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 our guest today is a TEDx speaker, happiness coach, and they help organizations reduce turnover, increase productivity, and normalize mental health conversations at work with the work happy gameplan Greg Kettner, from Walla Walla, Washington, United States. Pleasure to have you. How are you doing?

Greg Kettner  00:44

Great, thank you, Jake. Thanks for having me on. I'm happy just talking to you man. I have got a new friend down in Australia.

Jake Pearson  00:48

That's fantastic. And it's so funny, we were just talking off screen about how there's a Walla Walla in Australia and the US. And when I looked I was so confused, and like I thought he was not an Australian. And so it completely threw me for a second, but it's a great, another little connection there as well. Super excited to have you Greg. Are you ready to talk about the things that make you happy?

Greg Kettner  01:15

Absolutely. How much time do we have? A couple hours.

Jake Pearson  01:17

A couple hours, I could do that forever, too. Let's start with that, Greg. What does make you happy? 

Greg Kettner  01:23

You know, a lot of things make me happy. But I think if I boil it down, it's the sound of laughter, having a good belly laugh, whether it's my kid laughing or sitting around the dinner table my wife and daughter laughing or just out on the golf course, I'm into sports, but just hearing laughter. And when we do that, just the effect that it has not only the person that's laughing, but everybody around

Jake Pearson  01:48

Laughter... I know. And as soon as you said, laughter, I just imagined, like myself walking through a shopping center and seeing a couple of people, friends, elderly, whatever, just having a cup of coffee and laughing and that infectious smile and energy that brings and you just can't help it. Just smile for them. You know, that's an incredible feeling to experience that. Do you have other things as well that make you happier? Is laughter sort of that main thing for you? 

Greg Kettner  02:13

Well, probably the main thing that I go to, but it just serving other people. I mean, I've done sales for 27 years now. And I'm speaking and working with people on how to build a work happy culture, just to see you know, the light go off and they are like [phonetic 02:26], Ah that makes sense, right? Because to be happy, you don't have to spend a ton of money to do it. Right? You can send a gratitude text, you can go for a coffee with a friend, you can share a joke, whatnot, but serving others absolutely makes me happy as well.

Jake Pearson  02:44

I love that. And you mentioned something just then 'Work Happy.' What's that about?

Greg Kettner  02:48

How do we work happy, we've all had great jobs, we've all had poor jobs. And during the pandemic, I lost my job, I was told that I was not essential. I said to my boss, I think you're not essential. He won the argument. You know, the days after I was talking to my wife trying to figure out what to do. And she said, you know, you have a great positive attitude. You love being on stage, you love making people happy, why not go and help people work happy. And the light went off. And it's been amazing. I've met people like you in Australia, and all over Europe, Canada, the US. So it's been quite a ride.

Jake Pearson  03:29

That's incredible. Thank you for sharing that, Greg. I want to circle towards the advice section of this episode and what you would like to share with our listeners who potentially are struggling to find happiness in their lives. If someone walked up to you, and they were just in conversation, they were struggling to find a bit of happiness. What do you leave them with? What's the advice there?

Greg Kettner  03:53

I think the best advice would be to just really take time for yourself, be a little bit selfish on happiness, right? Because if I'm not happy, how am I going to be happy with my friends or somebody else? And so you know, happiness is a mindset that we need to choose every day. Just because I'm happy today. It doesn't mean I'm going to wake up with a grumps tomorrow. But if I do the routine, do stuff that makes me happy. It's back to the laughter. And I tell people this all the time. Take five minutes in the morning, go on YouTube, whoever makes you laugh, and just laugh for five minutes, and it'll make your day, it'll turn it around.

Jake Pearson  04:31

It's an incredible piece of advice. And I want to add on to that as a short story. So I found myself in a position where I love seeing other people be happy. And I love seeing other people laugh. And I asked my friends what's the most common theme you see with me? And you're like, Oh, you've always liked to stir the pot. Basically what you call a shit stirrer [phonetic 04:50]. And I'm like, really? And I started connecting doesn't like you at all times. I'm always trying to crack jokes or make innuendos, or just get laughs out of people. And I wonder how that's connected to me making wanting- wanting to make other people feel happy. So it's just a weird little realization that I had, that I like in a way of serving other people. And I couldn't do that if I wasn't in a place of happiness myself. So it's really important what you said there, being selfish in order to improve the quality of life of those who you may want to impact whether it's kids, your other relatives or your colleagues, when you're in a good place. All of that is just so much easier to serve other people, right?

Greg Kettner  05:39

Absolutely. And you know, some people if they are really struggling with happiness, reach out, it's not shameful. You don't have to feel guilty. Reach out to Jake, reach out to myself on social media, because there are people who care about you. And if you're struggling, just reach out in- I don't know, for people in the states anyway, just back in July, they changed the suicide and crisis line. It's now 988. So if anybody is struggling as a professional that can [phonetic 06:07] help you, get the help you need. So you can be happier.

Jake Pearson  06:11

Incredible. Greg, thank you so much for sharing all things you that make you happy. It's been an absolute pleasure to hear about that and the advice that you've shared with us today. 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.