Jake Pearson  00:00

Are you trying to figure out the secret to happiness? We're here at What Makes You Happy with Jake Pearson. We want to make that happiness more accessible for you in your life. So stick around as we interview everyday people, inspirational leaders and your favorite celebrities on what makes them happy.

Welcome back to the podcast where we ask the question, what makes you happy?

My name is Jake Pearson. And today we have with us a lifestyle design coach Alex Morris from New South Wales. Alex, thank you for coming on the podcast.

Alex Morris  00:36

Hello, Jake. Very excited to be here.

Jake Pearson  00:38

Thank you for coming on. Now, before we were on this podcast, we were just talking briefly about you and yourself. You're originally from England? 

Alex Morris  00:45

Yes, sir. I moved here with my whole family. 

Jake Pearson  00:48

And since moving here, you've had a little bit of a family of your own, haven't you?

Alex Morris  00:52

Yes, more than I was expecting. We had twin daughters, Ollie and Ava [phonetic 00:57]?

Jake Pearson  00:58

Oh, well, that's super exciting. And I bet that ties in a lot to what makes you happy in life, doesn't it? 

Alex Morris  01:04

Yes, man! I mean, everyone always says like, ah, you know, you won't understand till you have kids, you'll get it. They're a joy and struggle. Like anything worth it. Anything worthwhile?

Jake Pearson  01:16

Yes, absolutely. And what else makes you happy in your life?

Alex Morris  01:20

I think I'm really, really blessed to be able to play around with businesses and use the internet and stuff, which is stuff I really enjoy. So firstly, I'm able to enjoy my work. But I wouldn't say I live for it, I'm more working to be able to just create a really fun and open life, I suppose. Because my favorite things are not the day to day tasks and my job, which is digital marketing, and that's cool. It's the stuff that facilitates, you know, which is hanging out by my firepit, with my wife, eating a steak on a Sunday night, or we do our best to get away for just a weekend away in the countryside once every couple months, just being outdoors man. And living life a bit more simply is stuff I really, really enjoy.

Jake Pearson  02:10

I really love that for you. And it really speaks of simplicity of life, just focusing on the small things that you find really enjoyable, and give you that sense of happiness, which is the theme of the show, and you do get the opportunity to do all that stuff as regularly as you'd like?

Alex Morris  02:29

I am working very hard to be able to do it as much as possible. So I've set really, really clear boundaries for myself. And this is kind of what I think is very, very possible for people who work online, whether it's a business, or for their job that is work from home, which a lot of people do now. I think setting those clear boundaries, where you do make sure that you get some outdoor time in the morning, always get a walk-in, where I get my shoes off in the garden every day and get some deep breath in my lungs, that sort of thing. And I always take my girls for a walk in the afternoon. So yes, I do. I think there's more room to grow. And there's always, you know, bet more vegetables to grow. There's always more places to hike to there's always more cold water we can get. So I'm working on it, man! I'm working on it.

Jake Pearson  02:29

And what matters the most is that you are working on it, you're taking small steps to improve daily, no matter how small-- So with all that everything you've just mentioned there. What would you want to say to the person who is watching this or listening to this right now who is struggling to find a little bit of happiness in their life?

Alex Morris  03:38

Firstly, I don't believe you're alone in that. And I think there's a lot of people out there who are in a similar boat, no matter how their Instagram looks, or no matter what image they're giving off to the world, because that's very, very easy to do. But secondly, we're in a very, very special time in the world where we do have so many conveniences available to us and some of the technology that can make our life easier. But we also get sucked into it. And it kind of makes our life worse if we let it. So I think setting boundaries around how you consume social media, how you consume your screens, and thinking about do you need to be watching another episode of Netflix tonight? Or do you need to be checking your phone first thing in the morning? These things I believe, are not particularly healthy for us. When I've stopped doing them. My life has improved dramatically. And you know opening up those boundaries for yourself and your family. It really allows you to disconnect from what's 'fake' and virtual and reconnect with what's real. For me, that's worked. So I hope that could be valuable advice for other people as well. 

Jake Pearson  04:45

No, it's fantastic advice, disconnecting from social media where all the attention is and actually reconnecting with yourself in your own life and taking yourself out of other people's lives. Super important, I think, I'm a big advocate of that as well. So well said, man!

Alex Morris  04:59

Thanks man! I understand the irony that we are promoting this via a digital platform and we've never met, and that my business is all online and we often meet our friends on Zoom, or FaceTime, that sort of thing. But that's just a part of our life now. And I think if we can manage it nicely, it's only going to get busier and more complicated. So if we can kind of ground ourselves a bit now. And set boundaries between our personal life and our work or whatever makes you happiest you know, depending on your goals, I just want to frickin chop wood, sit by the fire pit, grow some vegetables and hang out with my daughters and my wife a lot. If you want to be hitting the internet 18 hours a day and building a massive Instagram Empire go for it. But I think just being self-aware of what you really want, and then setting boundaries is massive.

Jake Pearson  05:48

Beautifully said. And if you'd like to connect with Alex, you can do so in the podcast episode description below and going to head over here to his socials. Alex, thank you for coming on the podcast and sharing all things regarding your happiness. 

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 !