We're told the answer to hard feelings is to talk them out.

But what if the thing you're talking to isn't actually listening at all?

In this episode I sit down with David Dean, an enterprise AI strategist with 20 years of transformation experience and author of An Inbox Between Us, to explore what happens when we start turning to AI for emotional support, and where the line sits between using it as a tool and giving it too much authority over our lives.

We talk about why turning to AI for emotional and relationship support can become dangerous, why in some ways you're really just talking to yourself, why no matter how you use AI you're still responsible for the decisions you make, and what happens when loneliness and psychological escape start driving the way we interact with it.

We also explore how AI can help us identify patterns we struggle to see ourselves, why getting your thoughts and emotions out before asking AI to analyse them can be far more useful than asking it to tell you what to do, how over-relying on AI could weaken skills we still need, and why our ability to make human choices remains so important.

But underneath the technology, this conversation is about something much more personal.

Why we reach for something outside ourselves when we're struggling. What we lose when we hand our judgment to a tool instead of owning our choices. And where the line sits between using AI to see ourselves more clearly, and using it to avoid facing ourselves at all.

Because AI can help you find the signals. It can help you see patterns you couldn't see alone. But it can't make the choice for you, and it was never built to save you from yourself.

David Dean is an enterprise AI strategist, author and speaker with 20 years of transformation experience. He is the author of An Inbox Between Us and explores how AI is changing the way we work, make decisions and understand human behaviour.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction: The AI Therapy Trap

(00:44) Guardrails and Accountability

(03:52) Loneliness and Escape Loops

(05:07) AI Impact at Work

(08:11) Self Service vs Controlled

(10:47) Fear, Jobs and Humanity

(12:56) Lived Experience Matters

(15:37) Making AI Real

(19:49) Inbox Data as Lens

(23:16) AGI and Self Awareness

(28:16) Humanity in Machines

(29:44) Symbiotic Relationship

(30:54) Community Break

(31:23) Humans Still Premium

(33:38) Art Music and Value

(35:50) Spotify and artist pay

(36:29) Why human art matters

(38:49) AI as breathing room

(40:33) Burnout and wellbeing

(41:52) Guardrails and governance

(45:59) Using AI for clarity

(47:22) Choice and self discovery

(48:58) Adoption needs unofficial work

(51:31) Reality over AI fantasy

(55:56) Over-reliance and staying grounded

(01:00:41) Authentic leadership signals

(01:03:41) Hype tools and proximity

Join the Move Your Mind Community:

go.nickbracks.com/mymcommunity

Connect with Nick:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/nickbracks

Website: http://nickbracks.com

Email: contact@nickbracks.com

Connect with Dean: https://www.davidchristopherdean.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're told that if we want to change who we are, we just need to change our habits, our environment and the way we think.

But what if parts of who you are were there long before you ever had a choice?

In this episode I sit down with Dr. Nancy Segal, a leading twin researcher, psychologist, author and founder of the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton, to explore what decades of twin research can teach us about who we really are, and how much of ourselves we can actually change.

We talk about why roughly half of the differences in personality across people are linked to genetic differences, why people tend to return toward their characteristic personality and happiness levels, how motivation and persistence can be partly influenced by genetics, and why achieving the thing you thought would finally make you happy can still leave you feeling empty.

We also explore what identical twins reveal about human behaviour, the extraordinary bond between twins, what happens when that bond is lost, why our environments still matter enormously, and how understanding our predispositions can actually help us make better choices rather than become trapped by them.

But underneath the science, this conversation is about something much more personal.

Why we keep returning to certain patterns even when we desperately want to change. How much of ourselves we need to accept. And where our responsibility to create a different life begins.

Because you may not be able to completely transform who you are. But you can understand yourself, modify what isn't serving you, change your environment, and make more of the potential that's already there.

Dr. Nancy Segal is a psychologist, author and internationally recognized expert on twins. She founded and directs the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton, and has spent decades studying what twins can teach us about genetics, environment, personality, relationships and human behaviour.

-

(00:00) Introduction: Can We Change Ourselves?

(00:34) Twin Identity Differences

(01:20) Nature Nurture Explained

(03:35) Personality Set Points

(05:18) Engineering Happiness

(07:52) Motivation Genes And Drive

(10:01) Success High Then Empty

(12:04) Finding Meaningful Pursuits

(15:13) Nancy Segal Origin Story

(18:42) Twin Research For Everyone

(23:27) Unexpected Twin Casework

(25:07) Suicide And Twin Loss

(28:24) Twin Telepathy Myth

(29:07) Twins In Sports

(29:37) Grief After Twin Loss

(31:22) Twin Loss Gets Attention

(32:11) Lessons From Twin Studies

(36:07) Risk Taking And Change

(38:08) Olympic Twin Advantage

(39:14) Competition Without Jealousy

(42:18) Biracial Twins And Tolerance

(43:41) Baby Steps To Change

(48:05) Support Groups And Holocaust Twins

(49:53) Where To Find Nancy

-

Join the Move Your Mind Community:

go.nickbracks.com/mymcommunity

Connect with Nick:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/nickbracks

Website: http://nickbracks.com

Email: contact@nickbracks.com

Connect with Dr. Nancy:

https://drnancysegaltwins.org/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most men don't think they have a porn problem. They think they just have a habit. Something they do late at night, alone, that nobody needs to know about.

But according to today's guest, that habit isn't really about sex. It's about something much harder to face.

In this episode I sit down with Jeremy Lipkowitz, a former Buddhist monk, scientist and founder of Unhooked Academy, to talk about what's really driving compulsive porn use in men and why willpower alone will never fix it.

We talk about why most men start using porn as young as eight or nine years old, how it rewires the brain to crave novelty over real intimacy, why the shame of the habit makes it worse not better, and what the Rat Park experiment reveals about what addiction is actually about.

But underneath the porn, this conversation is about something much more universal. The emotions men avoid, the pain they won't sit with, and the coping mechanisms they build around that pain without ever realising it.

Because the problem was never really the porn. The problem is what the porn is helping you not feel.

Jeremy Lipkowitz is a former Buddhist monk, certified mindfulness teacher and founder of Unhooked Academy, a global community helping men break free from compulsive behaviours and build a life of discipline, purpose and integrity.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction: Porn as Avoidance

(01:45) Early Exposure Origins

(04:27) Porn Is Not Special

(06:23) The Insatiable Cycle

(08:51) Trance of Unworthiness

(10:45) Success and Insecurity

(14:16) Society Against Flourishing

(15:35) Men Lost in 2026

(20:07) Is Porn Ever Healthy

(24:48) AI Porn Dystopia

(27:15) Quit Completely vs Moderate

(28:32) Community and Algorithms

(29:44) Algorithmic Dopamine Traps

(31:14) Dropping Shame Taking Ownership

(33:12) Porn Rewires Objectification

(37:18) Novelty Addiction Warning Signs

(38:48) Coping Not Sex Drive

(41:40) Rat Park And Fulfillment

(45:39) Mindfulness Under The Urge

(47:37) Talking With Partners Safely

(49:40) Recovery Not Perfection

(52:43) Anti Guru Real Talk

(54:24) Where To Find More

(55:10) Final Thanks And Support

Join the Move Your Mind Community:

go.nickbracks.com/mymcommunity

Connect with Nick:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/nickbracks

Website: http://nickbracks.com

Email: contact@nickbracks.com

Connect with Jeremy:

https://unhookedacademy.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.