BIO: Ryan Dusick is an associate marriage and family therapist, life coach, mental health advocate, and the founding drummer of the world’s most popular band, Maroon 5.
STORY: Ryan’s worst investment ever was spending a decade of his time, energy, and focus believing that he had control over his life. Simply playing God with the reality of his existence.
LEARNING: Happiness comes from connection and purpose. Investing yourself in something meaningful to you establishes purpose.
“If you want to achieve certain things in your life, you must put yourself out there and be prepared for setbacks, disappointments, and failures.”
Ryan Dusick
Guest profile
Ryan Dusick is an associate marriage and family therapist, life coach, mental health advocate, and the founding drummer of the world’s most popular band, Maroon 5.
He is also a columnist for Variety Magazine and the author of the new book “Harder to Breathe: A Memoir of Making Maroon 5, Losing It All, and Finding Recovery.”
His life has been a long and winding road from an aspiring pop star with anxiety to a heartbroken alcoholic to a thriving mental health survivor and messenger of hope in recovery.
Worst investment ever
The worst investment Ryan ever made was investing a decade of his time, energy, and focus into an illusion. The illusion was that he had control over his life, simply playing God with the reality of his existence. There were moments in that decade that were pleasant, enjoyable, and fun for Ryan.
Maintaining the lie that Ryan had control of his life and that he could escape the feelings that were so painful was an exercise in futility. Life just got worse over time. His coping skills deteriorated. Ryan had invested in a way of life that was harming him and not benefiting him in any way other than maybe a moment of pleasure from time to time.
Lessons learned
- Happiness comes from feeling connection and purpose.
- Meaning and purpose are not necessarily handed to you by God or the universe. You can create them for yourself.
- Use your mindset to find ways to grow and find new connections and a new purpose.
- Investing yourself in something meaningful to you establishes purpose.
Actionable advice
If you want to achieve certain things in your life, to a certain extent, you have to put yourself out there and be prepared that there may be setbacks, disappointments, and failures. That’s part of the process, ultimately, of getting to where you want to be. Those setbacks, disappointments, and failures don’t make you a failure or mean it’s the end of the road. It’s part of the process of pursuing something valuable to you.
No.1 goal for the next 12 months
Ryan’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to be more of a professional speaker, step it up to the next level, and share some of the things he’s learned on a bigger scale. He also wants to continue to write more.
Parting words
“Good luck to you on your journey. If it’s been a while for you, it’s still coming. Just be open to it.”
Ryan Dusick
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