How to Grow as a Person (And Why It Sucks)

In this energetic and inspiring talk, recorded at TEDxEustis 2020, Johnny Crowder details the difficulties and pitfalls of trying to grow as a person. Utilizing his personal story, Crowder reveals the ways your human brain can short circuit your attempts to improve and shares the methods and tools you can use to sustain desired changes and grow as a person. Johnny Crowder is a suicide/abuse survivor, touring musician, comedian, writer, and the founder & CEO of Cope Notes. Amidst his psychology studies at the University of Central Florida and his mental health advocacy through the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Johnny found himself touring the world with his metal band, Prison, using the stage as a platform to explore taboo topics like consent, self-harm, and sobriety. With a keen personal understanding of multiple diagnoses ranging from bipolar disorder and OCD to schizophrenia, Johnny is uniquely equipped to provide creative solutions for the pains of mental illness and treatment with levity and wit. Whether at home or touring, Johnny's Cope Notes is an innovative mobile health platform that uses text messages to improve the mental and emotional wellness of users all over the globe. Along with his ministries, Johnny nerds out about exercise science, fingerstyle guitar, and, surprisingly enough, sneakers.