# Ep. 112: Break Free from the “Shoulds”: How Old Soul and Young Soul Archetypes Can Run Your Life

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-healthy-compulsive-project-6461244/ep-112-break-free-from-the-shoulds-how-old-soul-and-young-soul-archetypes-can-run-your-life
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-healthy-compulsive-project-6461244/ep-112-break-free-from-the-shoulds-how-old-soul-and-young-soul-archetypes-can-run-your-life.md
Podcast: [The Healthy Compulsive Project](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-healthy-compulsive-project-6461244)
Published: 2026-04-01T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/715307dc
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/715307dc/485aa63f.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-healthy-compulsive-project-6461244/episodes/ep-112-break-free-from-the-shoulds-how-old-soul-and-young-soul-archetypes-can-run-your-life
Duration seconds: 1715

## Resource

There are both among us and within us young souls and old souls. Some of them fulfilled and some of them unfulfilled. Typically, people with obsessive-compulsive personality traits are old souls, and they can express that part of them either constructively or destructively. But usually their young soul is silenced. This old soul is one manifestation of the archetype of the Senex, or the old man. Traits such as wisdom, caution, recognition of rules and boundaries, order and stability are typical of it. In his less fulfilling manifestations, he becomes rigid, judgmental and constricted, and represses expression of his young soul, the archetype of the Puer. In healthier manifestations he is the Wise Old Man who we can call on to guide us in difficult situations. In this episode we get to know the Senex and his younger counterpart, the Puer, to see how they affect us, and how we can live their calling in more fulfilling and effective ways. We’ll talk about why you should bother with this whole crazy idea of archetypes. We’ll also follow four siblings from the Elderwood family to see how these archetypes can affect our path in life.

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## Transcript

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