Mel Robbins: The Simple Truth About Chasing Happiness — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00What do you think is the hardest thing
- 0:03you're working on right now? Like what's
- 0:05the most challenging thing you're
- 0:06working on internally or externally?
- 0:08Could be creatively. It could be
- 0:11habit-wise. What is What is something
- 0:13that you're struggling with or grappling
- 0:14with that you're working through?
- 0:16>> Happiness.
- 0:18>> Wow. Okay.
- 0:19>> Yeah. Happiness. It's interesting. I was
- 0:22um getting ready to come over here this
- 0:24morning and so I My daughter goes to
- 0:26school here uh at the Thornton School
- 0:28for Music. She's a senior and she spent
- 0:30the night with me last night. I'm going
- 0:31to tell you the story because it's
- 0:32relevant about both learning things the
- 0:35hard way and about happiness. So, she
- 0:39slept in my bed with me last night and
- 0:42it was so awesome and I just love her
- 0:45and she's 22 and she's about to like
- 0:48burst into the next chapter of her life.
- 0:51It is so exciting and I miss her
- 0:54terribly, terribly. And I Oh, I'm I'm
- 0:59going to get like totally choked up when
- 1:00I think about it cuz I live on the other
- 1:02side of the country. And I think one of
- 1:05the hardest things that you have to do
- 1:06in life if you really love somebody is
- 1:09to encourage them to leave, to encourage
- 1:12them to grow.
- 1:15And um I can't believe how choked up I'm
- 1:17getting about this cuz I mean this just
- 1:18happened this morning and I was laying
- 1:20in bed and she's sound asleep, you know,
- 1:22like sprolled out like this 22year-old
- 1:25sleep and sweating [laughter] and you
- 1:27know, just like this. And I thought,
- 1:29"Oh, I want to take a picture of this
- 1:30moment." And then I thought, "No, she's
- 1:32going to kill me cuz she looks
- 1:33terrible." And you know how that rolls
- 1:35when you're 20 years old. And so I
- 1:38closed my eyes to just capture the
- 1:39memory. And I thought
- 1:43why is it that I am always
- 1:47gripping onto the thing that makes me
- 1:51unhappy?
- 1:53What is it about this campaign? I call
- 1:55it the campaign of misery. like instead
- 1:58of focusing on the fact that here I am
- 2:02first of all lucky enough to be in Los
- 2:04Angeles to be able to have the means to
- 2:06go see her for parents weekend that I
- 2:08have a relationship with her where she
- 2:10would want to come and just snuggle up
- 2:12and spend the night that she is pursuing
- 2:14her passion and dream of being a singer
- 2:17songwriter that she is just killing it
- 2:20she's happy
- 2:22why am I always defaulting to the loss
- 2:27>> and so when I say that I'm working on
- 2:30happiness.
- 2:31What I've realized about myself, Jay, is
- 2:34that I have done a lot of things in
- 2:38life, but I've spent the vast majority
- 2:40of my life being so busy and keeping
- 2:44myself so busy as a means to outrun, I
- 2:49think, a deep-seated unhappiness.
- 2:52And that when the pandemic hit and I had
- 2:55to slow down and I had to truly say to
- 2:57myself, okay, you can't go anywhere. You
- 3:00cannot regulate your anxiety by running
- 3:02to Target. You can't catch a plane. You
- 3:05can't you like it's you and your like
- 3:09you and yourself right now, Mel. And all
- 3:12the coping mechanisms that you used to
- 3:13have that distracted you from the fact
- 3:16that you're just not that happy.
- 3:19>> They're not there anymore. And unless I
- 3:20want to drink myself into the ground,
- 3:22which I don't, and numb it or hit the
- 3:24vape pen or take a go, like unless I
- 3:26want to numb it, I got to deal with it.
- 3:29And so I've spent the last two years and
- 3:31I continue to focus right now on the
- 3:36number one goal that I have, which is to
- 3:38learn how to be happy and content
- 3:41wherever I am.
- 3:43And so this morning is the perfect
- 3:45example of catching this profound
- 3:47sadness which is part of the human
- 3:49experience deeply missing somebody is
- 3:52also about loving them right and
- 3:55noticing that I was going into the
- 3:57negative and part of being content and
- 4:00being happy wherever I am is not trying
- 4:02to fix things. It's being okay with
- 4:05things. It's allowing the emotion to
- 4:07rise up and then noticing that there's a
- 4:11different way to feel.
- 4:13>> And so in that moment, I just am doing
- 4:15what I'm doing a lot of, which is just
- 4:18breathing through those deep moments
- 4:19where I'm like, why am I complaining
- 4:21about this? This is so stupid. Why am I
- 4:22obsessing about this thing tomorrow and
- 4:24I'm not even here right now? And
- 4:27refraraming things in a more positive
- 4:30way. And this might surprise people
- 4:31because I I am a very positive person. I
- 4:34am a very optimistic person, but when I
- 4:38really slow down,
- 4:40my mind runs a million miles an hour and
- 4:42normally it's 15 steps ahead, which
- 4:44means I'm never content where I am.
- 4:47And so I've been doing a ton of work
- 4:49like in my nervous system, in my body,
- 4:51instead of going right up here and
- 4:53trying to wrestle with my thoughts, I've
- 4:55been going down into here to just anchor
- 4:59in my body and slow things down and be
- 5:02physically where I am, where my feet
- 5:04are. And so then there was a second
- 5:06thing that happened. So again, I'm
- 5:07working on happiness. That's the thing
- 5:09I'm really like working on. It's like a
- 5:11muscle, right? Um, I'm in the bathroom
- 5:14and I am terrible at doing my hair. I
- 5:18know it looks really decent today, but
- 5:19normally I look like a freaking
- 5:22labradoodle on a humid day. Like, that's
- 5:25just me. I just have never figured out
- 5:27the hair situation. And so, I finally
- 5:30said, "That's it. I have got to figure
- 5:31out how to make my hair look halfway
- 5:35okay." Like, I'm not even looking for
- 5:37amazing. I'm just looking for okay. And
- 5:40so I was watching YouTube. I'm learning
- 5:42the tutorials. I've got the right
- 5:44sprays. And so Kendall comes rolling in
- 5:46after she wakes up. And I am sitting
- 5:48there trying to curl my hair, right,
- 5:50with this big fat curling. I'm terrible
- 5:52at it, Jay. And all of a sudden, I hit
- 5:55my freaking ear and I'm like, "OH." AND
- 5:58I AND I'M LIKE, "OH MY GOD, I just
- 6:00burned my ear." And Kendall casually
- 6:02goes, "Well, you got to learn somehow."
- 6:04[laughter] And she walks out of the
- 6:06room. I think there is so much wisdom in
- 6:08that.
- 6:09Because that is how you learn. That is
- 6:13how you learn how close to hold a
- 6:16curling iron to your ear. You burn
- 6:18yourself and then your whole body
- 6:21absorbs the lesson and you don't go that
- 6:24close to the fire next time. Mhm.
- 6:26>> And I'm doing that dance with happiness
- 6:28and contentment
- 6:31that when I feel the fire of discontent
- 6:34or friction or complaining or looking
- 6:36for what's wrong,
- 6:39I pull the curling iron a little away
- 6:42from the ear and I go back into a safer,
- 6:48calmer place.
- 6:49>> That was a beautiful answer. I I didn't
- 6:52know what to expect when I asked that
- 6:53question. I really appreciate you, you
- 6:56know, going that inward with it because
- 6:58you could have gone a number of ways. I
- 7:00I fully understand and empathize what
- 7:03you're saying because my mom and my
- 7:06family do something similar. So, and I
- 7:09love my mom. I have a great relationship
- 7:10with my mom. She's amazing and anything
- 7:11that's good about me is because of her.
- 7:14But every time I go back to London, the
- 7:17day I land, my family will say, "Well,
- 7:20you're only here for 21 days." I'm like,
- 7:2421 days? Like, that's three weeks. Even
- 7:27if you added up all the hours weekly
- 7:30that you spend with time with someone,
- 7:31it probably won't account for 21 full
- 7:34days with full presence. And then a week
- 7:37will go and be like, "Oh, you've only
- 7:38got 40 14 days left. Oh, you've only got
- 7:41seven days left. Oh, you're leaving
- 7:43today." And and that mindset just keeps
- 7:46forcing you to think that day 21 is day
- 7:49one, right? Right? As in that day, 21
- 7:51days left is the same as one day left.
- 7:53And you're living all 21 days as there's
- 7:55only one day left. And I' I've taken
- 7:58time and I've sat with my mom so many
- 8:00times to have that conversation with
- 8:01her. And I said, "Mom, if you celebrate
- 8:03that we have 21 days and we're going to
- 8:05make the most of it and we're going to
- 8:06create new memories and create new
- 8:08experiences, then you're going to be
- 8:10happier for these 21 days. And yes,
- 8:12you're going to miss me the same. It's
- 8:14not going to change that. And I'm going
- 8:15to miss you." So, I I have personal
- 8:17experience of that. on the other end of
- 8:19it with having that conversation with my
- 8:22mom where she's really grown in
- 8:26understanding how that thought hasn't
- 8:28served her
- 8:29>> right
- 8:30>> and she's so much happier for it now
- 8:32when I go back. So that I definitely
- 8:34identify with that. What what you
- 8:35touched on at the end there though was
- 8:37really interesting to me when you talk
- 8:38about happiness.
- 8:40It sounds like you believe you deserve
- 8:42it and you sound like you believe it's
- 8:46yours for the taking. Like it's like it
- 8:48is a clear goal direction. It's there.
- 8:51>> Yeah.
- 8:52>> And I think what's happened is
- 8:54subconsciously or consciously so many of
- 8:56us don't feel we deserve happiness or we
- 9:00don't feel we're worthy of happiness or
- 9:03we actually think mediocrity is a safer
- 9:06place to live because then we don't have
- 9:08our expectations being unmet. We don't
- 9:11have the fall of I wanted this but I got
- 9:15this. Right? And so I've been I had a
- 9:17friend the other day who sent me a
- 9:18message and he said, "Take a look at
- 9:20this and it was all about how really we
- 9:22shouldn't strive for happiness. We
- 9:24should strive for mediocrity because
- 9:27mediocrity is where most people will end
- 9:29up." So that was literally this is the
- 9:32message. So my friend messaged me. He
- 9:34goes, "What do you think of this?"
- 9:35>> I think it sucks. That's what Mel
- 9:37Robinson I think it's the worst advice
- 9:38I've ever freaking heard. How about
- 9:40that? It's the dumbest thing I've ever
- 9:42heard. Here's the thing, Jay.
- 9:45So, one of the things I also wanted to
- 9:47say is that I'm 54 and it's taken me a
- 9:52long time to figure out that I was
- 9:56actually not a happy person. And I don't
- 10:00think I act I I I really truly
- 10:02understood
- 10:03what happiness is. And maybe I'm using
- 10:06the wrong word. Maybe the word is the
- 10:08problem because I always associated
- 10:10happiness with like parties and laughter
- 10:12and like I'm just like full of joy and
- 10:14I'm and I just, you know, it's like this
- 10:16very positive thing. And again, I am a
- 10:19positive person. I'm a very optimistic
- 10:21person. But if you were to put a speaker
- 10:23on my head and broadcast the things I
- 10:25said to myself, you would literally
- 10:27check me in to the seventh floor at Mass
- 10:29General Hospital in Boston,
- 10:30Massachusetts, because it was a constant
- 10:33drum beat of negativity. And as I one by
- 10:37one by one Jay started to fix the
- 10:40problems in my marriage and my finances
- 10:44um with my anxiety as I built a business
- 10:47you know a lot of people are surprised
- 10:48to learn that most of what you see that
- 10:50I've built has been built in the last
- 10:52six years literally and so I as I
- 10:58started fixing things outside
- 11:01that default drum beat did not go away.
- 11:06>> It just was a situation where I no
- 11:09longer had anything outside of me that
- 11:11was rationally wrong. So, I turned it
- 11:15back on me and just started hammering me
- 11:20in in in crazy ways. I'll give you an
- 11:22example. So, this is where I started to
- 11:24have this breakthrough. So, I was
- 11:26sitting my my husband and I have just uh
- 11:29bought a house in Vermont. And I know
- 11:32you guys, you know, are in your new
- 11:34home. It's an incredible thing to do. It
- 11:37is our dream house. It's the house that
- 11:38his parents built. It's the family
- 11:40house. We not only were able to purchase
- 11:43this thing, we have been able to
- 11:44completely renovate it, make it our own.
- 11:47This place is the closest place to God
- 11:50that I have ever been. We sit nestled
- 11:54between mountains with a 140 mile view
- 11:57straight down a valley with cascading
- 12:00like it is
- 12:02just spectacular. When I would sit in
- 12:06therapy sessions eight years ago and my
- 12:09therapist would ask me to come up with
- 12:11like a um you know like a totem or a
- 12:13spiritual guide or vision whatever for
- 12:16truth or God or what it's always this
- 12:19view. And so lo and behold, eight years
- 12:21later, we freaking live there. And I'm
- 12:25sitting on this covered deck looking
- 12:28down the valley. My daughter is sitting
- 12:29next to me, our other daughter who lives
- 12:31in Boston who's 23. And it's Sunday. And
- 12:34normally on Sundays,
- 12:37I'm not even present on Sundays because
- 12:39I'm now got the Sunday scaries. I'm now
- 12:41thinking about the week ahead. She is
- 12:43starting to now do that. Okay, I got to
- 12:45get going. I got to I got to pack the
- 12:46car. I got to get going. I got to I got
- 12:48a big week of work this week. And it's
- 12:507:30 in the morning on a spectacular day
- 12:55and the energy is starting and I
- 12:57recognize the energy because that is the
- 13:00campaign of misery that I have lived
- 13:02with for 50 years. And I'm sitting there
- 13:06and I'm thinking, "Oh, this is
- 13:07interesting.
- 13:09That's me."
- 13:11And then I stopped in that moment, Jay,
- 13:13and I thought, "I don't feel that right
- 13:16now.
- 13:18I just feel that exactly where I am
- 13:22looking at this view
- 13:24is exactly
- 13:26where I'm supposed to be. And it was so
- 13:29profound. It's almost like that moment
- 13:31where Echart Tole has on the bench in
- 13:35the beginning of the power of now where
- 13:37I have this profound experience where I
- 13:40think wait a minute is this what
- 13:44happiness is
- 13:46that I'm not 15 steps ahead
- 13:50I'm just able to be right here without
- 13:53the anxiety without the stress I mean
- 13:56that is like a revolutionary experience
- 13:58for me. I don't think I had ever not
- 14:02felt the default of a revved up nervous
- 14:05system, an anxious mind, or a to-do list
- 14:08that was a mile long. And I don't want
- 14:11to go back to that sort of frenetic
- 14:13busyness that creates chronic stress.
- 14:16And you know, the challenge for me right
- 14:17now is how do I stay in a space that's
- 14:19that's happy? Because I love the game of
- 14:23building a business. I love pushing
- 14:25myself. I love like and I realized, oh
- 14:28wait, you actually need both. You need
- 14:32deep spiritual quiet time and you need
- 14:36the busyiness of Los Angeles or Boston
- 14:39or New York in small sprints. But that
- 14:42can't be your default anymore, woman.
- 14:44>> And that's a that's such a great
- 14:46realization and reflection, I think,
- 14:48when you come to that. And it it takes a
- 14:50lot of self-acceptance to come to that
- 14:52because I think we think of life as
- 14:56binary like you have to make a choice.
- 14:58You're either going to be a hustler or
- 15:00you're going to be peaceful. You're
- 15:02either going to be a winner or you're
- 15:04going to be a loser. You're either going
- 15:06to be wisdom and zen or you're going to
- 15:09be money and materialistic. Right? And
- 15:12it's almost like you feel you have to
- 15:14make those choices early in life. And I
- 15:17think when you came in here, we were
- 15:18talking about something and I really
- 15:21really think it's something that a lot
- 15:23of our listeners will resonate with. The
- 15:26idea that so many of us experience pain
- 15:32of not going after what we want or what
- 15:35we need or what we feel is our calling
- 15:40>> because of the pain that comes with
- 15:41that.
- 15:42>> And so we settle for the pain of where
- 15:44we are.
- 15:45>> Yeah. And I think those two ideas are
- 15:48related because again we think there's
- 15:50this choice you have to make at any
- 15:52point in time where it's like I'm either
- 15:54going to live the life of my dreams or
- 15:56I'm going to be stuck forever and then
- 15:59we're like okay well I'll be stuck
- 16:00forever because my dreams seem so far
- 16:02away. I remember being there and it's
- 16:05always hard to help everyone who's
- 16:08listening realize how much I felt that
- 16:11way.
- 16:11>> So how old were you? I this was six
- 16:13years ago for me. It was
- 16:14>> Oh my god. That's right. You like have
- 16:16this crazy parallel path.
- 16:17>> Yeah. Six years ago. So it was six years
- 16:19ago. I was working a safe corporate job.
- 16:22Six months from now I was about to be
- 16:24married to Radhi and I was making
- 16:30£31,500
- 16:31a year and that was my salary at this
- 16:34company. And I was doing extremely well
- 16:36at the company. So I had a good track to
- 16:38to progress there.
- 16:40And I'm sitting there going, I've been
- 16:42there for two years and I'm like, I
- 16:44don't think this is where I'm meant to
- 16:46be. I was looking at people who'd been
- 16:48at the company for decades. I was I've
- 16:50always said to people, look 10, 20 years
- 16:51ahead of you and
- 16:53>> look at that person in a company and go,
- 16:54is that where I want to be?
- 16:56>> And I was like, well, even if they paid
- 16:57me as much as that person's paid, even
- 16:59if I got all the benefits that person
- 17:00got,
- 17:01>> I don't think I want to do that in my
- 17:0350s. And so I thought to myself, okay,
- 17:07well then I have to take a risk. So, and
- 17:10and obviously that was like a 2-year
- 17:11journey of even convincing myself. Let's
- 17:14talk about that. If someone's sitting
- 17:15there right now passionate about
- 17:17something, wanting to get inspired,
- 17:19wanting to do something, but they're
- 17:20settling for the pain of where they are.
- 17:22And that's why I asked that med
- 17:24mediocrity and happiness question.
- 17:25>> Yeah.
- 17:26>> It is really that dance between I'm
- 17:28going to settle for where I'm at or I'm
- 17:30going to be where I want to be. How do
- 17:32you think about that journey? How do you
- 17:33>> You know what just popped into my mind
- 17:34in a weird way? Cancer. If you got
- 17:36diagnosed with a cancer that was
- 17:39treatable, would you try to treat your
- 17:42cancer?
- 17:42>> Yes,
- 17:42>> of course you would. Because otherwise
- 17:44it would kill you. When you feel this
- 17:48call or this this burning desire and I
- 17:52feel like we all have this flame inside
- 17:54of us. We are not like a boiler where
- 17:56the pilot light can blow out. That is
- 17:58not how a human being is wired. you,
- 18:00whether you're stuck, whether you're in
- 18:02pain, whether you're suffering, you
- 18:04still have this this flame inside you
- 18:08that is burning. And when you actively
- 18:12engage in your own campaign of misery
- 18:16and you actively tell yourself the
- 18:19reasons why it's not going to work or
- 18:20the reasons why you can't do it or the
- 18:23reasons why now is not the time or
- 18:26you're never going to make it happen or
- 18:28it was great for Jay or great for je for
- 18:30Mel but nothing ever works out for when
- 18:32you engage in your own campaign of
- 18:34misery you are creating literally a
- 18:38cancer inside of you that eats at you
- 18:42and we don't realize that by engaging in
- 18:46this campaign of misery because it's
- 18:48active that flame is burning inside you
- 18:51and you are actively convincing yourself
- 18:54not to do anything it is an active
- 18:58engage that's why I call it a campaign
- 19:01because that flame is going to keep on
- 19:02burning which is why the campaign has to
- 19:05get louder and the excuses have to get
- 19:06louder and you know what starts to
- 19:08happen is you start to listen to that
- 19:10campaign and you start to feel pain
- 19:13because there's something burning inside
- 19:15of you. And the only cure for this is to
- 19:20stop listening to that campaign and
- 19:23simply start taking small steps, just
- 19:25one every day toward the thing that you
- 19:27want. I talk to my daughter about this
- 19:28all the time. So she dreams, absolutely
- 19:31dreams of being a singer, songwriter,
- 19:35solo artist with a a successful career,
- 19:38literally stadium tours. And if I'm
- 19:41being perfectly honest, this kid has all
- 19:44of the talent and all of the like she's
- 19:47one of those five tool players and she
- 19:49is a great person, kind and just
- 19:52awesome. And she's even in a program for
- 19:55it, the best in the country. She has
- 19:57everything. She just has to do the work.
- 20:00What is the work? Well, the work is
- 20:04simply writing crappy songs every day.
- 20:08The work is not listening to the
- 20:11campaign of misery because all around
- 20:13you, you're going to see evidence of
- 20:15this person's better or that person this
- 20:16or this one's that or there. Uh-uh. When
- 20:19you listen to that campaign in your
- 20:22head, it is like a cancer inside. It
- 20:24causes pain because you can feel when
- 20:28you are giving up on your own potential
- 20:31>> and that is the worst kind of life to
- 20:33live. You are either in the stands
- 20:36commenting about the game or you're on
- 20:38the court playing it. And right now I
- 20:40want you to think about that flame
- 20:42inside you, that dream that you have.
- 20:45And I'm going to go back to my daughter
- 20:46who is on the court. But she will be the
- 20:48first to say that for many years she was
- 20:50engaged in her own campaign of misery
- 20:52sitting in the stands telling herself
- 20:55why she can't get on the the court right
- 20:57now. And so I like that visual because
- 21:00at any moment it literally like cuts
- 21:02right to the truth. Are you in the
- 21:03stands criticizing who the people who
- 21:06are playing the game or being jealous of
- 21:08them or in the stands telling yourself
- 21:11it's not time to jump in or are you on
- 21:13the freaking court? There's only two
- 21:16places to be in life. That's it. There
- 21:18is no middle ground here. And so what I
- 21:22want to say also is that being in the
- 21:25stands is loud. It is an active thing
- 21:28that you're doing. This is not a passive
- 21:30thing that we do to ourselves. We
- 21:32actively argue against our dream and our
- 21:35potential. And that is a thousand%
- 21:39tied to your happiness, to your
- 21:41confidence. Because if you are arguing
- 21:43against your own god-given potential,
- 21:47you are actively destroying your
- 21:50confidence. You're actively destroying
- 21:52possibility in your life. And here's the
- 21:53thing, you freaking know it.
- 21:55>> Yeah,
- 21:55>> people know when they have imposttor
- 21:57syndrome. They know it. They talk about
- 22:00it openly. And I also hate the term fake
- 22:02it till you make it. And here's why.
- 22:04When you say, "I'm just going to fake it
- 22:05till you make it," you are calling
- 22:06yourself a fake. It amplifies your
- 22:10self-doubt. instead say this. I'm going
- 22:13to get on the court and try until I make
- 22:16it.
- 22:17>> Because the pain of sitting in the
- 22:19stands and never getting down there is
- 22:22way greater than tripping on the court.
- 22:25>> Mhm.
- 22:26>> Way greater. You're causing your And
- 22:28this is the thing I want people to
- 22:29understand. You are causing yourself so
- 22:32much pain by laughing off and making
- 22:35jokes about how it's never going to
- 22:37happen. You are causing yourself so much
- 22:39pain by thinking about it. Get out of
- 22:42the freaking stands and get back on the
- 22:45court in your life.
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