David Marchese

I've been watching so much of your stuff for, honestly, the last six weeks or something like that, really trying to immerse myself.

And just yesterday, I watched a video of yours that had a segment about how to have difficult conversations.

I thought the most useful part of it was that you talked about being clear about one's own intentions during a conversation.

And I think that's a very useful thing.

And I feel like my intention with you and with everyone is to just understand as much as I can.

Good, because I hope I have some hard questions for you.

So we'll see how that goes.

But, you know, for people who aren't familiar with you and your work, which of your beliefs would you say are most fundamental to what you do as a sort of wellness self-help influencer?

What are you fundamentally trying to teach people about?

How much do you find the answers to those questions change depending on the individual circumstances?

Is it the case that, you know, broadly speaking, the same kinds of answers apply in most circumstances, or it's more the case that depending on the specific circumstances, the answers to, say, you know, how can I find more purpose or how can I feel better about myself change?

So kind of the, to my mind, big differentiator for you or distinguishing factor is the fact that you trained as a monk.

Your book, of course, was called Think Like a Monk.

And specifically, correct me if I'm wrong, but you trained within the ISKCON movement, colloquially known as the Hare Krishna.

Is that right?

And because of that training, there is this sense of ancient or spiritual wisdom around your content.

And it's interesting because when I read your books or listen to your stuff, a lot of it reminds me of almost cognitive behavioral therapy material or self-help material that I've encountered in lots of different places, like list-making, gratitude journaling,

You talk about the importance of breathing, but it's within this framework of spiritual thinking.

Can you tell me a little bit more about the interplay between your spiritual training and more secular self-help ideas that also comes up in your work?

You know, we hear about things like, you know, mindfulness has kind of exploded over the last decade or so, or people will talk about karma or living within one's dharma, which I think dharma can basically be understood as one's life purpose.