental health.

Embracing Change and Setting Clear Purpose

• Humans go through cycles of change just like reptiles shed their skin.

• It is important to embrace change and set a clear understanding of one's purpose.

• Spending time thoughtfully thinking about vision, purpose, and friends is crucial for growth.

• Neuroplasticity is the idea that the brain will grow in whatever direction you choose to take it in.

Importance of Reflection and Planning

• Spending time manifesting who you want to be in the future is essential for growth.

• Spending time planning is crucial for making good decisions.

• Not taking space to rest or listen to oneself can lead to bad decision-making.

Negative Impact of Burnout on Mental Health

• Overworking oneself can lead to burnout which negatively impacts mental health.

• Taking care of one's physical body and mental state is necessary before being able to effectively run a company.

• Gary Vee has created hustle culture which glamorizes overworking leading people towards burnout.

Burnout Generation

In this section, Steve Bartlett talks about the burnout generation and how it has been glamorized. He also discusses his own experience with burnout and how it impacted him.

Glamorization of Burnout

• The burnout generation has glamorized overworking.

• Hustle culture and hustle porn have contributed to the glamorization of overworking.

Personal Experience with Burnout

• Steve Bartlett had a problem understanding why people weren't sacrificing their lives to build businesses.

• Growth is painful but not all pain is necessary for growth.

The Journey of Building a Startup

In this section, the speaker talks about his experience building a startup and how it can feel like a cage. He also discusses the importance of being sure that you want to build the company before committing to it.

Building Grabble

• The speaker talks about his experience building Grabble, a fashion app similar to Tinder.

• Despite winning awards and having millions of users, the speaker did not enjoy working on Grabble because he was living someone else's dream.

• The speaker explains that he got dragged into building Grabble due to serendipity and user feedback, but he was scared of failure so he pushed hard to make it work.

Burnout and Motivation

• The speaker investigates burnout in his book and believes that burnout is more likely when you are extrinsically motivated to do something.

• He explains that intrinsic motivation is key for avoiding burnout and maintaining long-term motivation.

• The speaker shares his personal experience with burnout, which left# Starting a Startup

In this section, the speaker talks about his experience of running a startup and how it can feel like a cage. He advises entrepreneurs to be sure that they want to build the company they are working on because otherwise, they will be their own bird keeper.

Running a Startup

• Running a startup can feel like a cage sometimes.

• Entrepreneurs should be sure that they want to build the company they are working on.

• The speaker did not enjoy running his startup even though it grew exponentially and won awards.

• The speaker was honest with people, including investors, about not being passionate about his startup.

Burnout and Motivation

In this section, the speaker discusses burnout and motivation. He believes that burnout is more likely in situations where you are extrinsically motivated to do something rather than intrinsically motivated.

Burnout and Motivation

• The speaker investigated burnout for his book and found that it is more likely in situations where you are extrinsically motivated to do something.

• The speaker believes that he never gets burnt out when doing things he loves intrinsically.

• Extrinsic motivation leads to burnout while intrinsic motivation lasts longer.

Personal Experience with Burnout

In this section, the speaker talks about his personal experience with burnout. He describes how he couldn't get out of bed for a month and how he felt no energy whatsoever.

Personal Experience with Burnout

• The speaker had burnout and couldn't get out of bed for a month.

• He didn't know what it was at the time, but he thinks it might have been depression.

• The speaker believes that his helpful nature contributed to his burnout.