Therapy Gecko: “I CAN’T STOP BEING INFLUENCED”

Podcast: Therapy Gecko
Host: Lyle (the Gecko)
Release Date: February 25, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode of Therapy Gecko, Lyle connects with two callers—Joe, an EMT, and then Jimmy, a bartender—discussing the concept of influence in the modern world. The theme, sparked by the episode title "I CAN’T STOP BEING INFLUENCED," meanders through topics like influencer culture, personal change post-COVID, social media, honesty, existential dread, friendship, and the complex struggle of making genuine connections in a digitized, distracted society. Throughout, both Lyle and his guests dissect their vulnerabilities, question perceptions, and share sharp, candid insights about what it means to be a product of influence, both online and off.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Shifting Definitions of Influence and Fame

• Joe and Lyle discuss how fame and influence have become more ordinary and democratized in the age of the internet.
  • Joe: "Influencers in my head went from being, like, famous to now just having influence." (03:16)
  • Lyle: "It's kind of awesome though, right? Because I feel like it's democratized the media landscape and... led to this... middle class of creator." (05:40)
• Joe notes the difficulty and unpredictability of monetizing influence: "It's hard to monetize off the internet if you're not like... you have a podcast that's, I don't know, gained a lot of traction... that's not everybody's case." (06:43)

2. The Nature and Unavoidability of Influence

• Joe's Reflective Take: "I think everybody is [easily influenced]... even if you know it's propaganda that doesn't like remove its influence on you." (10:35)
• Lyle probes whether he or Joe is influenced by advertising and daily stimuli, leading to a candid admission:
  • Joe: "[An ad]... I've been seeing the same ad on Instagram and Facebook for like four or five months... I'm definitely gonna buy that in the future." (11:46)
• Lyle broadens the view: "You're just talking about being influenced by external stimuli of the world. I mean, you're a product of your environment." (13:11)

3. Good vs. Bad Influence—Family, Upbringing, and Choices

• Joe shares his path to becoming an EMT, influenced profoundly by caring for his grandmother and witnessing misinformation during COVID.
  • "In 2020, my grandmother... developed dementia and I had to take care of her... That's why I became an EMT." (13:54)
• Both reflect on their fortune in having had “good influences,” recognizing luck and environment rather than personal merit.
  • Joe: "I feel very lucky for that too... I just got lucky to have good influences." (15:25)
  • Lyle: "I feel like I'm a product of the influence of a lot of people around me... it's been good influence." (15:48)

4. Influence, Authenticity, and Honesty in Relationships

• Discussion about when and how to be honest—should people always bring up issues, or pick their battles?
  • Lyle: “There’s totally... a lot of situations where... you should just pick your battles. I don’t know if I was right.” (22:22)
  • Joe: “For me, it kind of depends on how the person I’m with is operating and who they are... I have the most integrity when I come out of it.” (24:13)
• On Subjective Truth and Consensus:
  • Lyle: “Consensus is just consensus. It doesn’t... automatically make it true... the closest you can get to an objective truth is... you align your personal evaluation of your own feelings with the consensus.” (26:06)

5. Social Media, Digital Exhaustion, and the Modern Malaise

• Both Joe and Lyle articulate existential weirdness since the COVID-19 pandemic, with Joe citing a “timeline shift”:
  • “Every single day since COVID it felt like…we flipped timelines or something or…I can see the effects of like Covid in 2026 extremely clearly.” (37:38)
• Lyle contextualizes this feeling as timeless, comparing it to previous world crises: “Unprecedented times are highly precedented.” (41:14)
• Joe and Lyle agree that much of the current anxiety comes from digital life, information overload, and passive scrolling.
  • “This idea... nihilism... people being like ‘oh the world is a shitty place’... is just kind of bullshit, and... a judgment value to a thing that just simply is.” (47:14)
  • “So much of that is just caused by…the phone... he has an analog room where he doesn’t use any technology.” (48:08)

6. Emotional Experience and the Uniqueness of Human Interaction

• Joe reflects on rare, intense emotional expressions encountered through EMT work:
  • “The second I made eye contact with him...that’s so much intense emotion on his face...I don’t even know what you have to go through to have that.” (55:12)
• Both marvel at human diversity—no two facial expressions or lives are truly the same.

7. Social Connection, Adult Friendships, and the Role of Alcohol

• In the second segment, Jimmy—a bartender—calls in, voicing concerns about alcohol as a crutch for socialization, especially in the bar/restaurant industry:
  • “If I don’t go out and drink, I don’t see my friends... if I were to cut alcohol out, is it like a social suicide?” (68:55)
• Lyle reframes sobriety as an opportunity:
  • “What if there was actually a force that is even more addictive than peer pressure?... feeling like you’re so much better than everyone else.” (73:49)
• Jimmy expresses concern about the fleeting, transactional nature of modern friendships, and the struggle to meaningfully connect outside digital spaces.
  • “It’s a lot harder to find lasting relationships... sometimes it feels like there’s just a general... build a friendship, and it lasts a day or two, then move on.” (82:34)

8. The Exhaustion of Connection, Digital vs. Real Life

• Lyle muses on the limits of friendship and the exhaustion of adult social efforts:
  • “As you get older, you start to have a finite amount... of relationships you can really... put pointed effort into—probably two or three.” (86:51)
• Both agree on the weird paradox of digital connection—simultaneously “always connected” yet feeling less truly engaged.
  • Jimmy: “It’s kind of weird... in that digital age…everybody’s so connected all the time, but also, not connected at the same time.” (90:05)
  • Lyle: “You don’t have to be on [the Internet]. You just put your phone down.” (90:27)
  • Jimmy: “I feel some weird obligation to…be a part of it though... Instagram... I go through, like, wanting to delete... all the time.” (90:45)
  • Lyle: “If anything, it is unproductive... yeah, delete it!” (91:07)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On influence and self-awareness:
  • Joe: “I am easily influenced but then I catch myself. But then at the same time I’m like, wait, even though I’m self aware, like, wait, how influenced should I just get right now?” (10:51)
• On good influences:
  • Joe: “I don’t know. I just got lucky to have good influences.” (15:25)
• On honesty and conflict:
  • Joe: “I base my decisions based on, like, their personality and, like, the harmony of our relationship. Kind of... I choose the option that leaves me with the most integrity.” (24:13)
• On the weirdness of adulthood after COVID:
  • Joe: “I just thought life was gonna have, like, a little bit more sparkle and joy in people’s personal lives, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.” (44:49)
• On the exhaustion of connection:
  • Lyle: “People I really like, I don’t even want to talk to as much, you know.” (88:43)
• On deleting Instagram:
  • Lyle: “If anything, it [Instagram] is unproductive... yeah, delete it! What are you doing? Why do you even have it? Just delete it.” (91:07)
  • Jimmy: “It took someone just saying, if you’re just watching reels, delete it. I’m like, you know what, you’re right.” (91:57)
• Sardonic advice:
  • Lyle: “Don’t start acting like you’re better than everyone else... but feeling like you’re better than everyone else is genius.” (74:02)

Important Timestamps

• [03:16] Joe on influencers shifting from ‘fame’ to ‘having influence.'
• [05:40] Lyle on the ‘middle class of creator’ and democratization.
• [10:35] Are we all easily influenced?
• [13:54] Joe recounts becoming an EMT after caring for his grandmother during COVID.
• [15:25] Discussing the role of good luck in having positive influences.
• [22:22] Debate: Is withholding the truth sometimes justified?
• [26:06] No objective reality; seeking validation in a world of consensus.
• [37:38] Existential weirdness post-COVID: ‘Flipped timelines.’
• [41:14] Lyle: ‘Unprecedented times are highly precedented.’
• [55:12] Unique human emotions: an EMT's encounter with raw human expression.
• [68:55] Jimmy introduces the idea of ‘social suicide’ if he stops drinking.
• [74:02] Lyle’s (tongue-in-cheek) advice: feel superior when sober.
• [82:34] Jimmy: fleeting friendships and transactional relationships.
• [86:51] The limits of adult friendship.
• [91:07] “If anything, it is unproductive...yeah, delete it!”—Lyle on Instagram.
• [91:57] Jimmy has a moment of clarity: “You’re right.”

Conclusion & Tone

The episode is candid, meandering, unguarded, and both self-aware and gently funny in the trademark Therapy Gecko style. Lyle acts as an equal co-explorer rather than an oracle—challenging, affirming, and occasionally goofing with his callers. The conversations thread through themes of influence, vulnerability, and self-doubt, underscored by good humor and existential pondering.

Key Takeaways:

• Influence is everywhere; our lives, choices, and even self-concepts are woven from “good” and “bad” influences, and that's inescapable.
• The current era feels uniquely strange, but uncertainty and anxiety are universal, recurring features of history.
• In an age of distraction and digital fatigue, honest connection and personal integrity are more crucial—and more challenging—than ever.
• Sometimes, the healthiest thing you can do is simply “delete Instagram.”

Final Message from Jimmy:
“Biggest thing I would say—just, you know, love your friends and stay connected to people.” (92:13)

Episode Vibe: Warm, honest, a pinch existential—with a strong sense of fellow-feeling and encouragement to stay awake, self-aware, and intentional—even if, maybe especially if, you're not sure what the hell is going on.