Stop Trying to Become Someone New: Get Past Constant Comparison and Return to What Works For You | Sam Sanders

What if the most meaningful thing you did for your mental health wasn’t something new — but a return to what already brings you joy?

Dan recently sat down with journalist and broadcaster Sam Sanders on the Sam Sanders Show to explore exactly that idea. Sam has a concept he calls “modern scriptures”: the movies, albums, and TV shows you return to again and again because they ground you, center you, and remind you what matters. Dan shares the pop culture that never fails to lift his spirits — and along the way, the two get into why beauty and art are actually central to human flourishing, why Ferris Bueller is more Buddhist than you might think, and what the research says about making resolutions stick — including the one upstream habit that makes everything else easier.

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