Sep 13, 2022
The Captain, who has built a persona of unbreakable confidence,
reveals his journey of struggling with depression and suicidal
thoughts and how he found the courage to be vulnerably honest with
himself and others. In this episode, you will learn: 1. How Kyle
Creek overcame depression and suicidal thoughts 2. The importance
of vulnerability and authenticity 3. How toxic masculinity can be
harmful
"I realized that my depression was going to continue
getting worse. I kept feeding it the way I was, and my girlfriend
and I decided to break up. Well, I say we decided she decided to
break up. And it was kind of the last straw for me to realize I
needed
Kyle Creek is a writer, creator, and Instigator. He's not your dad,
but he is a dad.
This is Kyle Creek's story...
Growing up, Kyle Creek struggled with his identity. He felt lost
and misunderstood. To cope, he turned to writing. This eventually
led to him creating an alter ego known as "The Captain." The
Captain allowed Kyle to express himself in ways he wouldn't have
been able to as himself. He could share his opinions and be
vulnerable without fear of judgement. The Captain became so popular
that more people knew him by that name than his real name. This led
to a crisis of identity for Kyle. He eventually took a break from
social media to rediscover himself. When he came back, he decided
to share his story openly and honestly. He has since become an
advocate for mental health, sharing his own struggles in order to
help others.
In this episode, you will learn the following:
1. How Kyle Creek overcame depression and suicidal thoughts 2. The
importance of vulnerability and authenticity 3. How toxic
masculinity can be harmful
Resources:
Grab Kyle Creek's Latest Book on Amazon
Join the Growth Now
Community Today!
Chapter Summaries:
[00:01:46] - This week's episode features Kyle Creek, aka The
Captain. A writer, creator, instigator, and a dad, kyle believes in
living in integrity and being honest and open without trying to
tear other people apart. Kyle shares a moment in his life where he
became suicidal, but he was able to overcome it. Kyle also talks
about the idea of masculinity and toxic masculinity.
[00:03:30] - Before the captain, Kyle Creek was a writer. He used
social media as an alter ego to protect his professional career.
After enough time, he had a crisis of identity and had to take a
break from social media to regain his composure and stop being a
faceless figure online.
[00:06:43] - Kyle created the Captain character on his podcast, and
it gave him more confidence. Kyle used to be afraid to talk about
his personal life in podcasting, but now he's more comfortable with
sharing his vulnerabilities. It took him a long time to open up
about his past.
[00:08:45] - If he could go back and do it again Kyle Creek would
have used his real name cow Creek instead of Captain. He finds
writing easier and his work more impactful. Under Cow Creek's name,
he shares his life story with half a million people.
[00:10:46] - After taking a break from the internet you started
writing again and opening up about your life before that you were
working as a creative director in an advertising agency in New
York. Now you moved across the country to La to get a start on TV
because of the podcast one person decided not to take his life the
only way you get there is through vulnerability and authenticity -
the first time he hit record he had a deep conversation and someone
listened to it and it helped him.
[00:15:22] - There's a lot of talk about toxic masculinity and
Andrew Tate. In his opinion, masculinity is about being yourself
and standing up for what you believe in, rather than trying to fit
in with other people's expectations. He doesn't care if people
consider themselves tough or feminine. He just wants them to be
themselves. Growth now is a movement with which the podcast is
connected.
[00:20:02] - It's hard for people to be themselves. Identity
politics is an easy way to feel like you're a part of something
without actually having to do any work. It's harder to be honest
about your opinions when it comes to political things. In his
opinion, people don't have integrity anymore.
[00:22:54] - After living in Marina del Rey and Las Vegas he and
his girlfriend decided to move to Las Vegas. He's been in Florida
for almost a year now. He lived in New York for a couple of years.
He was trying to find a place to eat and all the restaurants he
liked were shut down.
[00:26:01] - There's an Opportunity for People to Come together and
Understand that the divisiveness in the US. Is wrong. In early
2020, Captain Captain had a book deal with a large publisher. But
he decided to speak his mind and he didn't lose his book deal.
People can't get past the fact that my opinion is different from
yours. I'm open to forgiveness and understanding. But I don't want
to be around someone who's capable of going that far. I like what
you said about guys like Andy and myself and Joe not putting
ourselves in any category.
[00:32:34] - In the last couple of years the man has become a
father for the first time. He is not a father of his own biological
children. But he is getting married in April and his wife has two
kids they call him “bonus dad“ because he is not their biological
father.
[00:33:17] - After 15 months of being a father, he has learned a
lot from his son. His writing is better now, and he understands
himself better than before. He hopes to adopt a young woman and
have a kid of his own in the next five years. He has two kids with
his fiancee. There are many lessons in parenting in general. I
don't want to go through crying babies and changing diapers in the
middle of the night, but there are so many lessons to be learned I
will most likely never experience. The patients learn when they're
crying and they can't tell what's wrong.
[00:38:11] - In his new book ”fucking History”, he takes a modern
approach to the history of the world. He used to hate history in
school, especially Mormon history. He liked the idea of taking
historical facts and tying them to today's events. Vincent van Gogh
was lost in his 20s, and he didn't have success until he was
37.
[00:41:30] - As a father. He's learned a lot about history and
parenting from his own childhood. He grew up in a conservative
religion, Mormonism. He wants his son to be able to talk to him
about awkward moments in his life. He hopes his son will relate to
him on another level.
[00:44:06] - According to the author, success is making a living
without having to answer to anyone. He is currently writing his
first book. He tries not to schedule anything in the morning. He
also tries to force himself to write every day. He's aware of what
he eats and what he drinks. A memoir is something he never intended
to write until he was in his 50s or 60s. He would like to have
something he could read that would give him a sense of who he was.
He has also finished two children's books that he's currently
illustrating with his father. He's also working on two TV series,
and he has half a dozen book ideas in his head at all times. His
books are available on Amazon.
[00:51:38] - Kyle's biggest moment of growth was becoming a dad.
Kyle wants to use his presence and audience to do something
grandiose. Kyle thanks his audience for being a part of the Growth
Now movement. Kyle asks his audience to share the episode on social
media to help grow the movement.
Connect with me:
IG: www.instagram.com/justintschenck