The Blue Collar Buddha Podcast
I didn’t start this to coach, teach, trend, or tell you what you want to hear. I turned on the mic because I was surrounded by people talking… but nobody was actually saying anything real about the life I—and a lot of others—were, are, living.
You'll notice two names for the podcast as you listen to the episodes in due time. The Real Empowered Self came first. The Blue Collar Buddha was born during Sharon's cancer treatments. Both are me. Both are real. The story of why explains itself if you listen long enough.
So this is that conversation.
No “rah-rah.”
No “everything happens for a reason.”
No affirm-your-way-out-of-reality bullshit.
This is adult talk about adult life.
Death.
Marriage.
Cancer.
Identity.
Rage.
Grief.
Shame.
Hope.
Lust.
Aging.
The quiet shit people feel but don’t say (at least, not out loud).
I don’t have all the answers—and I don’t pretend to.
This isn’t therapy.
It’s not coaching.
And it’s sure as hell not “personal development.”
This is raw "self-concept."
Real-time honesty.
Figuring shit out by actually saying it the fuck out loud.
Out. Loud.
Expect strong language.
Unfiltered opinions.
Moments that might hit harder than you expected.
If you want comfort, mantras, or a 10-step plan to feel better—keep walking.
But if you’re tired of being lied to…
and maybe a little tired of lying to yourself…
If you’re trying to hear your own voice underneath all the noise…
You’re in the right place.
This is The Blue Collar Buddha.
It’s the conversation you didn’t know you needed—but were already having anyway.
I didn’t start this to coach, teach, trend, or tell you what you want to hear. I turned on the mic because I was surrounded by people talking… but nobody was actually saying anything real about the life I—and a lot of others—were, are, living.
You'll notice two names for the podcast as you listen to the episodes in due time. The Real Empowered Self came first. The Blue Collar Buddha was born during Sharon's cancer treatments. Both are me. Both are real. The story of why explains itself if you listen long enough.
So this is that conversation.
No “rah-rah.”
No “everything happens for a reason.”
No affirm-your-way-out-of-reality bullshit.
This is adult talk about adult life.
Death.
Marriage.
Cancer.
Identity.
Rage.
Grief.
Shame.
Hope.
Lust.
Aging.
The quiet shit people feel but don’t say (at least, not out loud).
I don’t have all the answers—and I don’t pretend to.
This isn’t therapy.
It’s not coaching.
And it’s sure as hell not “personal development.”
This is raw "self-concept."
Real-time honesty.
Figuring shit out by actually saying it the fuck out loud.
Out. Loud.
Expect strong language.
Unfiltered opinions.
Moments that might hit harder than you expected.
If you want comfort, mantras, or a 10-step plan to feel better—keep walking.
But if you’re tired of being lied to…
and maybe a little tired of lying to yourself…
If you’re trying to hear your own voice underneath all the noise…
You’re in the right place.
This is The Blue Collar Buddha.
It’s the conversation you didn’t know you needed—but were already having anyway.
Episodes
Wednesday Feb 18, 2026
Episode 01 | Radical Authenticity: Why I Refuse to Sugarcoat Your Life
Wednesday Feb 18, 2026
Wednesday Feb 18, 2026
In this episode, I’m stripping away the fluff to reveal the true foundation of personal growth: learning to love yourself. Most of us have been beaten down and kicked around by life to the point where we’ve forgotten how to do that. We’re going to stop the performance and start the work of remembering who you actually are.
This is the very first episode I ever created. My wife was early in her journey with two simultaneous cancers; recording into this mic was the only way I could express the confusion and pain I was feeling in a way that resonated.
I’ll be honest: I almost didn't post this. I cringe at the music, the pacing, and the raw sound of it. But because I am committed to the truth, I’m leaving it exactly as it is. This is the starting point.
Surgical Truths in This Episode:
The Myth of Sugar-Coated Coaching: Why honest, raw instruction is the only way to achieve real change in personal development.
The Foundation of Self-Love: Why you are incapable of truly loving others until you address the emotional disconnect within yourself.
Survival and Authenticity: Navigating life's most brutal seasons—like cancer and grief—through radical honesty.
Breaking the Cycle: How to stop being a victim of your circumstances and start the journey of self-recovery.
I’m Chase Murphy, and this is the start of you getting back to you.
Wednesday Feb 18, 2026
Episode 02 | The Real Episode 1 or 01.5 | The Deep Dive Intro
Wednesday Feb 18, 2026
Wednesday Feb 18, 2026
"If the first thing you heard from me felt a little thin, that’s because I was still trying to be 'professional.' I was hiding behind a resume, or the lack thereof. This recording is different. I’m snotty, I’m drinking coffee, and I’m finally allowing myself to tell you who I am in my natural, kinda' "screw it" way.
I’ve spent my life digging through the works of Neville Goddard, Freud, Stoicism, and Zen and a long-ass list of others. But the epiphany I had—the one that actually changed all of this for me—is that I am the only true constant variable in every experience I have. If you’re looking for a PhD to tell you affirmations in a mirror, go somewhere else. I’m here to talk about the 'trauma on a plate' that is sometimes necessary to finally see who you are.
Surgical Truths in This Episode:
The Search for Self: Why I traveled through every philosophy from Napoleon Hill to Eastern Mysticism only to find myself at the very center of it all.
The Affirmation Trap: Why 'I am wonderful' is a lie that causes cognitive dissonance and a spiral that we often can't find our way out of, and how to ask 'Appropriate Questions' instead.
Conditional vs. Unconditional Love: Why I don't have to know you to love you, and why I won't lose a wink of sleep if you think me an a-hole, rude or otherwise "not for you" and that my life will go right on if you walk away.
No PhD Required: Why your own personal opinion and experience are more valuable to you than any Ivy League degree.
I'm Chase Murphy. This is the Real Empowered Self (which will, in time, become The Blue Collar Buddha. Remember, this is early in my expression and experience with all of this).
It's unpolished, it's honest, and it's the only way forward.
Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Episode 03 | Unscripted & Unfiltered: The Power of Intuitive Living
Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Thursday Feb 19, 2026
I’m sitting at home, my wife is in the background talking to her sister in Zambia, she just kissed me on the head, and I’m drinking my coffee. If you find that distracting, or if you think a podcast needs to be recorded in a sterile studio to be "professional," then I’ll save you some time: I am not for you.
Nah, baby—this is that “real everyday life” kinda bid’ness!
I lived under the banner of "professionalism" for a long time, and I’m calling bullshit on it for me. This episode is about the Real Empowered Self—which means getting to know who you actually are when the masks come off and we get real with ourselves. We’re talking about the habits of "keeping your head down" to avoid getting hurt and why that limitation is killing your expansion.
Surgical Truths in This Episode:
The Death of the Script: Why I trust my intuition over a teleprompter. Life isn’t linear (1, 2, 3... A, B, C), so why should our growth be?
The "Professional" Lie: Why I refuse to invest in a studio when the real work happens in the middle of a messy, beautiful life.
Herd Mentality vs. Self-Awareness: Are you keeping your head down because it works, or because you're afraid to be seen?
The Note-Taker’s Edge: Why you need to write down your moments of inspiration. Don't trust your memory; trust the physical act of recording your growth.
I’m Chase Murphy. You are worth being loved exactly as you are, right the f*** now. Not when you’re "fixed," not when you’re "professional"—right now.
Wednesday Feb 25, 2026
Episode 04 | The Constant Variable: Accountability, "Victim" Bullshit, and Self-Love
Wednesday Feb 25, 2026
Wednesday Feb 25, 2026
I’m not here to blow smoke up your ass. In this episode of The Real Empowered Self (The Blue Collar Buddha), I’m getting right into the heart of the resistance. People ask why my personal development courses aren't free, or why I’m so "confrontational". My answer is simple: The world is already full of free information you aren't using.
What I’m offering is a surgical truth about radical accountability and how I stopped being a victim of my own life.
I’m taking you through the exact beginnings of the self-recovery process I used to stop looking for external answers and start addressing the only constant variable in every experience I’ve ever had—me.
Whether you're a follower of Neville Goddard, Stoicism, or any of the other "gurus," at some point, you have to stop looking for a sugar-coated "yes" and start doing the work.
Truths in This Episode:
The Price of Empowerment: Why free information is often ignored and why your self-worth shouldn't be up for debate.
The Constant Variable: No one has lived your life but you. If you’re in every one of your problems, you are the common denominator. It’s not victim-blaming; it’s a self-concept reality.
The "Loving Asshole" Approach: Why I refuse to change my authentic delivery to be more palatable for your comfort.
Self-Concept as a Mirror: How your external experiences and relationships are a direct product of what you believe to be true about yourself.
The Fruit of the Tree: A living testament to how self-love and compassion lead to healthy, celebrated partnerships.
I’m Chase Murphy, the Blue Collar Buddha. Stop looking outward for someone to change to suit your view. Be real, be free, and for all that's good and right in your life, choose to be accountable to you.







