Quote · SOLVED with Mark Manson
Your Questions On Manifestation, Confidence, and Getting Over Your Ex, Solved
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Quick Hits: Blog, Career vs. Passion, Panic Attacks, Siblings
At 28:55 · chapter starts 25:10
Four questions in quick succession keep the energy high after the deeper confidence segment. Mark announces his Substack (markmanson.substack.com) for listeners missing the blog era. For a university student torn between an IT degree and personal training, his answer is decisive: do both, graduate (the degree opens doors), but treat fitness as a side hustle in the meantime — the either-or framing is false. He adds a PSA: if you're under 25 and think it's too late for anything, slap yourself. On panic attacks, he gives the counterintuitive advice to stop trying to prevent them — resistance amplifies them — but adds an important caveat: full-blown 'I'm dying' panic attacks warrant medical attention and possibly medication. Finally, on the chronic problem of one-sided family communication, he delivers a hard truth from personal experience: you cannot guilt or pressure your family into reaching out more. Accept them as they are and make the time you do have with them as good as possible.
If you think your ex was perfect, that's why you can't get over them. Putting someone on a pedestal doesn't just hurt you — it probably contributed to the relationship failing, because no one can live under that kind of pressure. There are no perfect people, only messy, lovable ones.