I’m sitting at home, my wife is in the background talking to her sister in Zambia, she just kissed me on the head, and I’m drinking my coffee. If you find that distracting, or if you think a podcast needs to be recorded in a sterile studio to be "professional," then I’ll save you some time: I am not for you.

Nah, baby—this is that “real everyday life” kinda bid’ness!

I lived under the banner of "professionalism" for a long time, and I’m calling bullshit on it for me. This episode is about the Real Empowered Self—which means getting to know who you actually are when the masks come off and we get real with ourselves. We’re talking about the habits of "keeping your head down" to avoid getting hurt and why that limitation is killing your expansion.

Surgical Truths in This Episode:

• The Death of the Script: Why I trust my intuition over a teleprompter. Life isn’t linear (1, 2, 3... A, B, C), so why should our growth be?

• The "Professional" Lie: Why I refuse to invest in a studio when the real work happens in the middle of a messy, beautiful life.

• Herd Mentality vs. Self-Awareness: Are you keeping your head down because it works, or because you're afraid to be seen?

• The Note-Taker’s Edge: Why you need to write down your moments of inspiration. Don't trust your memory; trust the physical act of recording your growth.

I’m Chase Murphy. You are worth being loved exactly as you are, right the f*** now. Not when you’re "fixed," not when you’re "professional"—right now.

"If the first thing you heard from me felt a little thin, that’s because I was still trying to be 'professional.' I was hiding behind a resume, or the lack thereof. This recording is different. I’m snotty, I’m drinking coffee, and I’m finally allowing myself to tell you who I am in my natural, kinda' "screw it" way.

I’ve spent my life digging through the works of Neville Goddard, Freud, Stoicism, and Zen and a long-ass list of others. But the epiphany I had—the one that actually changed all of this for me—is that I am the only true constant variable in every experience I have. If you’re looking for a PhD to tell you affirmations in a mirror, go somewhere else. I’m here to talk about the 'trauma on a plate' that is sometimes necessary to finally see who you are.

Surgical Truths in This Episode:

• The Search for Self: Why I traveled through every philosophy from Napoleon Hill to Eastern Mysticism only to find myself at the very center of it all.

• The Affirmation Trap: Why 'I am wonderful' is a lie that causes cognitive dissonance and a spiral that we often can't find our way out of, and how to ask 'Appropriate Questions' instead.

• Conditional vs. Unconditional Love: Why I don't have to know you to love you, and why I won't lose a wink of sleep if you think me an a-hole, rude or otherwise "not for you" and that my life will go right on if you walk away.

• No PhD Required: Why your own personal opinion and experience are more valuable to you than any Ivy League degree.

I'm Chase Murphy. This is the Real Empowered Self (which will, in time, become The Blue Collar Buddha. Remember, this is early in my expression and experience with all of this).

It's unpolished, it's honest, and it's the only way forward.

In this episode, I’m stripping away the fluff to reveal the true foundation of personal growth: learning to love yourself. Most of us have been beaten down and kicked around by life to the point where we’ve forgotten how to do that. We’re going to stop the performance and start the work of remembering who you actually are.

This is the very first episode I ever created. My wife was early in her journey with two simultaneous cancers; recording into this mic was the only way I could express the confusion and pain I was feeling in a way that resonated.

I’ll be honest: I almost didn't post this. I cringe at the music, the pacing, and the raw sound of it. But because I am committed to the truth, I’m leaving it exactly as it is. This is the starting point.

• The Myth of Sugar-Coated Coaching: Why honest, raw instruction is the only way to achieve real change in personal development.

• The Foundation of Self-Love: Why you are incapable of truly loving others until you address the emotional disconnect within yourself.

• Survival and Authenticity: Navigating life's most brutal seasons—like cancer and grief—through radical honesty.

• Breaking the Cycle: How to stop being a victim of your circumstances and start the journey of self-recovery.

I’m Chase Murphy, and this is the start of you getting back to you.