Jake Pearson  00:00

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope it gives you something to think about on your quest to discover what makes you happy. Don't forget to leave a review or a comment and follow us on all our social media platforms so you can see our upcoming guests calendar. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time!

My name is Jake Pearson and today we have with us a keynote speaker, author and visualization Coach Steve Gamlin from New Hampshire, USA. 

Steve, pleasure to have you. How are you? 

Steve Gamlin 00:41

Doing great. Thank you, Jake.

Jake Pearson 00:41

And I didn't butcher any of that, which I'm quite happy with because we were just talking off screen before we started, I'm going to butcher something and it worked out quite well but here we are, thank you for coming on the What Makes You Happy podcast to talk all things that make you happy. Could you start with what makes you happy?

Steve Gamlin   00:59

Sure thing. Very top on my list are acts of kindness. My family and I have our own little giving mission called Beachbum Philanthropy and any opportunity we see to create a kindness whether it's buying something for a local shelter or kind word, cheering somebody on or one my favorite activities, shopping cart rodeo, and rounding up and rescuing the carriages that some people leave behind without questioning why they did it because that takes a lot of people down an angry path. 

Jake Pearson 01:27

Yes. 

Steve Gamlin 00:41

Other than that, my beautiful wife, Tina, love making her laugh every day and again, just like Beachbum Philanthropy, doing the littlest things to make her smile or in her case, roll her eyes at me and just look at me like I'm weird but little silly, fun, romantic things like leaving her notes.

Just creating memories that at the end of the day are just-- She never has to wonder how I feel about her and then the third thing I do every single day and your this, is going to be part of tomorrow is gratitude. Putting pen to paper every single day in the morning. Writing down my three favorite moments from the previous day.

In the times over the last couple of years, it's been a really big struggle for a lot of people to find the good to find the good with all the stress and pressure going on. I wrote down 957 reasons last year, why 2021 did not stink as bad as a lot of people thought it did. I can look back in those pages and be reminded of great moments. That's something I do every single day to maintain the happiness.

Jake Pearson  02:31

That is honestly incredible and I really think not a lot of people practice daily gratitude and it's something so simple that just by taking in the space that you're in even and asking yourself what you're grateful for here and now at my desk or at this podcast and in your studio, what you're grateful for in that moment and that can really just flip the day on its head for how you feel and change your energy and your vibe. 

What would you say to our listeners who are struggling with their happiness? Would you say to them record a journal of what they're grateful for each day? What would you say?

Steve Gamlin 03:09

I would definitely say to start there and it can be really hard for a lot of people in one of the activities I give to a lot of my vision board coaching clients with regard to gratitude, I say, Look, I'm going to give you a 7 day challenge. I want you to put a pen and a sheet of paper in your bathroom and of course, then they start to laugh and think I'm really weird and I tell them in write the numbers 1, , 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and every single day when you get ready for your day, I want you to look in the mirror, start at the top of your head and move downward and see something about you that you appreciate. 

Now, it could be something physical or it may be your smile or your sense of-- It’s just something and the first day is going to be really awkward. So I give them the first one, I said start at the top your head move all the way down and if by then you just say, Oh, heck, at least my socks match. Write that down but you can't use the socks again for the other seven days and I've had people say after those seven days, Oh my gosh, it felt really weird at first but I actually found 7 things I like about myself and they said now I get the whole gratitude thing. 

It's sifting through everything around you to just try to find that one little nugget to focus on and appreciate because we all we do everyday we focus on the bad stuff many people do. They don't see these good little things in when you identify them. Oh man, they stay with you forever. Every time you look in the mirror, you're going to think of those 7 things and you're going to check to see if your socks match.

Jake Pearson  04:30

One very interesting thing you've just spoken about there is that people focus on the negative so much and I know I've been trapped in those spaces and in those periods where I was looking at what was going wrong in my life, not what was going right and that's one thing I like to do. 

It's very similar to what I like about myself. It's about what do I think is going well for me just on that foot for those who feel like they're struggling to find the things, the good in their life or things that they like about add them, it's practice, isn't it? It's very much, you've got to practice this consistently in order to actually make it a habit and find the things that you do like about yourself or that are going well in your life.

Steve Gamlin 05:12

It's it is a big struggle because with social media, it's so loud and a lot of times, it's so negative, and it's so easy to get lumped in. Because wherever you go, you're guaranteed one thing, you're going to find people complaining about stuff and there are a lot of people who try to put good energy out there, but it gets squashed so badly by the negative that a lot of times they stop reaching out. 

What I suggest to people is a lesson to learn from observing one of my grandfather's. He never said the words out loud but he would leave at least one situation a day better than he found it and what I got from that is, he was just a very simple loving family man, he was a carpenter his entire life. I used to call him my cute little old man. He was just this quiet soul but he would leave situations better than you found them daily. He would help people out even if they weren't aware of it and by watching him, I realized that if I wanted to create energy or find good energy, if I was a part of it, that was even better.

Wherever I am, I look around head on a swivel to find an opportunity to leave it better, could be just with a kind word to somebody make somebody laugh, hold the door open, help somebody carry a box into the post office, whatever it is. I got to be a part of the moments that turned out to be my gratitudes everyday.  If you can't find it, make it.

Jake Pearson  06:28

Beautifully said. I've really thought. There have been a few things that you've said that have just hit me really well but if you can't find it, make it. I think it's a beautiful place to end this podcast, Steve. It's been an absolute pleasure having you share all things that make you happy, and some of your life lessons around happiness as well. 

Steve Gamlin 06:47

Thank you, my pleasure. 

Jake Pearson 06:49

Beautiful and if you'd love to connect with Steve, you can do so by checking out the podcast episode description below, Instagram and LinkedIn and check out more about what Steve is doing with his life and how he's applying gratitude every single day. 

Steve, absolute pleasure. Thank you so much. 

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope it gives you something to think about on your quest to discover what makes you happy. Make sure to check out whatmakesyouhappypodcast.com to connect with today's guest and follow us on all our social media platforms and to stay up to date on what's happening next and what makes you happy. Don't forget to share this episode with a friend and we'll see you next time.