#139 - Cole Hastings - How To Stop Pretending To Be Someone You're Not

Cole Hastings is a YouTuber, whose channel grew from self-development into cultural commentary, and the author of the debut novel Echoes Across Infinity. Cole Hastings believes that stories change people in a way advice never will. It took him three years to reach a thousand subscribers, and what finally blew up his channel was telling his own story instead of giving tips. In this conversation, we explore the character he played in high school before he knew who he was, the burnout in late 2021 that cost him his sleep and forced him to take a month off of YouTube, why reading fiction is a collaborative act that lets you live other lives, the two words at the end of The Count of Monte Cristo that made him cry, why having a word for every emotion helps you regulate it, why escapism done right is healthy, the two-days-a-week routine that produced a hundred thousand word novel, and why he thinks AI writing is a bigger enemy than writer's block. It is pretty heavy to be human all the time, and fiction is how he sets it down. How to Connect with Cole Hastings: Website: https://cole-hastings.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColeHastings Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colehastings_ Substack: https://colehastings.substack.com Book (Echoes Across Infinity): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H1Q217G7 Book on Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/echoes-across-infinity/id6769934249 Timestamps: 00:00 A Character Before a Creator 02:14 The Weed Kids and Kai Sigma 03:35 Cup Stacking and the Spark 06:08 You Can Be Your Own Person 08:55 A Malleable Creative Journey 11:50 YouTube Cole vs. Real-World Cole 13:20 When the Body Paid the Price 15:31 The Bad Trip and the Month Off 17:13 Unlearning Suffering to Create 18:14 Storytelling, Fiction, and 900K Subscribers 22:46 Wait and Hope: The Count of Monte Cristo 27:28 Fiction and the Brain 29:19 Cole Turns the Tables: What Fires You Up? 32:12 A Word for Every Emotion 36:58 Writing Echoes Across Infinity 40:02 Escapism Is Healthy 42:35 The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done 44:58 Ideas That Won't Go Away 46:46 1,500 Words, Two Days a Week 49:45 AI Writing Is the Enemy 53:24 Building the World First 55:53 From YouTuber to Author Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for listening. I truly appreciate your time and support. Let me know what you thought of the episode and what you would like to see in the future. Any feedback would be awesome. Don't forget to subscribe for more exciting content on YouTube, and leave a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whatever platform you are listening on. Connect with me below: Instagram: Tim Doyle Youtube: Soulture