Philosopher shares the three 'healthiest habits' people can embrace to improve their lives

Cecily Knobler
Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:40:59 +0000
Change, Gratitude, Healthy relationships, Meditation, Mel robbins, Mel robbins podcast, Relationships, Yung pueblo, Love, Philosophy

In a world where we're often on the hunt for wisdom to make our lives better, one solid place to turn is to the teachings of Diego Perez. Often known by his pen name Yung Pueblo, he has been writing books, poems, and essays for years, accruing 4.5 million online followers.

He often discusses meditation, having famously meditated for 13,000 hours (and counting), and credits this to easing his anxiety. Much of what he meditates on is love and our relationship to it.

In a clip posted on Oprah Daily, he shares, "What I've learned from that is that the highest level of love is unconditioned. Unconditional love, where you can look upon the world and see that no one is your enemy. That is the height of freedom. You are no longer coming from a place of ego, but you are living in a space of compassion for yourself and for others."

Yung Pueblo shares thoughts on meditation. www.youtube.com, Oprah Daily

According to his website, his most recently published book, How to Love Better, "offers a blueprint for deepening your compassion, kindness, and gratitude so you can truly grow in harmony with another person and build stronger connections in all your relationships."

While a guest on the Mel Robbins Podcast, she asks him, "What are the three healthiest habits that everyone listening or watching should learn in order to improve their lives?"

Reading from his work, he answers:

"1) Being grateful for the little things.
2) Noticing when your nervous system is overwhelmed and responding by saying 'no' to anything new that will consume your energy.
3) Don't hide your love. Let your friends and family know how much you care about them."

Of these ideas, Robbins says she loves that they're "subtle, but the impact they have is profound."

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The clip comes from a larger podcast interview entitled "Reset your mind: How to Find Peace When Life Feels Overwhelming." Robbins notes how simple these habits would be if one were to really take them in. "Number one: being grateful for the little things. And let's do this right now. This is how simple this is. What is something little that you're grateful for?"

Pueblo answers, "I think I'm always grateful for natural spring water. It tastes so good and is so nourishing. And honestly, the first thing that came to mind is I'm so grateful for my Toyota RAV4."

Robbins digs into the second habit, re-reading it out loud. "This is also one of those subtle things. Whether it's being overwhelmed at work and somebody asking you if you can cover their shift. And as a people pleaser, you'd normally be like 'yeah, yeah, okay' even though you don't want to. Learning to take a beat and notice you're overwhelmed and saying 'no.' That is a subtle but powerful moment where you create peace for yourself instead of creating chaos in order to please somebody else."

He responds, "Part of reclaiming your power so that you can have real inner peace is understanding what your capacity is."

Robbins gives the example of feeling obligated to say yes to invitations. "Learning how to say no is a habit that creates peace for you, just in the saying no."

He adds, "And sometimes the invitations aren't physical. Sometimes they're emotional. When someone is trying to invite you into their anger. They just got home from work, they're super irritated by what happened. And you can feel that in their irritation, they want you to join them. But for the sake of your own peace, you can find that subtle place where you can, sure, listen to whatever their gripe is, but choose to live in your peace as opposed to joining them in their tension."

- Yung Pueblo shares thoughts on the Mel Robbins podcast. www.youtube.com, Mel Robbins

Robbins brings up the final habit: "Don't hide your love." He shares, "This is one of my favorite lessons I've learned from studying change through meditation. Literally studying change within the framework of the body. We have this really combative relationship with change. We fight change. We hate change sometimes because we deeply crave for all the things that we like to always stay the same. But then we forget that change is what's allowing for everything to exist. Like if the universe were static, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation."

Pueblo goes on to say that change is what gives us our lives. "So change is allowing all these beautiful opportunities to appear in front of us. So to me, when I think about change, and I'm spending time with my parents or my partner, these are beautiful moments that are right in front of me, that I should spend time in these moments, not just thinking about something else."

Robbins adds, "I think we have a combative relationship with love. Because we spend most of our time with the people we care about most, either taking our emotions out on them or wishing they would be different…One thing that has changed my life for the better, obviously, is to let people be who they are and who they're not. But in that space of acceptance, really being proactive about expressing love."

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The comment section adds beautiful thoughts. Under the Instagram clip, someone writes, "Gratitude really is the foundation. It quiets the noise, anchors the spirit, and reminds me I’m already in the blessing." One adds, "I have a gratitude jar when I'm feeling disconnected from love. I read through the gratitude notes and it immediately brings me back to the present."

Another adds this lovely sentiment: "Nailed it — because they all require consistency, not flash. Fireworks fade over time, but a small fire tended and fed over time can provide light and warmth forever."