The Daryl Perry Podcast

What if emotional softness is actually part of what makes us strong?In this episode of The Almost Daily Podcast and the Men’s Mental Health Series, I talk about the relationship between vulnerability, emotional awareness, and the version of strength many of us were taught to value.For a lot of men, the message was pretty straightforward.Be tough.Handle it.Do not show too much emotion.Keep moving.The problem is that having emotions was never optional. We were still feeling everything. A lot of us simply were not taught what to do with those feelings once they showed up.I talk about why being connected to your emotions can actually help you handle pressure, why a productive relationship with a therapist can provide tools you can use outside of therapy, and why vulnerability does not take anything away from focus, consistency, resilience, or follow through.In many ways, I think the softer parts help hold the stronger parts together.I also talk about why this can take time. If someone has spent decades suppressing emotions or tying their identity to being the strong one, opening up can challenge the way they see themselves.That deserves patience.At the same time, struggling to process emotions never removes our responsibility for how we treat other people. We can give ourselves compassion while still taking responsibility for our actions and responses.And although I spend a lot of time talking specifically with men about this, the larger message applies to everybody.Human beings have emotions.We need room to feel them, understand them, work through them, express them constructively, and sometimes let them go.If you are in the United States and experiencing a mental health, suicide, or substance use crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can also chat through the 988 Lifeline online. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

A lot of fitness content focuses on what you can see.The weight loss.The workouts.The body composition changes.The before and after.What I am much more interested in is the part you cannot see from the outside.What is driving all of it?Are you exercising because you are connected to yourself, or because you are trying to run away from yourself?Are you following an eating plan from a calm, deliberate place, or because you feel like nothing you do is ever enough?That mental approach matters.In this episode of The Almost Daily Podcast, I talk about what I think is one of the biggest pieces of the Your Level Fitness philosophy, learning to operate from a calmer headspace, move at a deliberate pace, and build a relationship with yourself that supports the actions you are taking.You can see somebody following through consistently, but you cannot always see the insecurity, fear, comparison, or pressure underneath it.That is why I keep coming back to loving the body you have and appreciating who and what you see in the mirror.The physical results matter.The actions matter.But if you reach the goal and still feel like you are fighting yourself, there is more work to do.I also talk about why the people you follow and work with matter, because you often absorb more than just their workout advice or nutrition recommendations. You absorb the way they approach all of this.For me, the goal is not just to help you become more disciplined.It is to help you build a forever active lifestyle while becoming more connected to yourself along the way.New to Your Level Fitness?https://yourlevelfitness.com

I have been asking a lot more questions lately.That is intentional.One of the things that has always bothered me about the fitness industry is how quickly people start talking at you. Do this. Do not do that. This is the right way. This is what you should be doing.I think most areas of life are far more nuanced than that.Fitness is actually a really useful place to practice this because so many of the lessons apply elsewhere. Instead of immediately looking for another answer, another rule, or another person to tell you what to do, what happens when you start asking better questions about your own experience?Your situation matters.Your history matters.The way something affects you matters.You are the person who has lived your life, and I think learning to trust your own observations is incredibly important.That does not mean outside perspectives are useless. I am still going to share my thoughts, opinions, and experience. But I want those things to help you think more clearly about your own life, not replace your own judgment.In this episode, I talk about why I am leaning harder into questions across the topic-focused podcasts and social media, why nuance matters so much to the Your Level Fitness philosophy, and why becoming more at ease with yourself can help you make better decisions inside and outside of fitness.If you want my deeper thoughts on loving the body you have, head to YourLevelFitness.com and download the free e-book.And if one of these questions gets you thinking, email me at [email protected].

You are going to get where you need to be.That does not mean every day is going to feel productive. It does not mean your thoughts are always going to cooperate. And it definitely does not mean you have to keep pushing at full speed all the time.In this episode of the Almost Daily Podcast, I talk about trusting yourself when life feels heavy, taking the breaks you need without treating them like failure, and staying connected to yourself when your brain starts running toward fear, insecurity, and self criticism.There are going to be moments when you feel like you are behind.There are going to be moments when you feel like you should be doing more.There are also going to be moments when slowing down is exactly what you need.The goal is not perfection. The goal is learning how to move through all of it while staying rooted in yourself.I also talk about why I keep coming back to being in a calm headspace and moving at a deliberate pace. You do not need to live there one hundred percent of the time. You just need to keep returning to it.You have already made it through everything that brought you to this point.Keep pushing forward when it makes sense.Take the break when you need it.Trust yourself enough to know the difference.New to Your Level Fitness?https://yourlevelfitness.com

We hear some version of “trust your gut” all the time.But what if your intuition is wrong?I do not think intuition should automatically be treated like an answer. I think it is better understood as a hypothesis, something built from our previous experiences, the patterns we recognize, and what we expect to happen next.Sometimes that hypothesis is going to be right.Sometimes it is not.And sometimes what we call intuition may really be familiarity.In this episode, I talk about why familiar situations can give us a false sense of security, especially in areas of life where we have repeatedly had similar experiences. If something feels predictable, we may assume we know exactly how it is going to play out.That can make intuition feel incredibly convincing.It can also keep us exactly where we are.I also get into the difference between intuition and fear. Sometimes saying, “My intuition told me not to do it,” sounds much better than admitting, “I was afraid to do something different.”That does not mean we should ignore our gut feelings.It means we should be willing to question them.When I have a particularly strong feeling about something, one of the questions I like is:What if the exact opposite is true?If my original intuition is strong enough to guide a decision, it should be strong enough to survive being challenged.That allows me to look at the situation from more than one angle and make a decision that includes both emotion and logic instead of simply assuming my previous experiences already told me exactly how the future is going to unfold.There is one important exception. If your intuition is telling you that a person, place, relationship, or situation may be unsafe, prioritize your safety first. You can analyze the feeling later from somewhere safe.Intuition can be useful.I just do not think we need to romanticize it into something that is never wrong.If you’re brand new to Your Level Fitness and want to explore more of my approach to mindset, self-connection, and building a life from the inside/out, start here:https://yourlevelfitness.com