Fast food. Pharmaceuticals. Self-help influencers. Wellness retreats. It’s all selling the same thing: happiness—packaged, marketed, and monetized.
In this episode, Ryan pulls back the curtain on the industries profiting off your pursuit of joy. From Edward Bernays-style manipulation to modern-day luxury branding, he breaks down how marketing convinces you that buying more will make you feel more.
He also questions whether supplements, retreats, and influencer therapy are helping—or just fueling a billion-dollar happiness hustle.
🎙 Chapters:
00:00 - Selling Emotions, Not Products
01:29 - Fast Food, Pharma, and Instant Gratification
04:53 - What Even Is Happiness?
10:35 - Religion, Community & the Joy Industry
21:53 - The Reality of Wellness Retreats
26:28 - Influencers and the Monetized Mindset
34:54 - Final Reflections
🎧 All links → linktr.ee/stayinthegraypodcast
00:00:00
The Austrian born, I believe he was born there, Sigmund Freud
00:00:05
and his nephew who was named Edward Bernays.
00:00:09
He believed in selling the feeling, not necessarily a
00:00:12
product, but the feeling associated with that product.
00:00:15
And So what he did his, his most famous campaign and they sold
00:00:21
the idea that a cigarette made you look empowered.
00:00:25
And so all of a sudden you saw these posters and these pictures
00:00:28
of women with cigarettes. And it was just this big thing.
00:00:30
It wasn't, they were, it wasn't like they loved inhaling fire
00:00:33
into their lungs. They or smoke into their lungs.
00:00:36
They, they enjoyed how, how it looked and it kind of said, Hey,
00:00:41
this is empowerment. And you know, he called it the
00:00:44
torches of freedom for these women.
00:00:46
And I mean, he literally was selling it based on that name
00:00:49
and, and the image and the idea of happiness.
00:00:52
One of two countries, the other being New Zealand that advertise
00:00:58
pharmaceuticals on T on TV. You see it all all.
00:01:02
Usually you see it in the daytime too, but usually at
00:01:05
night and at night becomes this. You get tired at night, you may
00:01:10
need this, you get hungry. Just you get hungry, you might
00:01:15
need this, but they're selling this idea of being happy.
00:01:19
This makes you feel better. What's going on now sucks.
00:01:22
You need to take this pill. Oh, by the way, it's going to
00:01:25
cost a shit load of money. Insurance doesn't cover half
00:01:27
this shit that's advertised. How about food?
00:01:30
I mean, people are selling things like, you know, fast food
00:01:34
because it tastes it tastes good.
00:01:36
It's it's easy to get. It's it makes you happy.
00:01:39
It's not because they're trying to say, hey, guess what?
00:01:41
You're going to be super happy when you're obese like this
00:01:43
country unfortunately is. We have a problem in this
00:01:46
country. But I mean, just thinking the
00:01:48
kids happy though, happy. There you go.
00:01:51
It's right in the name. And so the your kids will be
00:01:54
happy if you purchase this, there's a fucking toy.
00:01:57
They'll be happy and guess what that'll make life easier on you.
00:02:01
How about big name cars? Why do you want to drive a BMWA,
00:02:05
Mercedes, a Porsche, whatever? Why do you want to do that?
00:02:09
Why especially why do you want these people, these middle-aged
00:02:11
guys that get Lamborghinis? Why?
00:02:13
Because you'd believe it makes you happy.
00:02:15
Things like beauty products come on in this in this world, we've
00:02:18
established that people want to look attractive and that in this
00:02:22
world, women need makeup to do that.
00:02:24
And I get it. But there is still a point of
00:02:28
you need facial cleansing separate from makeup.
00:02:31
You need a certain type of moisturizer, You need a certain
00:02:35
type of shampoo. You can't just get a regular
00:02:38
shampoo. It's got to be this $50 shit
00:02:40
that you order. And that's just the shampoo.
00:02:42
These are the things that they're, they're selling,
00:02:44
probably don't need to be happy. Let's take another step.
00:02:48
Let's talk about Wellness, self improvement, mental health, the
00:02:52
apps, the books, all this thing about motivating ourselves,
00:02:56
getting healthier, getting in better shape, mentally stable.
00:03:00
This is a $4.5 trillion industry.
00:03:03
Just the things I mentioned, if books, conventions like books
00:03:08
and all these could solve all of our issues and make you happy,
00:03:13
make you healthier and motivate you, why are they continuing to
00:03:17
to put new books out and knew this and knew that it seems like
00:03:21
we would be able to say, all right, this is the way to do it,
00:03:24
let's do it. Why is everybody getting in on
00:03:26
this and why is it spreading? And why do people think, oh I'm
00:03:29
just going to do a self help book who's qualified?
00:03:39
Welcome to Stay in the Grade podcast.
00:03:41
We explore news that gets people talking by blending comedy and
00:03:45
controversy. I'm Ryan.
00:03:58
And I'm Trey. Together, we dive into tough
00:04:00
topics with a combination of humor and some insight.
00:04:06
To join us as we navigate the Gray areas of the world and
00:04:09
we're engaging in real conversation.
00:04:12
Come get to know us. All right, welcome to February
00:04:16
everyone. It's February the 3rd from
00:04:19
Dallas, TX. It is 81° outside.
00:04:23
I don't like it Texans yell at me all you want, but I miss the
00:04:26
cold. It is winter time and it should
00:04:28
be as such. Hopefully we'll get another
00:04:30
little spurt of cold and possibly some freezing weather
00:04:34
before we hit spring. That's just what I want.
00:04:38
I know what all of you want. You know, I'm going to take, I'm
00:04:44
going to go a different direction.
00:04:45
I'm going to be a little bit, a little bit ad Lib tonight.
00:04:48
I'm going to do a little, a little kind of just improv, if
00:04:52
you will. I was thinking I I was in a
00:04:55
conversation with my wife and we were talking about the idea of
00:05:00
hypnosis, the idea of manifestation of things that we
00:05:07
want in life, things that we think would better our life,
00:05:10
things that make us happy. And then I started thinking
00:05:13
about the word happy. And what is it that truly makes
00:05:17
somebody happy? Is it everybody has their
00:05:19
answer? Is it children?
00:05:21
Is it your career? Of course.
00:05:24
Is it hobbies? Is it friends and family?
00:05:28
So I started thinking about all of these things and then it kind
00:05:32
of hit me. You see it everywhere.
00:05:35
It's just this notion of this is what you need to make you happy.
00:05:40
This on social media, down the whole thing.
00:05:43
Do you want to be like this? Do you want to be like this?
00:05:47
Advertisements on TV? Check out this car.
00:05:51
God, how how amazing? How happy would you be in this
00:05:54
car? How about this vacation?
00:05:56
Check it out, sandals, whatever the hell it is, you'll be happy.
00:06:01
Let's enrich your life. Let's make it better.
00:06:04
And so I'm sitting here saying like, OK, you got to have a lot
00:06:07
of money, you'd be happy. Is that true?
00:06:12
So it got me thinking, are we being fooled?
00:06:16
Look, I jumped right in. But but my point is, is that
00:06:20
advertisements that everywhere you look, books, self help,
00:06:25
these conventions, these speakers that come to try and
00:06:27
help motivate you, everybody needs to be motivated.
00:06:31
Nobody seems to be able to do it by themselves.
00:06:33
Is there a reason for that? Are we being sold the idea of
00:06:38
happiness or are we believing we're happy because we're buying
00:06:46
these products, whether it be listening to a speaker or
00:06:52
spending a ton of money on vacations or designer clothing
00:06:56
or cars or buying self help books, taking courses.
00:07:01
And so you got me thinking about it.
00:07:02
So I just feel like there's a Gray area, which is what I do
00:07:07
here. I want people to consider I, I
00:07:11
don't really have a side on this and that's some people don't
00:07:14
like that. Some people want me to take a
00:07:16
stance and I've always been, and I'll admit I'm always the guy
00:07:20
that has kind of sat back and said don't don't waste your
00:07:24
money. Don't don't believe in in all of
00:07:28
these, you know, Foo Foo, I call them Foo Foo things, these
00:07:32
little Eastern Europe holistic medicine and all this.
00:07:36
And I'm here to tell you, I'm kind of opening my eyes to the
00:07:40
fact that there can be a connection between all of it,
00:07:44
Western, Eastern, all types of all mindsets when it comes to
00:07:49
mental health and what makes you happy.
00:07:51
Is it all about what you can buy?
00:07:53
No, you've got to have the drive.
00:07:55
You've got to have the mental capacity to do it.
00:07:59
So you've got to be able to separate out the fake happiness
00:08:04
from real happiness. And that's where it gets
00:08:05
difficult. So I just wanted to talk a
00:08:06
little bit about that today. And, and you know, there's a lot
00:08:12
of reasons that in the old days people were tricked into this.
00:08:17
And I guess I'll start with a story.
00:08:20
And what I mean by that is probably one of the most
00:08:23
notorious reasons that advertising started to do this
00:08:29
was the introduction of psychology into the world.
00:08:33
And the most famous, the most known psychiatrists would be the
00:08:39
Austrian born, I believe he was born there, Sigmund Freud and
00:08:43
his nephew who was named Edward Bernays.
00:08:48
Isn't there a sauce named Bernays, the Edward Bernays
00:08:50
sauce Hollandaise. Anyway, he believed in selling
00:08:56
the feeling, a feeling, not necessarily a product, but the
00:09:01
feeling associated with that product.
00:09:03
And So what he did his, his most famous campaign, if you will,
00:09:09
was in the 1920s. These women who are now being
00:09:13
empowered. You've seen the the posters,
00:09:16
you've seen the images of these beautiful women.
00:09:21
They call them flappers. I believe they had the new
00:09:24
hairstyles, they had the big boots and they dressed, you
00:09:28
know, dressed the part. They were empowered.
00:09:30
They were no more. Obviously, 1920 was they were
00:09:35
able to vote no more women here we go.
00:09:38
And they sold the idea that a cigarette made you look
00:09:44
empowered. And so all of a sudden you saw
00:09:48
these posters and these pictures of women with cigarettes and it
00:09:50
was just this big thing. It wasn't they were it wasn't
00:09:52
like they loved inhaling fire into their lungs.
00:09:55
They or smoke into their lungs. They, they enjoyed how, how it
00:09:59
looked and it kind of said, Hey, this is empowerment.
00:10:04
And you know, he called it the torches of freedom for these
00:10:07
women. And I mean, he literally was
00:10:08
selling it based on that name and, and the image and the idea
00:10:13
of happiness and the feeling that women got.
00:10:17
So think about products, think about everything we see on TV.
00:10:21
It's insane. I mean, if you start thinking
00:10:23
about it before that the people, if you, if you really think
00:10:27
about it, the people before psychology, the people that were
00:10:30
way back in the day, I mean, go as far back as you can.
00:10:34
And it was, you know, you wanted to eat, you wanted to pray.
00:10:39
You know, men and women became locked into the idea of
00:10:44
religion. It made them believe there was a
00:10:46
purpose. It was also a way to, to, I
00:10:49
believe, control the masses and to in a sense by people of power
00:10:53
by in the clergy and, and people know a lot more about it than I
00:10:57
do with, with the history of religion, but and then the
00:11:01
community. So eat, stay alive, survive.
00:11:06
And that was happiness. Lots changed.
00:11:08
Now it's you can't just eat and and pray and be happy.
00:11:12
There's all these other gadgets and all these other destinations
00:11:15
and all these, these bucket lists and social media is just,
00:11:19
you know, blown that up completely too.
00:11:22
So that being said, think about today, all right, How about
00:11:25
seeing all the drugs? We're only one of two countries,
00:11:30
the other being New Zealand that advertise pharmaceuticals on T
00:11:36
on TV. You see it all all.
00:11:38
Usually you see it in the daytime too, but usually at
00:11:41
night and at night it becomes this.
00:11:44
Do you get tired at night? You may need this.
00:11:47
Do you get hungry? Just do you get hungry?
00:11:50
You might need this. I, I exaggerate for, to make a
00:11:54
point, but you know, then of course the side effects are, you
00:11:57
know, takes 30 seconds to read and it involves death and dying
00:12:01
and death and dying death and diarrhea and all these horrible
00:12:06
things and liver failure. And, but they're selling this
00:12:09
idea of being happy. This makes you feel better.
00:12:14
What's going on now sucks. You need to take this pill.
00:12:18
Oh, by the way, it's going to cost a shit load of money.
00:12:19
The insurance doesn't cover half this shit that's advertised.
00:12:23
How about food? I mean, people are selling
00:12:27
things like, you know, fast food because it tastes it tastes
00:12:32
good. It's it's easy to get.
00:12:33
It's it's it makes you happy. It's not because they're trying
00:12:36
to say, hey, guess what, you're going to be super happy when
00:12:38
you're obese like this country, unfortunately is we have a
00:12:42
problem in this country. And I admit, I'm I'm been known
00:12:46
to enjoy fast food every once in a while and I'm not going to
00:12:51
lie, but it's something that hopefully this country can get
00:12:55
get wraps on. But I mean, just think of the
00:12:57
kids happy meal, happy. There you go.
00:13:00
It's right in the name. And so that your kids will be
00:13:02
happy if you purchase this, there's a fucking toy, they'll
00:13:06
be happy. And guess what?
00:13:07
That'll make life easier on you. I know it sounds kind of kind of
00:13:13
silly to analyze it to this point, but think about it.
00:13:16
Just think about it. It's not, you're not like, oh, I
00:13:19
want McDonald's and Happy Meals for the kids because it's good
00:13:22
for us. It's the best hamburger out
00:13:24
there. It's because it's just kind of
00:13:26
drilled in this is where you go for your kids and they got
00:13:30
playgrounds and all that shit. Coca-Cola is known for sharing
00:13:34
and joy and all these things. If you look go back and timed
00:13:38
all their commercials, that's all it is, joy.
00:13:41
You know, that's why they're so big on Christmas.
00:13:43
They got Santa on the damn can every year and they're selling
00:13:47
it. Well, that's just a big can of
00:13:49
sugar, high fructose corn syrup. Does it make you happy to drink
00:13:54
it? Maybe I mean, what do they call
00:13:56
it? The instant gratification.
00:13:58
You know, you take that first sip.
00:13:59
Maybe if you like soda, I don't know, but I can't imagine you
00:14:04
pounding Coca-Cola is going to ultimately make you happier.
00:14:09
How about designers designer Ware designer car, you know the
00:14:12
big name cars. Why do you want to drive a BMWA
00:14:16
Mercedes, A Porsche, whatever? Why do you want to do that?
00:14:21
Why especially why do you want these people, these middle-aged
00:14:24
guys that get Lamborghinis? Why?
00:14:27
Because you believe it makes you happy.
00:14:29
And it's so everybody looks around and goes, wow, he got a
00:14:31
Porsche. Wow, he's got, he's got this.
00:14:33
He's he's doing well and it makes you feel good when you
00:14:38
drive it. I'm not going to lie, you know,
00:14:40
I've I've been fortunate enough to drive, drive a nice car for a
00:14:43
while now and I love it. Not, you know, yes, of course
00:14:47
it's a smooth ride and it's a nice car and it's got features
00:14:49
and all these things, but ultimately it's how do I feel
00:14:52
when I'm driving around in it? Is it that much different than
00:14:55
if I was driving a car that was worth half as much?
00:15:00
I don't know. It's all up here.
00:15:02
But the same with the designer products.
00:15:04
I mean, why do you need a women? Why do you need some shoes that
00:15:08
are, you know, $6000 when honestly they probably he'll
00:15:13
probably snap up before the ones that are are 100.
00:15:17
You guys will tell me I'm wrong about that, but I've witnessed
00:15:20
both and seems like sometimes the cheaper ones outlive the the
00:15:25
expensive ones. Things like beauty products come
00:15:28
on. I get it.
00:15:31
In this in this world, we've established that people want to
00:15:35
look attractive and that in this world women need make up to do
00:15:38
that and I get it. But there is still a point of
00:15:44
you need facial cleansing separate for makeup, you need a
00:15:50
certain type of moisturizer, you need a certain type of shampoo.
00:15:55
You can't just get a regular shampoo.
00:15:56
It's got to be this $50 shit that you order.
00:15:59
And that's just the shampoo, conditioner too.
00:16:02
These are things that they're, they're selling that you
00:16:06
probably don't need to be happy, but you're listening to the word
00:16:11
happy. I mean, you, you, you're feeling
00:16:12
it. So like I said, I'm trying to do
00:16:15
a show like this because it just kind of fascinated me when I
00:16:19
started really thinking about it.
00:16:21
It may not be of interest with all the shit we've got going on,
00:16:24
but hey, take a take a break from all that.
00:16:26
And, and, and let's talk how about let's, let's take another
00:16:29
step. Let's talk about Wellness, self
00:16:31
improvement, mental health, the apps, the books, all this thing
00:16:36
about motivating ourselves, getting healthier, getting in
00:16:41
better shape, mentally stable. This is a $4.5 trillion
00:16:48
industry. Just the things I mentioned,
00:16:50
Wellness, self improvement, mental health, the apps in the
00:16:53
books and anything else, you know, speakers I suppose.
00:16:56
And the idea is to be your happiest self with these things.
00:17:06
And, and what brought it up today, which is why I'm doing an
00:17:10
impromptu show and doing one that I'm, I'll admit, I'm not
00:17:14
completely prepared for, but I wanted to jump on here because
00:17:17
I, I owe you guys a show. I do 2A week, I do Tuesdays and
00:17:20
Fridays. You know that.
00:17:22
And then here we go. So what started this, like I
00:17:26
mentioned, was hypnosis. My wife is very intrigued and I
00:17:31
am too, at the idea of being able to take something specific
00:17:35
that you want to be better, something you want to focus on
00:17:38
and, and that be the topic. I mean that that's what you're
00:17:42
going to get have hypnosis for. So I mean, I can walk in there
00:17:48
and say, you know, I really want to work on eating better and,
00:17:51
and that becomes the focal point if I want to work on manifesting
00:17:56
a job, I want to work on you guys continuing to support me
00:18:01
and help me grow, not financially people, just a
00:18:05
couple likes here and there maybe comment these types of
00:18:08
things. And so that's what got me going.
00:18:10
But then she said something that was very interesting and she'll
00:18:14
kill me if I, if I was telling this, I'm sharing all this, but
00:18:18
it's not that big of a deal. But I've done worse.
00:18:20
I've said worse. She was saying that she felt
00:18:25
really good afterwards and then about two weeks later started to
00:18:30
kind of fizzle. Oh, well, you need to come back
00:18:32
for another session, another fee, another payment, and it's a
00:18:39
cycle. And that gets me thinking, oh,
00:18:42
really? You can't do something that
00:18:45
lasts a little longer than two weeks.
00:18:47
It's just kind of like really. So that's what got me thinking
00:18:50
about it. You know, same thing with I'm,
00:18:53
I'm just talking about how they exaggerate.
00:18:56
If you look in my supplements case, there's a lot of pills in
00:19:01
there. Do I really need 27 pills a day
00:19:07
trying to consolidate into a, into a multivitamin?
00:19:09
I'm trying, but do we really need all this?
00:19:12
Maybe, I don't know, does it make me feel better?
00:19:16
Maybe it's up here. Maybe I feel like I'm taking all
00:19:18
this stuff and now I'm going to be healthier doing a liver
00:19:22
cleanse and trying to drink less.
00:19:24
Is it really working or is it up here?
00:19:27
I believe in the power of the mind and I, you know, that's
00:19:30
part of the manifestation. So again, it's about the money
00:19:34
and it's about what you're buying in order to achieve that.
00:19:39
And I think that's kind of where you're at.
00:19:42
Now. The other Gray area at all of
00:19:43
this is that there are two things #1 they're actually, I
00:19:48
found there is science, of course, to back up a lot of
00:19:51
this, which people should use. Look at research studies.
00:19:56
And, and before dismissing it like I did, and, and I admit
00:20:00
that they're basically saying meditation.
00:20:02
Oh well, you know all this meditation exercise.
00:20:05
All these things can actually make you happier through
00:20:07
science, through biology. And that's something that
00:20:12
everybody should take note of. Everybody.
00:20:14
I mean, it seems like any, anything that might be wrong
00:20:17
with your body, if you have a check up at the doctor, exercise
00:20:19
will help. That's not, that's just not,
00:20:23
that's not nonsense. That's something that's been
00:20:26
proven by studies and research. So get out there and exercise.
00:20:29
I know I'm trying to my goodness, it's February.
00:20:31
I haven't, this was supposed to be a New Year's thing.
00:20:33
I was going to go exercise more. It's February.
00:20:36
I feel like last night it was New Year's Eve and I made that
00:20:39
resolution. Where did January go, people?
00:20:43
But secondly, some is just good marketing, which is the whole
00:20:49
point of this discussion. If books, conventions, I keep
00:20:55
calling them conventions, it might be a better word.
00:20:57
Books and all these could solve all of our issues and make you
00:21:02
happy, make you healthier and motivate you.
00:21:05
Why are they continuing to to put new books out and knew this
00:21:10
and knew that it seems like we would be able to say, all right,
00:21:13
this is the way to do it. Let's do it.
00:21:15
Why is everybody getting in on this and why is it spreading?
00:21:18
And why do people think, oh, I'm just going to do a self help
00:21:20
book? Who's qualified?
00:21:23
Who are the people that that? I mean, you can get somebody
00:21:27
that's a psychologist, maybe you trust them, but that's all
00:21:31
mental who's qualified to, to motivate.
00:21:35
So it becomes, oh, I really like the way this person delivered
00:21:39
their inspiration. And that's what it, that's what
00:21:42
it is. It's what makes you comfortable.
00:21:45
And so it's not what they're saying, it's how they're saying
00:21:47
it. That's my opinion.
00:21:49
So just something to think about.
00:21:50
They're flying through these notes.
00:21:53
How about these Wellness retreats?
00:21:55
And I can't help now every time I hear I hear this Wellness
00:22:00
retreat or couples retreat, I think of the movie couples
00:22:03
retreat. And it was a fantastic film.
00:22:06
And and I and I think, OK, well, that would be so bad.
00:22:08
You're in the islands or in the resort tropical resort with your
00:22:13
wife and some friends like the movie, then that's great.
00:22:18
Why? How would that not help unless
00:22:21
there was some huge fight or something?
00:22:23
But overall, it seems like that would help get away from life.
00:22:26
Take a deep breath, reconnect, have some activities to spend
00:22:31
time together. But what you're paying probably
00:22:34
a lot extra for is the way it's delivered from whoever is
00:22:40
running the program. Do they really help?
00:22:44
Do you just think they help, which in turn helps?
00:22:47
So they cost so, you know, $1000.
00:22:49
So that what I'm saying is what if people don't have that?
00:22:52
Are the only the people that can afford it happy?
00:22:56
Let me rephrase it. Can people that can't afford it
00:23:01
be happy without the ability to do these things?
00:23:05
That's my question. And why aren't there these
00:23:08
programs available on a more, and I guess there are on a more,
00:23:13
not cheaper level, but on a level that's that doesn't
00:23:16
require as much, that is just there to help mentally.
00:23:21
And of course there is, but it's not like this.
00:23:23
It's not these types of things. And is there, I mean, is there a
00:23:26
target that it's something that just came to me, Maybe these
00:23:29
people are targeting the people that have the money.
00:23:32
And so they know they're not going to get people that, that
00:23:35
are struggling maybe financially, they're going to
00:23:36
get the people that, OK, I'm willing to invest it, it's worth
00:23:39
it. Problem is you get people that
00:23:42
can't really afford to do it and they do it anyway.
00:23:44
And then now you're taking money, that money is now adding
00:23:48
more stress that they, you know, the money they've spent is now
00:23:52
adding more stress. How's that supposed to keep them
00:23:54
happy? So there's this whole cycle of
00:23:57
of being manipulated by advertisements.
00:24:00
That's what I'm talking about. And and you know, like I said,
00:24:03
I'm trying to make it into a full show.
00:24:05
And I think there's enough, there's enough talk about it's
00:24:08
interesting. Look around you at everything
00:24:10
you see on social media, on the TV, and really think about it.
00:24:15
Do I need this to be happy? Am I striving for something that
00:24:21
just has been out of reach and I'm grasping at straws?
00:24:24
Money is the biggest thing. You see advertisements all the
00:24:27
time now on these, these bingo games that are on your apps and
00:24:32
solitaire and all this and you can play and, and the actors
00:24:35
which aren't really actors, they're terrible or like, oh, I
00:24:39
played for 10 minutes and I won. You know, they deposited 3000
00:24:42
right into my PayPal. And of course it shows a picture
00:24:44
of PayPal like, oh, here's three.
00:24:46
It could be anybody. And it really makes you stop for
00:24:50
a second. I, I know I have, oh man, maybe
00:24:52
I should try this. What if it's true?
00:24:56
What's the worst that can happen?
00:24:59
You know, the worst that could happen is you go, oh man, I can
00:25:01
deposit. I can do five more bucks and
00:25:04
build up from there. And then maybe I'll hit the
00:25:06
jackpot on one of them or something.
00:25:08
It's not smart. It's how they get you.
00:25:10
And I've talked about it. I'm, I'm going to be
00:25:12
transparent. I've been scammed because people
00:25:17
sell me the belief that I'll be happy.
00:25:21
They sell me this idea, Hey, this will solve your issues.
00:25:26
All you got to do is this all you, you know, you're a podcast.
00:25:30
I can help you grow. All you got to do is this and
00:25:34
it's bullshit. And they get people like me who
00:25:37
just want the best for my family and want to believe in what I'm
00:25:40
doing. Scammers are selling happiness.
00:25:44
I'm not going to sit here and call, you know, a, a car
00:25:47
commercial scam, but maybe it is make up commercials.
00:25:52
Are these scams? Some guy coming in here and
00:25:54
trying to motivate an entire room of people by giving a
00:25:57
speech, putting maybe a good PowerPoint up there, You still
00:26:00
do that, right? Maybe he is that.
00:26:02
Is that a scam? I mean, is everybody supposed to
00:26:04
react the same way to one person who's giving a speech?
00:26:06
And who the hell are they? Obviously there's inspirational
00:26:09
speakers, motivational speakers who have experienced something
00:26:12
that's different. You're learning lessons from
00:26:14
their life. It's not your life.
00:26:17
Maybe that's something similar, but nobody is exactly the same.
00:26:21
So where's the line between a scam and just basic
00:26:25
advertisement next, I think, and I wrote this down this way and
00:26:32
I'll go into this first boot, let's talk social media.
00:26:35
OK, Yeah, we had to get there because that's where it's at.
00:26:37
So I'm going to take a quick sip of coffee.
00:26:41
This is where I see it all. OK, influencers.
00:26:45
That is what a lot technically I, I guess as a podcast and, and
00:26:49
putting up clips and ideas about our, our, about humanity and
00:26:52
about our world and our country mainly right now.
00:26:56
You know, I suppose I'm, I'm striving to be an influencer,
00:27:00
but I'm talking about these people that, that actually have
00:27:03
full accounts and pages dedicated to 1 product and
00:27:07
they're trying to sell you on it.
00:27:09
And everything you look at is you will feel better, you'll be
00:27:14
happier, your life will improve everything.
00:27:18
I mean, whether it's sunglasses or AT shirt, there's there's one
00:27:21
where they're like, do you want to look?
00:27:23
You know, are you getting older and you want to look skinny and
00:27:26
and buff? This T-shirt is designed
00:27:27
specifically for that, for a middle-aged guys that want to
00:27:33
look cool. They're they're hitting these
00:27:35
demographics and they're they're trying to sell the idea of being
00:27:38
happier. And I'm not saying I don't sit
00:27:40
here and bite and go, Oh, that shirt looks good.
00:27:42
I'm not dude. Maybe I should invest in some
00:27:44
cool V necks. But you see vacations, you see,
00:27:50
you see all that and the idea is why is my life not like that?
00:27:54
That's the idea. Why is my life not like that?
00:27:57
And that's how they get you because you believe that if
00:28:01
you're going to spend, you know, let's spend a couple $1000 in
00:28:03
school on vacation. This is what people do who are
00:28:06
happy. These are this is what people do
00:28:09
who are happier than I am. Personally, if I go on that
00:28:14
vacation, look how happy they are.
00:28:16
They're jumping up and down the water, splashing each other.
00:28:20
This dog, he's happy. Everybody's fucking happy.
00:28:24
Let's go on vacation and where are we going to go?
00:28:27
Oh, look, there's a there's a place right here on my social
00:28:31
media. How convenient.
00:28:33
And so there's always a product and that's what I wrote it down.
00:28:35
Here's check this out. OK, If you're unmotivated,
00:28:39
there's a course you can take for whatever.
00:28:41
How about if you want to find love?
00:28:43
Well, we all know the apps are out there.
00:28:45
Subscribe. It's no longer just a here's a
00:28:47
free, here's a free app. Now I believe there are
00:28:50
subscriptions to get better access to better people and more
00:28:54
people. You can unlock people that maybe
00:28:58
weren't there before and you can have different features, like
00:29:01
maybe you can see who's looked at your profile.
00:29:03
You have to pay for this. Do you really need this?
00:29:08
I suppose if you're looking for love you can buy an opportunity.
00:29:12
How about I just gave you the the T-shirt example?
00:29:15
What about things like erectile dysfunction?
00:29:18
I've not needed that, but it's everywhere.
00:29:22
Hey dudes, you need some help in this area, this is for you.
00:29:27
You'll be happy literally as you rise to the occasion.
00:29:32
And obviously that's a big one that makes men happier when
00:29:35
they're able to bang. So all these in social media and
00:29:38
it's just look, next time you Scroll down and I know you,
00:29:41
you're aware they're there, but really look at them and see what
00:29:44
they're what people happy people smile and people this, people
00:29:47
that and it gets into our heads Anyway.
00:29:52
So the idea is good old dopamine, right?
00:29:56
The little little burst of dopamine that makes you happy,
00:29:59
makes you excited. So Tiktok and Instagram designs
00:30:03
their platforms to keep us addicted.
00:30:08
I mean, they they literally give you things like likes and
00:30:12
follows and comments and subscription and all of these
00:30:15
things that show you little spurts of oh, somebody looked,
00:30:20
somebody liked somebody this, somebody that.
00:30:22
Why do you need a like button? Why do you need, I mean, I guess
00:30:25
comments, you can probably, you know, make a case for either
00:30:29
way, but there are rewards. There are when you hit, you
00:30:33
know, 1000 people on YouTube. Oh, here's a here's a
00:30:36
certificate, here's fireworks. So you done it.
00:30:39
Keep going. Motivation in and of itself.
00:30:44
But the point is, is that they're trying to keep you on
00:30:46
their site. They're trying to keep you
00:30:48
having people come to their site.
00:30:50
I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but the fact that
00:30:54
it is an addictive process is a factor and a big question.
00:30:59
Are we really happier? I've kind of said it throughout,
00:31:03
are we really happier? There's a study that says more
00:31:07
social media actually leads to anxiety and depression.
00:31:11
I don't think anybody doubts that at all.
00:31:15
I think you can see horrible, horrible things on social media.
00:31:20
You can also see really great things as well.
00:31:24
But if you spend time in the black hole that is social media
00:31:29
and unfortunately I have to spend a lot of time there trying
00:31:31
to promote it to you people. And after after trying to write
00:31:36
and converse with you people, I say you people.
00:31:39
I mean the people that like to yell for no reason and scream
00:31:42
and bitch and and make but her comment of the show when I used
00:31:47
to do that segment, I believe that there are people that are
00:31:49
ultimately depressed and that that trying to lash out at
00:31:52
somebody might make them happy in a sense, or at least at least
00:31:55
a quick spurt of happiness that dopamine.
00:31:58
So likes and comments are great, but these people when they go to
00:32:01
troll for some reason that makes them happy.
00:32:05
Remember that when when I see it, but it makes sense.
00:32:08
And that's I guess the whole point of the social media, is
00:32:10
that some things that are sold not on, not just on social
00:32:15
media, but the idea of happiness can actually make it worse.
00:32:20
And we need to be aware of it. We need to separate out, we need
00:32:22
to figure it out individually what makes you truly happy and
00:32:27
what is a pipe dream and what you're stretching for with
00:32:29
money. And there is a difference.
00:32:33
I know there are some of you that might think this is
00:32:36
overkill, but I think you need to anything, it's needs, it's
00:32:40
something you need to think about and I think it applies.
00:32:43
I mean, I'm kind of like I said, I'm going off script here.
00:32:45
It applies to everything in our country right now.
00:32:49
We need to believe in ourselves. How do we get that without while
00:32:56
able to block out the negative? If it is investing in one of
00:33:01
these, you know, these things where you won't, you need some
00:33:04
new clothes, you need this, you know that, then fine.
00:33:08
But just be careful when it comes down to believing that you
00:33:12
can solve it quickly by, you know, swiping that credit card
00:33:16
to somebody that's going to put you in in hypnosis.
00:33:20
Maybe it works. I don't know.
00:33:22
That's my point. What do you think?
00:33:25
Tell me, give me an idea. Is the media, is social media is
00:33:31
all these people that have zoomed in and queued in on
00:33:36
people who want to be happier selling happiness, Are they just
00:33:43
smart for doing that? Do you think they're assholes
00:33:46
for doing that, manipulating people?
00:33:49
Or is it is it just a legitimate way to say, hey, yeah,
00:33:52
everything costs a little bit of money and this is no different?
00:33:55
I don't know. Again, tell me what you think.
00:34:00
So where are you? Where are all of you at you
00:34:02
people? I keep saying you people, where
00:34:04
is everybody at right now? Are are you happy?
00:34:06
Are you not? Do you believe that these things
00:34:11
surround us? It's hard to be happy in in the
00:34:15
world right now, in our country right now.
00:34:18
I believe things are are getting better.
00:34:20
I believe things are as far as the country is concerned.
00:34:25
But man, there are still a lot of people that want to yell and
00:34:27
scream and cry and and I feel like they're actually cheering
00:34:30
for the country to fail just so they can say, see, I told you
00:34:33
this guy was no good. And that's not good either way.
00:34:38
You know, back when Joe Biden won or or Barack Obama and
00:34:42
whatever, I yeah, I was never the guy that that hoped they
00:34:44
failed just to prove so I could prove my point.
00:34:48
We're in this together. And again, I got I got off here.
00:34:53
But think about your own happiness as you move forward.
00:34:57
I'm kind of case by case. I don't, I don't buy a lot of
00:35:00
the the self help, the books and things like that.
00:35:04
I just feel like who's this person?
00:35:06
You can ask my wife or my friends and and that's always
00:35:08
what I say is why is this person, what credibility do do
00:35:12
they have to tell me when everybody's different out there
00:35:16
to tell me how to how to be happier.
00:35:19
And that's when you, I guess you go to professionals.
00:35:22
But man, I haven't found one. Honestly, no offense to anybody
00:35:25
that I've been to over the years off and on.
00:35:29
There's been maybe one or two that that have been nice to talk
00:35:32
to, but it's not like they've just turned the switch and
00:35:36
everything's better. And, and I have to recognize
00:35:39
that and I think everybody should.
00:35:41
It's these things right here. Mindfulness, gratitude and
00:35:44
connections can improve happiness.
00:35:47
That's what I wrote down. I believe that mindfulness,
00:35:50
gratitude and connections, social connections, real ones,
00:35:55
not these, these fake ones where you're talking to somebody about
00:35:58
the same political issue and you guys are, Yeah, you both agree
00:36:03
real social connections outside of social media out like out the
00:36:07
front door, out the door. Meet people, network, learn and
00:36:13
be happy. And just ask yourself next time
00:36:17
when, when you think, man, I really need to improve myself.
00:36:21
So that being said, boost my dopamine like and subscribe hit
00:36:28
this up, tell me what we think. Like I said, I know, I know I
00:36:31
kind of rambled through this a little bit, but I just think
00:36:35
it's interesting and I'd like to know what you think.
00:36:38
I mean, have you ever thought about this, you know, shoot me
00:36:41
again comment, make me happy for a split second.
00:36:45
I see there's a new comment waiting, but let me know.
00:36:48
Let me know if this is a stupid topic.
00:36:50
If you think that I'm over analyzing it.
00:36:53
I don't think so. I think everyone needs to just
00:36:55
be careful out there. And you know, I've got a bunch
00:36:58
of scams that that I've seen people still trying to scam me.
00:37:02
And I just want everyone to be aware of that and, and not think
00:37:05
that it's as simple as just tossing money at it.
00:37:08
Really make sure before you do. And I just like to question the
00:37:12
world. I like to question humanity.
00:37:14
Humanity fascinates me. I've said it multiple times, but
00:37:17
in case this is your first show and sorry, my phone is vibrating
00:37:22
just crazy right now. I don't know what's going on.
00:37:24
I apologize, but join me with this.
00:37:28
Let's question everything. Let's question humanity.
00:37:30
Let's laugh at humanity. Let's challenge humanity
00:37:35
together. So come check the show out more,
00:37:38
pass it around. Let's build this thing and be a
00:37:40
be a team people that are like minded to us.
00:37:43
That's what I want. I want a group of people who
00:37:46
aren't on either side just spitting and saying everybody
00:37:49
sucks. Come together with me and let's
00:37:52
analyze it together. So I'll see you guys next time.
00:37:56
Unless I find happiness with money and I'm just out of there
00:38:01
and I'm in like tropical that air tropics or something.
00:38:06
But I have a feeling you'll see me next time.
00:38:07
So let me give you an End Quote for the night and I'll see you
00:38:11
on the next show. I like this one.
00:38:14
We live on. It kind of relates.
00:38:15
We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire
00:38:19
next to a moon that moves the sea.
00:38:22
And you don't believe in miracles.
00:38:25
Shame on you. Thanks guys, love you.
00:38:27
Find the colors and find the light in the prayer.