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The Mel Robbins Podcast

Reset Your Mind & Soul: How to Find Peace When Life Feels Overwhelming

76 min episode · 2 min read
·
Diego Perez

Episode

76 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Health & Wellness, Relationships, Psychology & Behavior

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Emotional avoidance pattern: Running from difficult emotions through drugs, alcohol, or constant distraction creates a dangerous survival mode where the body breaks down. The antidote involves sitting with uncomfortable feelings for five to ten minutes without reaching for external comfort, which proves less frightening than imagined.
  • Self-love foundation: Addiction stems from filling an internal void with external things rather than giving yourself attention and acceptance. Once you actively accept your emotional history and provide self-attention, substances and distractions lose their hold because the void seeking your own love gets filled from within.
  • Present moment peace: The greatest joy, wisdom, and happiness exist only in the present moment, not in past memories or future cravings. Disconnection from the present causes you to miss the most fulfilling parts of life, like genuine conversations with loved ones or simple moments of connection.
  • Relationship boundaries: People pleasing differs from compassion and stems from fear of being alone or kicked out of the social group. Real self-love means embracing the ability to say no, understanding your capacity limits, and protecting your peace by not joining others' emotional tension or anger.
  • Change acceptance practice: Fighting against change creates suffering and tension that accumulates as stress and anxiety. Embracing change means controlling what you can control and releasing what you cannot, like riding waves on a raft rather than trying to punch incoming ocean waves.

What It Covers

Diego Perez (Young Pueblo) shares how he transformed from addiction and emotional avoidance in his early twenties to finding inner peace through meditation, self-awareness, and learning to feel emotions without running from them or letting them control actions.

Key Questions Answered

  • Emotional avoidance pattern: Running from difficult emotions through drugs, alcohol, or constant distraction creates a dangerous survival mode where the body breaks down. The antidote involves sitting with uncomfortable feelings for five to ten minutes without reaching for external comfort, which proves less frightening than imagined.
  • Self-love foundation: Addiction stems from filling an internal void with external things rather than giving yourself attention and acceptance. Once you actively accept your emotional history and provide self-attention, substances and distractions lose their hold because the void seeking your own love gets filled from within.
  • Present moment peace: The greatest joy, wisdom, and happiness exist only in the present moment, not in past memories or future cravings. Disconnection from the present causes you to miss the most fulfilling parts of life, like genuine conversations with loved ones or simple moments of connection.
  • Relationship boundaries: People pleasing differs from compassion and stems from fear of being alone or kicked out of the social group. Real self-love means embracing the ability to say no, understanding your capacity limits, and protecting your peace by not joining others' emotional tension or anger.
  • Change acceptance practice: Fighting against change creates suffering and tension that accumulates as stress and anxiety. Embracing change means controlling what you can control and releasing what you cannot, like riding waves on a raft rather than trying to punch incoming ocean waves.

Notable Moment

Perez describes his rock bottom at age twenty-three when his body collapsed from drug abuse, experiencing what a doctor later identified as a mild heart attack. This physical breaking point forced the realization that continuing his pattern of emotional avoidance would lead to death.

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Episode Transcript

Hey. It's your friend, Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast. Have you ever read something and thought, how do they know exactly what I'm feeling right now? Writing so powerful, you just keep coming back to it again and again. Maybe it's in a book that you keep by your bedside, or a quote that you saved online, or a poem that articulates exactly what you're feeling but couldn't quite say. Today, you're gonna meet a number one New York Times best selling writer whose work and words have helped millions of people, including me, be happier, heal, and live a more peaceful and fulfilling life. Now, I've been following this author for years online and sharing his poems and passages with people in my life because his writing captures the joy and struggle, heartbreak, and the search for purpose and peace in a way that's just truly moving. He writes under the pen name Young Pueblo. But today, you're gonna meet the man behind the books and poems that have inspired millions, Diego Perez. Just listening to Diego will make you exhale. So whether you're healing from hurt or setting boundaries or rebuilding trust or learning to love without losing yourself, or you just wanna feel a little better, this episode is for you. It's filled with timeless wisdom to help you let go, find stillness, and hear the answers that have always been inside of you. It is your permission to slow down and reconnect with yourself, a reset for your mind and soul, one that will remind you you're not behind. You're already on your way. Hey, it's your friend, Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast. You know, it's always such an honor to be together and to get spend time with you, but I'm really glad you're here. And I'm glad you made time to listen to this particular episode because here's what it tells me. You're the kind of person who wants more out of your life. So do I. And if you're a new listener or you're listening right now because somebody shared this episode timeless wisdom that will help you feel more purpose and peace in today's chaotic world from number one New York Times best selling author and acclaimed poet, Diego Perez. Now, Diego writes his best selling books under the pen name, Young Pueblo, and he sold over 1,500,000 copies that have been translated into more than 25 languages. Every day, millions of people turn to him online when they need clarity, truth, and a simple reset. And in the last decade, he has spent over thirteen thousand hours in silent meditation, which is probably why his writing is so profound. So please help me welcome the extraordinary Diego Perez to the Mel Robbins podcast. Diego, welcome to Mel Robbins podcast. Thank you so much, Mel. It's an honor to be here. You know, I've never met somebody in real life that has a pen name. Yeah. …

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