Not everyone should have the same level of access to you.

In this episode, I talk about what it really means to set boundaries and limits with people, without turning it into some extreme, all or nothing internet advice. This is about protecting your time, your energy, and your emotional space, while also making your relationships more meaningful.

We look at how different people belong in different levels of your life. Close friends, casual friends, shared interests, work connections, family, and how those levels can change over time. I talk about why adjustments usually come before cutting people out, and how learning this is a process, not a personality flaw.

This conversation is especially important for men who were never taught how to think about emotional access, connection, and self protection in a healthy way. For a lot of guys, the first boundary they need to set is with themselves, by admitting there are things they need to work on.

This episode is here to start conversations. With your friends. With your partner. With your family. But most importantly, with yourself.

Disclaimer

This podcast is designed to get conversations started around your mental and emotional health and is not to be taken as medical advice. Please contact your medical and or mental health professional before starting any program. No one on this podcast is a mental health professional.

If you are in the United States and are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself or others, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also dial 911 for immediate emergency assistance.

Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.

Visit mensmentalhealthseries.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this pod.

Sign up for my emails that include the journal prompts here.
https://yourlevelfitness.com/email

This episode is about comparison, competition, and how social media quietly turns both into habits. I talk about how competition itself is not the problem, but when competition becomes the way you measure your worth, it starts to cost you more than it gives you. When you are not connected to yourself, comparison becomes a way to avoid, compensate, or fill a void.

I break down how apps and algorithms are designed to keep you insecure, scrolling, and comparing. Little by little, what you see shapes how you see yourself. It can hit you through fitness, money, travel, success, motivation, comedy, or lifestyle content. Over time, you start sizing yourself up against strangers and highlight reels, and it slowly drains you.

I talk about learning to notice when you are falling into the trap. Not judging yourself, but observing it. Seeing it. Then calmly redirecting yourself. You will fall into it sometimes. That is part of living in this world. The real work is how fast you can pull yourself back out.

We also talk about silent competition between men. Competing without ever talking about it. Trying to win at all costs. Or using competition to hide insecurity. I share how competition can be healthy when it encourages growth, but destructive when it is driven by fear, shame, or the need to prove your worth.

This episode is about slowing down, checking in with yourself, and paying attention to how content makes you feel. Are you grounded. Are you anxious. Are you jealous. Are you trying to become someone else instead of learning who you are. Real growth starts at the identity level, not from chasing someone else’s life.

I also talk about tools that help, like therapy, journaling, sitting in silence, and creating space away from constant input. Being with your thoughts can be uncomfortable at first, but it is where real connection starts. Even in a rigged game, knowing the rules helps you navigate it better.

This is an invitation to choose self connection over silent competition, and curiosity over comparison.

Disclaimer

This podcast is designed to get conversations started around your mental and emotional health and not to be taken as medical advice. Please contact your medical and or mental health professional before starting any program. No one on this podcast is a mental health professional.

If you are in the United States and are in crisis, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911 right now.

Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.

Visit mensmentalhealthseries.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this pod.

Sign up for my emails that include the journal prompts here.
https://yourlevelfitness.com/email

This episode is about starting the conversation, first with yourself, and then with the people in your life. I talk about why the emotional side of being a man is not weakness, but part of real strength. The softer side is often what helps us hold everything else together.

I share how connecting with yourself changes how you live, how you eat, how you move, and how you show up. Instead of forcing everything with discipline and willpower, you can build from a calm, deliberate headspace. When you work from the inside first, your actions on the outside start to make more sense.

We also talk about men and body image. Men are targeted just like women, with unrealistic ideals of what we are supposed to look like. Even when you change your body, that does not always change how you feel about yourself. If you do not like who you see, no amount of physical change will ever feel like enough.

I remind you that bodies are different, even when height and weight look the same. I talk about growing up with fitness magazines, edited images, and lifestyles that were sold as the answer. I want you to know that you are enough right now, not someday, not after you change, but now.

This episode is about taking care of your body, your mind, and your emotions. It is about learning to love and respect the person underneath everything else. When you stop chasing being good enough, your goals change, your priorities change, and your life starts to feel different.

It is also about relationships. Some people will not understand your growth right away. Some people may never come with you. You do not have to cut everyone off, but you can choose how much access they have to you. You cannot take everyone with you, and that is hard, but you still get to choose yourself.

This is an invitation to build a life that feels honest, connected, and strong in every sense of the word.

Disclaimer

This podcast is designed to get conversations started around your mental and emotional health and is not to be taken as medical advice. Please contact your medical and or mental health professional before starting any program. No one on this podcast is a mental health professional.

If you are in the United States and are in crisis, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911 right now.

Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.

Visit mensmentalhealthseries.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this pod.

Sign up for my emails that include the journal prompts here
https://yourlevelfitness.com/email

Welcome to the conversation. This is The Men’s Mental Health Series, and I am your host, Daryl Perry.

This podcast is here to help get conversations started for men around mental and emotional health. Most of us were never taught how to talk about feelings, or even how to notice what we are feeling. But emotions do not go away just because we ignore them. They show up in our bodies, our reactions, our relationships, and our choices.

In this episode, we talk about how hard it is for many men to name emotions beyond stressed, fine, angry, or frustrated. I share how most of us were never given the language for feelings, and how that makes everything feel confusing, heavy, or overwhelming.

We talk about how you can feel more than one emotion at the same time. How anger often covers sadness, fear, grief, or loneliness. How excitement can look like anger. And how staying numb or distracted can feel easier than slowing down and noticing what is really happening inside.

I also talk about learning emotional awareness as a skill. Something you practice. Something you build over time. Who you are today does not have to be who you stay. Your past reactions do not have to be your identity.

This episode is about slowing down, paying attention, and learning how to describe what you feel so you can work with it instead of running from it.

Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.

Visit mensmentalhealthseries.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this pod.

Sign up for my emails that include journal prompts and resources connected to what we talk about on this podcast.
https://yourlevelfitness.com/email

Disclaimer

This podcast is designed to get conversations started around your mental and emotional health and is not to be taken as medical advice. Please contact your medical and or mental health professional before starting any program. No one on this podcast is a mental health professional.

If you are in the United States and you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 right now.

Welcome to the conversation. This is The Men’s Mental Health Series, and I am your host, Daryl Perry.

The purpose of this podcast is to get conversations started around mental and emotional health. That conversation might be with a partner, a friend, a family member, or a therapist. But for many men, the first conversation we need to have is the one with ourselves.

In this episode, we talk about how easy it is to tie your value to your productivity. To what you provide. To what you achieve. To how useful you are. I share how I lived that way for years, believing that in order to matter, I had to constantly prove my worth through what I did.

Here is the truth. What you do is not who you are. Your real value is in your thoughts, your feelings, your perspective, and the unique mix of experiences that make you you. Work is something you do, not something you are.

We talk about the pressure men feel to be more, earn more, achieve more, and constantly prove themselves. And how that pressure can turn into a harsh inner voice that never lets you rest. I share why you can still go after big goals, work hard, and build something meaningful, without making your worth depend on the outcome.

This episode is about learning how to go after what you want from a place of security instead of fear. About building a sense of self that is not dependent on applause, approval, or performance. And about being willing to let some relationships shift if they only know you for what you provide instead of who you are.

You deserve to know who you are beneath the roles, the work, and the expectations. And you deserve to build your life from that place.

Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.

Visit mensmentalhealthseries.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this pod.

Sign up for my emails that include journal prompts and resources connected to what we talk about on this podcast.
https://yourlevelfitness.com/email

Disclaimer

This podcast is designed to get conversations started around your mental and emotional health and is not to be taken as medical advice. Please contact your medical and or mental health professional before starting any program. No one on this podcast is a mental health professional.

If you are in the United States and you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 right now.

Welcome to the conversation. This is The Men’s Mental Health Series, and I am your host, Daryl Perry.

The point of this podcast is simple. To get conversations started with men, for men, by men. Most of us were never taught how to talk about what we feel, how to sit with emotions, or how to express them in a healthy way. So the first conversation many of us need to learn how to have is the one with ourselves.

In this episode, we talk about loneliness. Not just being alone, but feeling lonely even when you are surrounded by people. Loneliness is not the same as solitude. Being alone can be healthy and grounding. Loneliness is the feeling of not being seen, not being heard, and not being understood.

I share my own experience of growing up with cerebral palsy, feeling different, feeling isolated, and how that shaped the way I related to people and to myself. I talk about how loneliness can become a habit, how it can start to feel safer than being open, and how we sometimes choose isolation because vulnerability feels risky.

We also talk about how many men live on the surface of relationships. We stay in jokes, work, sports, and productivity, but never go deeper. And when we never go deeper, we can feel invisible even in a full room.

I talk about therapy, not as a weakness, but as a foundation. Real growth happens when you are able to be open, build trust, and do the work between sessions. Exercise, journaling, meditation, and silence are all tools, but I believe a healthy relationship with a therapist is the foundation for lasting change.

We also talk about how staying busy, productive, and successful can hide a lot of pain. You can be praised by the world and still feel empty inside. You cannot outrun your thoughts forever. At some point, you have to stop, let the feelings hit you, sit with them, and start learning how to name them.

Loneliness does not disappear by accident. It changes when you are willing to feel, when you are willing to be honest with yourself, and when you slowly choose safe people to open up to. Not everyone gets full access to you, but everyone deserves at least one place where they can be real.

If you have ever felt lonely in a crowd, unheard in your own life, or disconnected from yourself, this episode is for you.

Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.

Visit mensmentalhealthseries.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this pod.

Sign up for my emails that include journal prompts and resources to help you work through what we talk about on this podcast.
https://yourlevelfitness.com/email

Disclaimer

This podcast is designed to get conversations started around your mental and emotional health and is not to be taken as medical advice. Please contact your medical and or mental health professional before starting any program. No one on this podcast is a mental health professional.

If you are in the United States and you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 right now.

This episode of The Men’s Mental Health Series is about identity, loss, and learning how to reconnect with who you are when the roles and achievements you once relied on start to change. I talk about why so many men tie their worth to what they do, what they provide, or what they have accomplished, and what happens emotionally when those things shift through injury, career changes, divorce, or major life transitions. We explore how emotions and vulnerability are not weaknesses, why asking for help matters, and how strength can include both traditional ideas of masculinity and emotional awareness at the same time. This conversation is an invitation to start talking with yourself first, then with the people you trust, as you figure out who you are beyond titles and expectations.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it with anyone you think would benefit from listening.

Visit mensmentalhealthseries.com for links to the show page on all major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share the podcast.

Want ongoing support and reflection tools. Sign up for my emails that include journal prompts and resources at https://yourlevelfitness.com/email

Disclaimer and Support Resources

This podcast is designed to get conversations started around your mental and emotional health and is not intended to be medical advice. Please consult your medical or mental health professional before starting any program. No one on this podcast is a mental health professional.

If you are in the United States and experiencing an emergency or mental health crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or call 911 if you are in immediate danger.

Welcome to the conversation. This is The Men’s Mental Health Series, hosted by Daryl Perry. This podcast is here to help start honest conversations around men’s mental and emotional health, whether that conversation is with friends, family, a partner, or yourself.

In this episode, we talk about strength and why it actually becomes stronger when vulnerability is part of the equation. Many men were taught growing up that emotions and vulnerability were weaknesses. Over time, that message can disconnect you from your thoughts, your feelings, and your relationships. This episode explores how emotional awareness adds to your strength, not takes away from it, and why learning to observe your thoughts and feelings can change how you communicate and show up in your life.

We also talk about the importance of context, why one size fits all advice rarely works, and why real change comes from connecting with yourself at your own pace. This is a grounded conversation for men who are ready to untangle old beliefs, build emotional awareness, and redefine what strength actually looks like.

Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.

Visit mensmentalhealthseries.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this podcast.

If you would like to receive my emails that include journal prompts and reflections to help you connect with yourself, you can sign up here
https://yourlevelfitness.com/email

Disclaimer

This podcast is designed to get conversations started around your mental and emotional health and is not intended to be medical advice. Please contact your medical and or mental health professional before starting any program. No one on this podcast is a mental health professional.

If you are in the United States and are experiencing a mental health emergency or crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.