the zurkie show - are you really being yourself?

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

figuring out who you are is hard, but buying into a new "skin"... is easy. this is why we should spend more time to learn about ourselves. https://linktr.ee/thezurkieshow

We have a crisis of people have no idea who the heck they are. They have no idea who they are. Why is it that we as Gen Z live our lives through Fortnite skins? Instead of crafting our own personality, instead of finding things we actually like, we look towards somebody with a follower account, and that decides what we wear, that decides what we think is good, what we think is awesome, and nobody has questioned it. It drives me nuts. and maybe I'm speaking from a level of entitlement

and I don't think that everything that's popular is bad that's not at all what I think I just think it's comical that we have access to literally every era of human existence on our phones, on our laptops, we can do research about any time, we can find the things that we genuinely like and think are interested

and instead we settle on something that we see from a creator. Oh, well, I mean, they're wearing the IMG a pixie coat. So I guess that's the standard. And I was the same way. I was the exact same way. In middle school, I remember I used to wear, Life is Good T-shirts.

I used to wear Skechers, and I used to wear Gap sweatpants, and I thought I was the flyest kid in the middle school. And that was until someone pointed out, damn, what are those? And my sketchers, and immediately I begged my parents. I was like, I need the Nike Roshi runs. I need them like yesterday because I keep getting picked on at school. And I remember the day I went to school, like all decked out in neon Nike elite gear. I looked like a highlighter.

And I went into the bathroom and I looked at myself and I'm like, I hate how this looks. I hate this. This looks so ugly. Like, why did I willingly ask my parents to buy me all of this? I look like trash. Like, I would never wear this if I didn't, you know, care about what other people thought. I just want you to ask a question before you really think. man this is what I like is that really you I just want you I'm begging you to ask

yourself this question because maybe chances are it is you and you do like it because you think it's cool you saw somebody else rock it and that is like oh that's dope you actually have a genuine like respect and you want it but most of us I don't think we even think about it we just see somebody wear something online and they have a follower account that is big and it makes us feel insecure and we think that's what we need to wear. Like the amount of white t-shirts and chains, black t-shirts and chains and shorts right now in male fashion is ridiculous.

It's crazy. Like it is the basic, you know, Jonesy of the male experience is a white tea and a chain from Amazon. Where did the fun go? Like, I have not seen. people dress in a way that that really reflects what they love and what they think is cool. I haven't seen that. And maybe it is because that is expensive.

And we as Gen Z, the one thing we don't have is money. That is the one thing we do not have. So maybe it's that. But like, no, because I see it in personalities. Have you, like, met somebody who you can tell, like, they are online in a certain neighborhood of the internet? like they only watch a certain type of content and they act that way, it's, it is dystopian.

And I have met so, in college, I met every other person was just, their algorithm was them. And it's not fair to be like, oh, this is a problem. Because the algorithm is feeding you things that you want to see, right? It's like, it's a reflection, it's a mirror. But it just makes me,

it really irks me the wrong way. because we as a generation think we're so individual. We are not. We think that we are such free thinkers. No, we are not. We're not. We are letting things do the thinking for us. And that is fine.

I'm not saying if there's anything wrong with that. I love my For You page. I love my feed. It's awesome. But oftentimes, I have to ask myself, is that really me? Is that really you? Do I like it?

because I like it or do I like it because I think I should like it but I don't actually and this this problem will just become worse like I really think that we have a crisis of people have no idea who the heck they are they have no idea who they are and they read posts and they adopt posts as their basis of thinking they haven't even thought twice about the posts that they read. They wear things that don't even compliment their body. Doesn't even like look good, but they're like, well, it's a brand name and the influencer that I love wears it. They go to restaurants that they have been told through a screen are good instead of going to the one down the street and just trying it. Like, what is going on?

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I just know we can do better because I've met people who are so unique and they, they're bad. runs deep. Like it runs so deep. They have so many interests. They have so many things that they use the internet as a tool for. They're interested in the history of a certain English brand and they love that brand. And they have gone to the depths to research that brand and like find pieces that they like about it. Like there is an art to that. There is a art of curation for that. And that is like on an individual level getting just axed. We are instead just opting. for the default skin, when we can build the character that we want. Like, we can literally take a Y2K hat, mix it with a 90s windbreaker,

wear pants with a certain kind of embroidery on it, that you're like, oh, I love flowers, so I'm going to wear flowers. That is slowly just getting pushed out. And it is hard because those kind of avenues for expression don't exist in the same way. Like, it's just, it doesn't, right? Because those things are expensive. and we have come to an age where things that are expensive for a lot of us, we just can't even think about it.

A house, I can't even fathom it. $350,000, that is an insane amount of money. That is an insane amount of money. And we are being left with like, just like characters to play, just skins. And it's just frustrating when you go to a party and you ask people like, why do they wear what they wear? Why are they interested in the things that they're interested? Like, yeah, you know, I like football and barstool sports and, yeah, and beer. That's it?

And great, that's, I mean, I love that you like that stuff. But, like, why is it that when one person likes one thing, you can predict the next nine things that they like? It's crazy. We don't have, like, trees of interests anymore. We just have singular, singular rows. It's frustrating. I don't know. And I just, I think we need to really start asking, is that really you?

Is that shirt that you're buying for yourself? Is that really you? Like, do you really like it? Does it showcase something that you like? Is it a brand that you really like? Or is it something you have seen on your feed and you're like, well, people that go to the gym wear this brand. I have to wear it. What do you like to wear to the gym?

Maybe you like oversized teas. I don't know. Maybe you rock vintage football jerseys. That's cool. But instead it's like the default. It's an absence of thinking. And I don't know, man. Maybe I'm going in too deep on this.

And it's really not that deep. And I'm just going unk. But like, I have, I've never seen somebody with like a club penguin shirt at a college party. I had never seen that. And that's sick. In my opinion, that's sick. Somebody would find that so, like, childish and stupid. But honestly, bro, if someone walked in to, like, you know, an event with a Minecraft creeper hoodie, like, I'd be like, I want to be that guy's friend right away. That guy gets it. But instead, it's like we just, it's a baseline, you know, A to Z, just like, you can, you can, you can, it's predictable. It is predictable. People, really, we just, we, it's,

really need to start thinking, is that really you? Same with your actions. It's a whole nother dilemma. People will just put on cloaks of lingo and act like, oh, well, that's, this is who I am. That's not who you are. You have not even done like 1% of trying to figure out who you are. And this is a problem.

This is a problem because it gets worse. you don't take time to explore yourself, like to explore who you are, like what your genuine interests are, you will never have self-autonomy. Like you won't. You won't. You haven't done the work to have that. And a lot of us want that. We want to feel as if we're in charge of our own lives. Like we're leading our own lives and we're on a good track, you know, like a choo-choo train, you know, going down the track. But like we don't even think about our own selves and the way that we interact with people, the way we interact with the world, because it's hard, because it is difficult. It is easy to say, love that for you,

girly. It is so easy to be, you know, to get the new chubbies because you saw in an ad and your bro just got them. That is easy. That is an easy thing to do. And maybe I'm overcombing. I'm complicating it for myself, but I just, I think we're missing out on a lot of personal joy. There is so much joy when I wear this track suit that I got as a gift from my mom when she went to Poland. And I tell people like, oh, yeah, I'm Polish. Like, my parents are both from there. Like, it's sick. I've been there.

You know, I play soccer. And it just opens this conversation. It opens so much. And I'm proud and I display it because I'm proud of, like, who I am and where I come from, right? But there are other things I have. Like I have a daft punk shirt. You know, I have shirts that like I made when I was a kid and I've kept and I rock them. They're still big, you know, and I have pride in that.

And the joy that you get when you tell someone that you're passionate about something and they can relate to that passion is like incredible. And it's a no-brainer now because when I think about the interactions that we have, like as a generation, a lot of people talk. about how like they're not able to relate to other people because other people don't have passions that that's really what it comes down to they don't have interests they don't care about things because they already know what their personality is they are the gym bro that listens to deaf tones that has a lifting belt and takes creatine that's it there's no like why is that the case why can't you be the gym bro that listens to deaf tones but also loves country music and also loves skiing and also loves to crochet. Why, why is it that you, you can't

explore those other parts? Because if you're a gym bro, crocheting might give you the same amount of dopamine that lifting does, but you just, you don't know because you've never tried it. I'm just very passionate about this because we have, we have a lot of issues as a generation. I'm not going to sit here and act like we don't. I don't think we're cooked. Famously, have stand by that and I think the kids will be okay. But we have been distracted from ourselves. We have been distracted from learning about who we are. This episode is brought to you by FedEx. These days, the power move isn't having a big metallic credit card to drop on the check at a corporate lunch. The real power move is leveling up your business with FedEx intelligence.

and accessing one of the biggest data networks powered by one of the biggest delivery networks. Level up your business with FedEx, the new power move. And it shows, it shows there are people walking around who have zero clue who they are, zero clue. They are following somebody else and someone else is telling them how they should act, what they should think, what they desire. It's not even, it's not you. you don't even want the Mercedes. You don't really want that. What you want is to live close to your friends,

hang out every Friday, do a wine night. That's what you really want. But you have been coerced. You've been made to think that, oh, I need, I need this and I need that. And maybe on the contrary, you want the Mercedes. That's dope. Go after it. Go get your bag.

But like, ask yourself next time, is that really you? I have lost so many friends who just didn't want to do the work. They didn't want to find things that they liked. And they just, they became, they became an NPC. There's no, there's literally no better way to put it. And I hate that word because NPC is like spot on. It's like too good. But it's, it's true that they just became a shell of, of who they really all.

And instead of trying to really pick themselves apart and see like, what's up, you know, what do I like? What do I not like? They just go, they go with what they see online and they're they're heavily influenced by their surroundings and that's it. And it just, it's alarming when you ask somebody why they bought something and they can't give you an answer. well I saw it online oh well somebody was wearing it and I've made that purchase I bought things that I saw somebody else where I'm not sitting here and being like oh you know I'm I think for myself no but like there's just so much out there you can pull from so many things you can be interested in so many things just because you think of yourself as one archetype doesn't mean that you can't be a bunch of other things.

It doesn't mean you are the gym girl, so therefore you need to dress a certain way, you need to be interested in a certain way, like you need to go to cycling class, like, no, you can go rock climbing, you can go play soccer, you can be interested in sitting on the couch

and watching movies. It doesn't it's not definitive and we are putting ourselves at a very young age in definitive boxes, in very definitive boxes, and we are closing the doors of what there is to explore, which life really is about exploring all the time. It's dynamic, it changes, you are going to change with age,

but instead what we do is we lock ourselves in, oh, well, I am, I am the punk girl, so I'm forever punk. Like, what if you love super bright colors? What if you hate black and white? What if you want to wear something with flowers? but no, but you're punk. No, you're not. You are you.

You are you. Like, you are you. That's it. That's it. You are you. Start thinking of it that way. Because I've met too many copies of the same people. And it's,

it's just crazy. And I'm not saying that you should be striving to be unique. No, because that's not what I mean, what I mean is take pride in the things you're passionate about. Take pride in being yourself and just don't, don't let yourself just become an archetype. Don't let yourself become the stereotype of like, oh, well, this is a Gen Z guy or this is a Gen Z girl, Gen Z person. No, no, we're done.

We're leaving that in 2024. We are done with that. That is so corny. what do you like? Double down. What are you passionate about? Spread your passions with people. Don't cocoon yourself in one section of the internet.

One section of friends. Go out there, meet different people from different backgrounds, different perspectives. Try on a cropped shirt. I don't know. Do something that is uncomfortable that will teach you. Maybe you love rocking a cropped shirt at the gym. Maybe you don't. Maybe you're like, this is not for me.

Too much of my belly is showing and I haven't cut yet this year. That's fine. That's fine. But next time you buy something, next time you do something, next time you think that this is who I am, I just want you to ask. Is that really you? Zerky Show! We have made it to 2025! We have made it.

There's no going back. And 2025 is the year. It is the year. So do the things that bring you joy and just know, I love you so much. This goes without saying we are in unprecedented times. I don't know what's going to happen. One thing I know, Zirky Show and going nowhere. If you want to listen to it, you can do so.

If you want to watch it, you can do so. It's the same handle, the Zirky Show, everywhere we go. Just know that I love you so much. if there's something you want to achieve this year, or you just want to hang this year, you want to chill. You have the ability to do so. Zerky Show, I love you. Peace.

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