Achieve Your Goals Podcast with Hal Elrod

Episode 618: Return to Real: How To Live Authentically In The Digital World with Ryan Levesque
Guest: Ryan Levesque
Date: December 31, 2025

Episode Overview

In this powerful conversation, Hal Elrod sits down with entrepreneur and author Ryan Levesque to discuss what it means to "Return to Real" amidst the accelerating advance of artificial intelligence and digital technology. Levesque, who left behind city life for a regenerative farm in Vermont, shares thought-provoking perspectives on authenticity, technology, connection, and fulfillment. The discussion dissects three key shifts necessary to maintain grounding and purpose in an increasingly virtual world. Part deeply philosophical, part practical guidance, this episode serves as a counterpoint to "optimize everything" culture and the unexamined embrace of technology.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. "Return to Real" – The Core Message [02:56–10:49]

• Three Colliding Forces Creating a Singular Moment

  • Economic: The repeating "big cycle" of growth and collapse (Ray Dalio’s model), with the current era mirroring the approach to past inflection points like the Great Depression and WWII.
  • Environmental: The "great carbon pulse," driven by dependence on finite fossil fuel resources; humanity is now beyond "peak oil" and faces a hard limit on extractive growth.
  • Existential: AI's rapid rise challenges human primacy and meaning; increasing automation leads to questions about what remains uniquely human.
  • Quote:

    "If you are not intentionally analog, you become digital by default."
    —Ryan Levesque [09:48]

• Historical Counter-Revolutions: Every major acceleration (Industrial, Tech revolutions) triggers a return-to-authenticity movement—Romanticism, Arts & Crafts, homesteading, and now, "digital detox."

• What is 'Return to Real'?

  • An intentional movement countering passive immersion in the digital—craving "real" experiences, presence, connection, and nature.
  • Memorable Phrase:

    "You will live a life by abstraction through a screen. Return to Real is the counter revolutionary movement ... there's a craving for everything that we're describing."
    —Ryan Levesque [10:32]

2. Ryan's Farming Journey: Living the Message [12:20–18:25]

• Making the Leap:

  • Left Austin, TX, to start a regenerative, family farm in Vermont, motivated by a need for "intentional, analog" living.
  • Origin Story: Lived in a tent, bathed in a pond, learned permaculture, felt a calling to a new life.
  • Moved family cross-country with no house secured, eventually found the perfect farm after a year of searching.

• On Regenerative Farming:

  • Goal: Produce 80% of family's food on their own land.
  • Current outputs: Cattle, pigs, chickens, eggs, trout, bee hives, maple syrup, fruit and nut trees, perennial vegetables.
  • Thinking in terms of generational impact.
  • Quote:

    "Great men plant trees under whose shade they will never sit."
    —Ryan Levesque [17:29]

• Hal’s Reflection:
  Recognizes that Ryan’s path is extreme for most, seeks practical ways listeners can apply these principles.

3. The Three Contrarian Shifts [19:56–37:38]

I. The Best Things in Life Don't Scale [19:56–26:24]

• Business culture worships scale ("Does it scale?") but:
  • Experiences like hugs, sunsets, love, true connections can't be multiplied or automated.
  • Scaling beyond 'right size' creates an "extractive paradigm"—in business and life.
  • Quote:

    "Your audience wants the freshly squeezed version of you."
    —Ryan Levesque [24:32]

  • Personal story: Admits to audience that much content wasn’t written in his own voice—received huge positive response to his authentic confession.

II. Optimize for Oxytocin Over Dopamine [26:24–33:04]

• Dopamine: Fuels chase for reward, easily hijacked by technology—leads to compulsive behaviors, social media addiction, etc.
• Oxytocin: Connects to trust, love, and presence. Not easily hacked; requires genuine connection—physical presence, storytelling, intimacy.
• Modern Dilemma: Efficiency and screen-based living squeeze out opportunities for real oxytocin-triggering moments.
• Practical Advice:
  • Grow a plant or herb yourself—even a small act re-connects you with the analog world [28:55]
  • Extend the length of your hugs for a meaningful oxytocin boost [32:09]
• Memorable Insight:

  "Don't be the first one to let go."
  —Ryan Levesque on hugging [33:02]

III. More Time with God-Made, Less with Man-Made [33:04–37:38]

• Reconnecting with nature ("God-made things") heals, inspires, and grounds humans.

  • Anecdotes on how most time is spent surrounded by the artificial—real fulfillment comes from dirt, silence, sky, trees.
  • Cites research: Time in nature increases creativity, decreases mental illness—especially in children.

• Simple Practice:

  "Touch earth before touching a screen."
  —Ryan Levesque [36:23]

  • Start the day by putting bare feet on earth before using your phone.

• Summary of Three Shifts:

  1. Pursue deep, meaningful experiences over scale.
  2. Prioritize trust and presence (oxytocin) over cheap digital highs (dopamine).
  3. Spend more time in nature, less with screens.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Insight | |------------|--------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 09:48 | Ryan Levesque| "If you are not intentionally analog, you become digital by default." | | 13:36 | Ryan Levesque| Relates the story of texting his wife to sell everything and move to Vermont | | 17:29 | Ryan Levesque| "Great men plant trees under whose shade they will never sit." | | 24:32 | Ryan Levesque| "Your audience wants the freshly squeezed version of you. Can you feel that this email was written by a real human being with a real beating heart? ... Your audience wants to feel your beating heart too." | | 32:09 | Hal Elrod | "That's something I've been really trying to do and it's been a game changer—hold my hugs..." | | 33:02 | Ryan Levesque| "Don't be the first one to let go." | | 36:23 | Ryan Levesque| "Touch earth before touching a screen." | | 38:14 | Hal Elrod | "Are you going to the bathroom with your phone or are you going to the bathroom with God?" |

Practical Applications & Takeaways

• You don’t have to move to a farm:
  Small steps like growing an herb, extended hugs, walking barefoot on grass, or starting your day outside are meaningful.
• Reflect on what you crave:
  What "analog" rituals can you build into your routine?
• In business and relationships:
  Focus on depth, presence, and authenticity over mindless scaling and automation.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:56] The "Return to Real" framework & three colliding global forces
• [12:20] Ryan’s journey: farming, risk, family adventure, why and how
• [19:56] Three shifts for grounding in a digital world—overview
• [22:11] "The best things in life don't scale"—examples & personal confession
• [26:24] Oxytocin vs dopamine—depth vs digital stimulation
• [33:04] More time in nature, grounding and spiritual perspective
• [36:23] "Touch earth before touching a screen"—a practical daily ritual

Tone:
Warm, authentic, thoughtful, and a challenge to "business as usual." The conversation blends philosophical depth with practicality and encourages radical self-honesty and intentional living.

For Listeners Who Haven't Tuned In:
This episode will provoke you to rethink your relationship with technology, success, and personal fulfillment. Ryan Levesque and Hal Elrod provide not just theory, but lived experience and small, actionable steps to ground your life in the things that matter most, beyond the endless chase for scale or digital "progress."