Raw Minds
Welcome to Raw Minds, the podcast where we explore the challenges and triumphs of men's mental health, single fatherhood, and daily life experiences. In each episode, we dive deep into the issues that go on in men's minds, sharing personal stories and insights that can help you better understand yourself and the world around you. Whether you're a single dad, dealing with mental health challenges, or simply looking for inspiration and guidance, this podcast is for you. So, sit back, relax, and join us on this journey of self-discovery and growth.
Raw Minds
Raw Minds Ep. 37 - Honoring Our Fans
In this heartfelt and brief episode of Raw Minds, hosts Erick and Joey take a moment to express their deep gratitude to all the incredible fans who have supported the podcast. Your encouragement and engagement mean the world to us, and we couldn't have made it this far without you!Join us as we show our appreciation and dive into some candid and random discussions about men's mental health. From personal anecdotes to insightful reflections, Erick and Joey touch on various aspects of mental wellness, offering their unique perspectives and relatable experiences.
Whether you're a long-time listener or new to the Raw Minds community, this episode is a special thank you from us to you. Tune in for a short but impactful conversation that highlights the importance of mental health in men's lives and celebrates the amazing listeners who make this journey worthwhile.
We'd love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out to us at RawMindsPodcast@gmail.com with your thoughts, feedback, or if you're interested in being a guest on our show.*Raw Minds is a podcast dedicated to exploring and promoting men's mental health.*
yeah, yeah, welcome back to the show that shatters the silence on men's mental health. We are changing it up this week. My name is is Joey.
Speaker 1:And I'm Eric and we're your hosts. And welcome to Raw Minds. Yeah, we are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, for everyone that's listening out there and tuning in or this might be your first time tuning in we welcome you and basically the regular that we've been doing Kind of jump on here this week.
Speaker 2:We know we're keeping a pretty chill, we're enjoying the weather, you know, but I think it's due that we really just take a little bit of time here to thank all of you.
Speaker 2:Really, for me it's been quite a journey so far, from our first episode till now and being able to do this with my co-host, eric. You know we've talked about it a lot in the past and the reason why we started this is to give back and reach out and hopefully touch somebody's life or, even better, save it. We've lived our entire lives, for the most part, 98% of it, in trauma and turmoil and pain and anxiety and depression and many years, you know, coming up with ways in our heads on the easiest way to end it, because we were struggling For us to get to a place in our life where we were able to tackle those demons, tackle those demons, climb those mountains and get to the top as the reason why we're here tonight and every other week to talk to you guys, and I'm forever grateful for it, and I'm forever grateful for being able to share this platform with you, eric.
Speaker 1:And me too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, we wanted to take this week to you know, just really show the gratitude and appreciation that we have for you all. You know, not only do we do this to try to help whoever needs it, but the amount of help and the days that I really wasn't myself and then jumping on here and being able to do this really helped me. This really helped me. I really, you know we, no matter how good your life is or how good of a point in your life you get to, it's still life. Things are going to happen, people are going to pass away. You're still going to deal with possible future traumas and heartbreaks and you name it and you know seasonal depressions or whatever it is. That's life, you know.
Speaker 2:But it's finding the tools to, you know, keep in your, in your tool belt for when these things happen and you're able to, you know, deal with, deal with it, face it head on, talk about it and get through it a lot quicker than you know you normally would or would or in your past.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it's been quite a journey so far and for how far we've come. We didn't expect it this quickly, you know, I knew we had something and we have something. But the feedback, the letters, the reaching out for help, the hitting the world stage if you will landing in different countries is, you know, when you go through a lot of things in your life and you're struggling and good things happen in the middle of that, it's really hard to appreciate the good things because we're so focused in our, in our human nature, on the bat, and you know, now you know you get to a point where I can really sit back and truly feel that gratitude and appreciation for our listeners, for Eric, for the people that's reached out and know that you know we're paying it forward and we're doing something good.
Speaker 1:Well, that's what it's all about, right, that's why we do this. We want to help everybody and, like you said, man, it's it's not only we're helping other people, but I think too, man, we're helping ourselves out. I think it's huge. Definitely, this podcast has changed my life a bit. I'm on video. I never wanted to go on video. I'm on video. You know what I mean. So I mean it changes different things. I mean this is like I have counselor, I talk to my counselor, but I mean this also, you know, is counseling for us too. You know we're learning things too, right, Our guests teach us the letters that we get in from all of you. You know we learn stuff from that and it's just about growing and off from that, um, and it's just about growing and and that's what we're we're all about right in life is trying to grow, and we're trying to grow this channel as we're trying to grow as well as human beings and just trying to survive, man, you know, so it's pretty wild. I I on from me. I just want to say thank you to everybody. I can't believe we're all the way, even in Bulgaria. I would never think that. You know. So the listeners out there, thank you for you know, listening and showing some support. We appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Philippines, I mean, you name it we're all over there and it's just all of you guys, it's, it's magical, it really is. I, you last year I wouldn't even say that I would be sitting here talking to you, joey, and this is just wild, you know, and it gives us the opportunity too. We're learning new things. Like you know, I got to learn how to do editing and putting all like the music in and stuff like that. Besides, like our conversations are raw, but you know, know, you get to learn these things and it's just, it's pretty cool, the whole experience is pretty cool. So we we wouldn't be here without all you guys. I mean, we'd just be talking this to blank space. So it's, it's all about you guys, really. So I just want to say thank you for that. You know, everybody out there that's listening, truly it means the world to us.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I think you just kind of, you know, gave a small example of what we preach all the time about. You know doing something different in your daily routine, trying something new, yeah, getting out there, you know whether it's active or whatever. But for you, I mean, if you didn't start this, you wouldn't have learned everything you just said on the editing and all of it man all of it and yeah, and then you know, and and you enjoy it and you know you're really good at it.
Speaker 2:You do all these things, you know, and if yeah and that that's the thing, and now that's leading you into the show, which then leads you into meeting people coming on the show, yeah, and learning something about yourself that you didn't know because of what they said.
Speaker 2:Or now they know somebody that can help you, who might help you do this, or might help you with a new job or a new position you never know yeah, but that's because you're stepping out and trying different things being uncomfortable exactly right and, just like you said, for you being on video and and out there and people watching you like that.
Speaker 1:You're very uncomfortable well, you know that firsthand, man, you're pushing me so hard to get out there to do it right. Look at our first, what four episodes were non-video? And you're like, come on, we gotta do it. And I, and Look at our first, what four episodes we're non-video? And you're like, come on, we gotta do it. And here I am, man, and I enjoy it. I still got the microphone covering my face but I still enjoy it.
Speaker 1:You know, I hope you guys can relate. You know it gives you some kind of relate. You get to see us, you know. So it's not just our voice, I mean for the people listening on on. You know, just audio. Um, we are on uh youtube. You can see us live on tiktok, um, and as well as that, uh, you can see our videos on uh spotify, wow, um.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's just wild, man. It's wild the things that we learned. And then, you know, I mean at work. You know it's crazy too, man, is it's wild the things that we learned. And then, you know, I mean at work. You know it's crazy too, man, it's the support of all the people at work. I appreciate that, even the homeowners, you know, because I'm in the industry of building houses and you know we have homeowners come and stuff and I'm always preaching raw minds and they love it. People are listening. So if you're listening from the kin collection, shout out to all of you. Appreciate all you guys listening in. Um, but yeah, it's just, it's. It's a wild journey, man, it's a wild journey, it's crazy.
Speaker 2:And, uh, it's just going to keep on getting better. Well, and that's just it. Right Is uh, you know we mentioned no-transcript is the biggest thing too is in anything that you do, whether it's trying to lose weight, you know, try to build a business and in order for any of that to work, is consistency. Yeah, that is the key is to be consistent and be on it, and you're going to have hard days and you're going to have shit days and you just want to flip your table over and quit everything and you just can't do it. But you just you can't give up. You got to keep pushing. Yeah, no matter what it is that you got going on in your life is, man, the only way you're going to, the only way you can fail, is if you quit. That's it, yeah. And then sometimes there's things that don't. You work your ass off for months and you didn't pass that exam. Or you didn't get that job and you studied, but you worked your ass off, you didn't fail. You only fail if you quit. Yeah, it's true, man, you have to use that, especially when it comes to fixing your mental state, fixing what's going on in your head and fixing all the shit and the poison that you've had to deal with in your life. It's being consistent on that healing journey, finding things that ignite your inside and gives you drive and makes you feel like you have a purpose and puts a smile on your face. Yeah, you know, you got to find these things. Keep working at it.
Speaker 2:And if you people are, I think one of the biggest struggles is not finding that purpose. I don't know where purpose. I don't know where to start. I don't know where to look. I want to do something but I can't. I don't know.
Speaker 2:And then you get more down on yourself because you feel like you can't find nothing, but then you're quitting, then you've just given up. Yeah, it's not easy, right, and anything in life. Like we said before, choose your heart in life. Like we said before, choose your heart. Do you want to stay stuck and miserable and depressed, sad, lonely, anger, issues, always fighting with your wife, kids screaming at you? Or do you want to put in the work, sacrifice some of your time? Get up, go to bed earlier, get up earlier and start taking care of yourself, because once you start doing that and start working on your internal man, the shit that comes to you on the external is mind-blowing yeah because you know with me, with the, the struggles that I I dealt with for 20 years, there's no way in hell I ever thought I can get to the point that I'm at now.
Speaker 2:I still got my days we all do, yeah, but the clarity and openness in my mind on the day-to-day now is not focused on struggles. It's starting to focus on the gratitude that we talk about and the appreciation and the little things and be able to laugh and smile and not, you know, not put on and pretend it's real. I'm feeling that you start to feel better, you start to. You know you, you're, your laughter is real, it's not a show, it's not fake. You're not putting on fake smiles and fake happiness because your kids are around or your wife or you know people at work. It's real and it feels real and to have that is true success.
Speaker 1:I agree. Let me ask you something, man. What's up, since this is just a free-for-all bullshit episode that we're just giving back and saying thank you, what's your favorite episode that we have recorded? What would you say was your favorite, and why?
Speaker 2:13.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say 13. If anyone's just tuning in, check it out. Actually, my mic, for some reason, was all fucked up during that episode so it kind of sounds like I was talking underwater. Fucked up during that episode so it kind of sounds like I was talking underwater. But that day and why 13? Is because that exact day, you know, my car was stolen, my wallet was stolen and I got laid off from the job I was at for years making decent money.
Speaker 2:It's a rough one, it's a kick in the face, for sure. And I remember coming home knowing that we had this guest on anthony and I sat at my table and my head was down and it wasn't tired down, it was just exhausted. Yeah, I was exhausted. Yeah, I was just feeling like shit. It was just a day obviously anybody would have. And that was the first and only time out of all, out of any episode that we've done, where I genuinely felt I could not do it and I didn't want to do it, just because my head was not there. And then, when our guest came on and his energy, it, just in the first 15 minutes, man it.
Speaker 1:That first story, bro, right off the bat. He's like you guys are starfish and remember. He's like do you remember the story about the starfish and the little boy? There's this little boy's on the beach and he's throwing starfish and the little boy this little boy's on the beach and he's throwing starfish back into the water. There's like thousands of them down the beach. This guy goes up to the little boy. He's like hey, what are you doing? Little boy's like I'm saving the starfish. He's like well, there's thousands of them. He's like yeah, well, picks up another one. I saved that one, remember that. He's like yeah, well, picks up another one, I saved that one, remember. And that's what he said. He's like we're saving one at a time, I guess, which is pretty powerful. That was a powerful story that he said.
Speaker 2:So, thank you, anthony. Yeah, and it's not just because of how I was feeling that day why that was my favorite. It was just how it turned out. My favorite, it was just how it turned out and I think the emotions that I was feeling from the day, yeah, really came out and went right into that episode with anthony and the way his energy came back to us, yeah, and the way we were able to flow and the things that we talked about like, I tell you, a shit day as it was, I just felt so much better when we were done. So that was my therapy episode for sure.
Speaker 2:Your shoulders dropped, my shoulders dropped. I could take a deep breath. I'm like okay, and when things like that happen to me and whatever it is that happens to you guys because we've all been through and go through a lot of different things that really can bring you to your knees Fuck your shit up and really fuck your shit up, exactly, yeah, but you've got to remember whether it's your fault or not, it's only up to you and how you deal with what's happened and how you get through that. Yeah, now do you sit in it and feel what's happened and how you get through that, yeah, right Now. Do you sit in it and feel sorry for yourself and play victim for a year, or do you? You know you feel your emotions, you know push through it, you know cry if you got to Learn the lessons.
Speaker 2:Take a temporary knee, but don't lay down.
Speaker 1:You gotta get back up yeah.
Speaker 2:It's true, man.
Speaker 1:So 13. I would say that's definitely In my top 3. I would say 13 is definitely in my top 3. Mine would have to be Our first episode. Not only it was a great episode, mine would have to be our first episode. Not only it was a great episode, has the most likes, it was on pretty much death and grief and grief. Yeah, it was just the rawest episode we have ever done because that's our first one. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know I've scrolled back too and listened to some of the. You know me, I don't really listen, like I don't listen to full episodes ever. Yeah, I'll skim through it for 20 minutes and yeah, that was good. But you know, when you scroll back, obviously when it's your first episode, the first time you're doing anything just like if you're a comedian first time on stage, you can hear the nervousness, you can hear the. But it was raw and that's what we're all about and it was great.
Speaker 1:It was a great episode, though it really was. We got so much great feedback off of that. It was awesome, and it was the first time that we ever did this, you know. So it by far, I would have to say it's my favorite episode, because it it paved the way. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:It paved the way for where we are today you know so 100 buddy, and you know there's no better way to start, especially something like this, than with that opening. Yeah, with that episode.
Speaker 1:I mean, and it hit like I'll be totally honest, I wasn't ready to fully share when Jules died because it was fairly still recent. I just wasn't ready to share that time In the other episodes definitely opened up more and talked about it, but it was hard. It was a hard one for me too, right, because I just lost the most important person in my life besides my daughter at that time. I mean, life goes on. I'm gonna eventually maybe find someone else with, I don't know, but we'll see. Um, at this point in time I don't really care. It's all about me. But uh, I mean, yeah, it was, it was a.
Speaker 1:It was a hard episode too at the same time, but we fucking crushed it, man, you know, and we're, we've been crushing it every week. We've had a couple of hiccups, you know, and you know something happens in the like, the software, or you know a couple of little things in the background. But I mean we, we make it happen. We might be a day late or so, but we still push, we still push. Sometimes I'm up until 2 o'clock in the morning trying to push this on, but you know what I mean we make it happen, man, and that's what we do. It's about, you know, taking the little sacrifices to get the big gains right Consistency.
Speaker 2:Yeah, buddy, just like I said, it's consistency with anything you do in your life. You named it. That's where you will get what you put in, and that goes in everything in your life Everything you get what you put in. It's true, man. So it's all about consistency. If you want to see changes in your life, you need to be consistent. You going to the gym for six hours is not going to make you healthier and more ripped. Yeah, it's every day being consistent, eating better. Whatever it is that you're trying to change or do better in your life has to be consistent, otherwise the changes will not come. And in that consistency, it goes hand in hand with hard work, because anything that you want to change in your life and it's that important you will make an effort. There will be no excuses.
Speaker 1:And anything else is an excuse.
Speaker 2:It's true, Hands down, Preach. If it is important in your life, you will make an effort. And anyone who says I don't got time or I had to do this, it's an excuse Every time. Yeah, Because I promise you when I remember doing certain things and like trying to lose weight I used to be really fat years ago, like six years ago, and it got to a point where that was the only important thing besides your family and stuff like that. But in my personal at that time like if I didn't hit the gym and I was doing push-ups and I would lose an extra hour of sleep before work just to get those done because it was that important, there was no excuses and that's.
Speaker 1:It goes the same with anything in your life well, man, it's either you want it or you don't right and that's it.
Speaker 2:It could be fixing your marriage. It could be making a relationship better it does. There's a million different things that that's important to you. Even quitting smoking, not drinking anymore, whatever it is, it's the consistency, the hard work and balance and effort. That's it. Yeah, most people are just too comfortable in existing that. They just shrug it off like this is all right, but they're they'll never find joy. They might have a night of laughter with their friends, but on the day-to-day man, there's no joy in their life. They're not genuinely happy. They're not genuinely feeling good about themselves, about their life, about you know their surroundings and most people, like, are too scared to make the change Right. But you know what? Change is probably one of the best things you can do, especially if your situation or where you live or the job that you work at is not serving you. You have to. So you know every single person will tell you the same thing when you ask them what do you want in life? It's, I just want to be happy.
Speaker 1:Well, it just doesn't come to you. You got to make that shit, right.
Speaker 2:You have to make that happen. It all starts on the inside, not the outside, right? So? And if you know, everyone thinks they'll be happier because they got more money. Sure, it might make you more comfortable, but how many millionaire actors, rappers, shoot themselves? And they got millions and rock stars and numerous women and five Ferraris and they're still shooting themselves. So it's not the money, it's because they dealt with things in their life that they never figured out how to fix or chose not to Right. So you know, don't let, whatever it is that you guys struggle with and go through, build up like we did and bury it, especially you men and one day it just blows up in your face and God forbid that. You know it's not to that extent where you don't wake up again ever. You know, you. You, my advice is to change before you have to Like. If you don't, you know what I mean like. If you don't, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Like a lot of people, most people don't change until something bad hit rock bottom or something until you hit the rock bottom, until it's an eye-opener where, like I almost died, I'll never do that again. And then they change. But why can't you change now? Why can't you start taking those steps into that better life, the? You know, the magic that you're looking for is in the work that you're avoiding. Yeah, and that's facts. So you know, don't, yeah, like change before you have to. Okay, because you don't know what happens.
Speaker 1:You know what can happen I like that sign, I like that. I like that saying though change before you have to, because you know you don't want to get to that point no because then then it's going to even be harder to change, you know, because you're going to be struggling with deeper things in your head and everything else, and who knows right what what rock bottom means to that person?
Speaker 2:And some people even find a basement.
Speaker 1:So ah, it's crazy. Um well, yes, sir, looks like we're having. Oh, there you are, you're back. Lost you there.
Speaker 2:Well, another technical difficulty. Yeah looks like it.
Speaker 1:That's okay. Well, man, I think this one's nice short and sweet for everybody out there. I think it's a little bit different. We just want to do you know, hop on here, show that. You know all your support means well to us. We love it. We really appreciate all of it Every little bit. Man, you know it's mind-blowing, it's crazy, it's crazy. You know it's mind-blowing, it's crazy, it's crazy. You know we appreciate it all and we encourage you guys to reach out to us. Hit us up at our email address, at rawmindspodcast at gmailcom. You know, if you want to just talk or if you want to come on the show, I mean hit us up, we'd love to have you on. I mean, you don't even have to be video, we can blank out if you're worried about that. But you know we'll make it happen, make you feel comfortable as best as possible. Or I mean, hit us up on our I don't know YouTube, instagram, facebook, anything. Hit us up, we're all over the place.
Speaker 2:Facts. Like Eric said, reach out, please. If you don't feel that you can make it through the night or another day, please pick up the phone. Please send us an email, hit us up on all the social medias, whatever platforms you listen to us on or hear this on, we are here for you. That's why we are doing what we do. We will talk to you, we will help you find resources in the town that you live in, even if it's on the other side of the country. You know we're here, you're not alone, and if you think you got nobody, you got us, definitely. Just, you guys always remember that.
Speaker 2:And again, we just wanted to jump on this week and really, truly thank all of you, cause it it's a blessing and for me to get to a point in my life to really appreciate gratitude. This is one of those moments For me to do this with Eric every week and to be able to at least help just one person. It means the world. So, from me to you guys, thank you, because you guys are my therapy, you guys are my counselors, you guys are my gym. You guys are all the positives that I need in my life. Hell yeah, you guys are all the positives that I need in my life, hell, yeah. So again from you know, the host of Raw Minds, I just want to really say thank you guys again and tune in every week If you're new to the show.
Speaker 2:We drop episodes every Friday on every platform you can think of. We are there. We are now listened to In I don't know how many countries Across the world International. So we doing it big, we doing it big, so tune in next week. We are back in full swing. We just want to take this week To enjoy the weather and just jump on here and say thank you. So on that note from me to you guys, if you can't find good people, be good people, hell yeah, man, hell, yeah, I want to say the same thing again once more.
Speaker 1:Thank you, everyone, appreciate it. Say same thing again once more. Once more, thank you, everyone, appreciate it. Um, everybody out there, you're the ones that, uh, you know, make us not make us, but inspire us to do this every week and help out. So it's, it's heartwarming. You know what I mean. It's paying it forward. So, thank you, um. On that note, I hope you guys all enjoy the beautiful weather that's going to come this weekend. Well, at least here in Vancouver, get out there, enjoy, be with your loved ones, you know, get that vitamin D, man. Anyways, on that note, thank you again. Take it easy, be good or be good at it. Bye.
