Go Self Help Yourself

In this episode, Ryan is joined by cohost Joe Nehme and Mike Mercadal to discuss The 4 Hour Body. Mike explains how he lost 40 pounds in 6 months with using the book all while having a cheat day once a week. The guys dive into the regiment, kettle bell swings, supplements, running home and falling asleep before hunger, and good ol'1 o'clock (which you'll find out what that means). Please check out Mike's podcast Zeroes on Heroes.

This episode gets wild when the guys do their first vancast (podcast in Joe's sprinter van). Ryan and cohost Joe Nehme are joined by fellow comic Usama Siddiquee. The gang dives into The Charisma Myth, How Anyone Can Master the Art of Personal Magnetism. The guys talk about which charisma techniques work for them in comedy as well as discuss the fine line between reworking your personal narrative and being completely delusional. Not only do the guys discuss charisma in comedy but they also mention stealing eighteen wheelers, gorilla visualization, the comfortable handshake, van ego, and the complexity of tutoring. Tune in!

In this episode Ryan and Bill Buescher reclaim their inner kid with Home Coming: Reclaiming And Championing Your Inner Child by John Bradshaw. The guys explain Bradshaw's techniques for healing the wounds from your past and the developmental cycles that constantly repeat throughout our lives. Ryan and Bill share some embarrassing childhood stories that affected how they are today. Bill reads out of his journal and the guys talk about aggressive improv, clown school, dad pranks, hockey, and humorless comedy. Tune in and listen about the book that Ryan rates, "the number one book he'd never read in public."

Recorded with my longtime friend Ajay Raheja, we discussed David Goggins' new book, Can't Hurt Me (2018). Ajay and I explained some background behind David Goggins as well as the techniques he used to callous his mind during BUD/S, Ranger School, and Ultra marathon races. We enjoyed talking about which of his 10 challenges worked for us. We also brought up a few concerns regarding his regiment. So if you're ready to run 100 miles while pissing blood, join the Navy Seals, master divorce, lose 100 pounds, or be the laziest substitute teacher you can be, tune in and listen.

In the episode Ryan is joined by his cohost Bill Buescher to talk about finances from the Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have To Be Complicated. What better and more relatable way to talk about your financial worries than from two broke-ass comedians. We get it folks, money is tough. We dive into the tips that could possibly help put you on a steady financial track. Also, we simultaneously gave this book some criticism for being a little too stingy when it comes to just being practical. Overall, Bill and I had a great time talking about money, lottery tickets, losing your dick, and Santa Con. 

Is having a beginner's mindset really the best way to continuously practice any activity? How effective is going from achievement to non achievement? If you can't accept me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best. The wise words of Shunryu Suzuki. In this episode, the GSHY boys are joined with fellow comic Melissa Diaz to discuss Zen Mind Beginner's Mind. The groups discusses the elements of book as well as if masturbation is enlightenment, koans, death, trying to not trying to try, and how many times Ryan will reread this book!   *****A GSHY FAVORITE BOOK***** 

In this episode, the GSHY boys talk about the Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck by Mark Manson. The guys have mixed emotions about the book and dive further into the fuckery of how we perceive ourselves in the modern world. They also discuss stupid you tube videos, zen masters, bad word self help books, and the highly lucrative business of westernizing eastern philosophy.

This episode turns into a bit of a press conference as our guest Stephen Sihelnik gets barraged with questions about becoming a better runner. His experience as a marathon runner brings up a lot questions from the GSHY boys Ryan Papazian, Joe Nehme, and Bill Buescher who want to know more on how to train. He dives into his knowledge from Jack Daniel's book as well as some others he has read about the activity. The guys touch on qualifying for marathons, interval and threshold training, VO2 max, safety, techniques, runner's high, and how to plan ahead for a race. All of which we get to eventually. Join us in this controlled chaos.   

In this episode the gang learns the way of a samurai warrior. Ryan Papazian, Bill Buescher, and Joe Nehme are joined with guest Joe Gorman to discuss The Book of Five Rings by one of the greatest Japanese swordsman of all time Miyamoto Musashi. Considering that the guys won't use much of the sword technique discussed in the book, the guys apply much of musashi's wisdom for dating and career advice. Tune in to learn how you can be a samurai in lovemaking, t shirt design, and excel spreadsheets. 

Ryan is joined by his new GSHY trio Bill Buescher and Joe Nehme to discuss Stumbling on Happiness by Dan Gilbert. The guys go over the many research studies in the book on happiness and if there is anything to be drawn from them besides happiness being many uncontrollable-but-we-think-we-can-control-them accidents throughout our life. They discuss synthetic vs. natural happiness, bare minimum level of happiness, Bill's insanely intricate kafka quote, and boy and old man conversations on you tube.

Due to some cancellations and some out of town trips, there was a little break but we are back. This episode Ryan and Joe Nehme open up with The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown. Ryan and Joe bring up ways they have tried to be more vulnerable themselves. The guys dive into different elements of shame and how we can combat it. They continue talking about subway readers, financial motivational speakers, and the effectiveness of mantras. So don't judge the title and let yourself be seen by listening to this episode. 

This episode has a very special guest. Ryan's previous podcast Where Eagles Dare co host Jeff "Anayalator" Anaya joins Ryan to discuss The Wisdom of Insecurity. Jeff begins with trashing the GSHY theme song which is not changing any time soon. The guys converse over time, space, ego, use of language, and mindfulness. All of which devolves into complaining about loud motorcycle assholes, the worst Taco Bell in the world, U.B.I, and plenty of Ryan's terrible "being present" examples. Listen about the book that Jeff calls heady professorial literature and Ryan calls saving the world.  ***Correction*** Alan Watts died of congestive heart failure not cirrhosis, but he did drink a lot.

In this episode, Ryan interviews Mean Dave about his path to recovery as they hitch a ride to a show with fellow comic Eric Somers. The guys talk about concepts in the NA basic text book, rock bottom experiences, signs of being an addict, importance of storytelling, and how to handle accidentally drinking alcohol.  *Episode was cut off due to a full memory card and a lack of memory for not changing it beforehand

In this episode Nate Banditelli joins Ryan to discuss Feeling Good by David Burns. This book is about the cognitive distortions that affect our wellbeing. Along with explaining the concepts of the book, Nate and Ryan also cover the written exercises in the book. The guys go over social media validation, human worthiness, and how setting average/no expectations might help more than absolutely perfect ones. 

Paul Lao joins Ryan to discuss the Netflix documentary Innsaei. The film covers different elements of intuition and how we are becoming disconnected to it in the modern world. Ryan and Paul review the film along with going off on some goofy tangents about word pronunciation, violent video games, shrooms, substitute teaching, and more violent video games. Also I should mention this episode contains spoilers about the film.   

GSHY gets a little more critical today as Ryan sits down with Justin Auslaender to discuss Mind Hacking by Sir John Hargrave. Ryan and Justin have a few choice words for the author who narrated his own 12 hour audiobook. Ryan plays plenty of sound bites to show how grueling it was to listen to. As tough as it was, Ryan and Justin mention the positive aspects of the book. They converse over yoda impressions, Ben Franklin, habit forming exercises, wellbeing vs. desiring, and end the podcast with one of the most optimistically annoying baby makin' funk songs of all time. 

Will Watkins joins Ryan Papazian for a lovely afternoon outside discussing the Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding by Arnold Schwarzenegger. This episode couldn't be any more manly with talking about cars, bodybuilding, and crying while a machine shop cuts sheet metal in the background. Warning: this episode contains excessive amounts of toxic masculinity.  

Due to a last minute cancellation, Ryan flies #solo in this episode. He DOES HIS BEST to explain his favorite elements from the book as well as what he feels he got out of it. Ryan dives into some of his own "Papazian Method" mindfulness tips and relates with Dan's journey to living a happier life (Don't worry there will be a guest next time).

In this episode Ryan is joined by comedians Santiago Angell and Conrad Roth to kind of discuss the book 12 Rules for Life by Jordan "Clean Your Room" Peterson. This episode gets a little heated as Ryan plays mediator in a debate that begins about Peterson but quickly gets into cultural appropriation, systemic racism, and scratch off lottery tickets. Listen and find out more.

After a year and 3 months, GO SELF HELP YOURSELF IS BACK BABY!! Different time zone as well as different cohosts. Ryan had to get his things in order for his move to NYC. But he never forgot about the podcast as well as any of the avid GSHY listeners. GSHY is back for the long haul starting off with guest cohosts Santiago Angell and Joe Nehme discussing A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. We explore the ego, pussy and money, and not having goals for some reason.