[00:00:00] Podcast Intro: Are you ready to change your habits, sculpt your destiny, and light up your path to greatness? Welcome to the epicenter of transformation. This is Mic Unplugged. We’ll help you identify your because. So you can create a routine that’s not just productive, but powerful. You’ll embrace the art of evolution, adapt strategies to stay ahead of the game, and take a step toward the extraordinary.

[00:00:29] So let’s unleash your potential. Now, here’s 

[00:00:31] Mick Hunt: Mic Unplugged. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Mic Unplugged where we go beyond the why to discover your real because, and today we have a very special guest who’s dedicated his life to the pursuit of happiness, helping others find their inner peace.

[00:00:47] He’s a renowned coach, writer. And motivational speaker known for his unique approach to unlocking human potential. It is truly an honor for me to welcome happiness warrior. My happiness warrior, Mr. Eric North to the show, 

[00:01:02] Eric North: Eric, welcome on board. My brother really contained myself. You’re so, it’s so awesome.

[00:01:07] Just hearing your words and, and, and how meaningful they are to me. I don’t hear words like that all the time. So it’s, I’m really appreciative because I don’t always listen to people who want to Compliment me, which is a, which is something I need to work on. Still, there’s things we all need to work on.

[00:01:20] So thank you so much. I’m honored. I am very honored to be here today. 

[00:01:23] Mick Hunt: No, I am definitely the honored one in the audience is listening. And those that are watching, you’re going to understand why I call Eric, my happiness warrior. So, so many nuggets he’s about to give us. We haven’t even prepped for this call and I can promise you, you’re going to get nuggets in and there’s some things that I’m going to want you to do throughout this, this podcast episode today for all the listeners, there’s going to be a lot that I’m going to want you to write down.

[00:01:49] Eric, I would love just for the audience to know a little bit about who you are and what experiences in your early life inspired you to become a happiness coach and a motivational speaker, because motivational speakers we hear about, right? But a happiness coach, that’s something that’s unique. And something that only Eric North can bring.

[00:02:07] I’d love to hear that story. 

[00:02:09] Eric North: I think a lot of things in our lives are passed through genetics. And I think that a lot of our traits can come through with some things we, we can fix and change, but some things are just, we can’t help it. And I have, I was a kid. I was very, I was a young kid and I was very, I was very aware of the world around me at a very young, I remember things from when I was one years old, I can remember watching Andy Griffith’s show at a hotel room.

[00:02:30] And I knew I was one. So I remember things at night and I started being really aware of people’s behavior and I was too smart for most people. I was too smart at a young age and I was, I was always kind of perplexing people in the beginning. I was odd because I was too smart to school. I was in 2nd grade.

[00:02:46] I was with reading with the 6th graders and I was in math. They’re trying to send me to math. Driven to learn and just get the most out of life at a young age. I was also probably a little weird. And I wasn’t, I was, I was very shy and I stuttered, which was terrible. My father made, my father made me feel very ashamed of it.

[00:03:05] So that was kind of a source of trouble. I look at it now and I think. I’m glad I went through all that. I’m kind of glad a lot of it taught me about being more respectful of others and realizing that we’re not walking in someone else’s shoes and we need to really think about how other people, you know, we don’t know what’s going on.

[00:03:20] So a lot of good things came of that too, but my father would always put me in a get out of the way or in someone’s way. I always felt like I was in the way and I, and he was embarrassed by me and we had a good relationship basically though too. So it wasn’t all bad. No, parents think that they’re doing the right thing and sometimes they’re, they’re, they’re, they’re causing more harm, you know?

[00:03:38] So, and I think that’s just part of life. It’s just what we have to, we have to just be, you know, accept that they’re doing their best, but I have these three hats and they were my dad’s sisters of varying ages and I have one left and she is one of the most, she’s like my, my female version of me. And I, it’s like when we’re together, it’s like we’re twins and she’s, 20 years older, but it’s like we just, we’re on the same path, the same humor, the same kindness.

[00:04:04] And I, and I just spent some time with her because it’s important to spend time with people that are getting older in your life. And we went to a restaurant in New York and she had the entire male staff of this restaurant coming to her every minute. Princess, uh, can I get it for you? And she was, she had the whole restaurant just in her, in her sphere and everyone was happy.

[00:04:26] And I, and I have another aunt, she’s passed away. And she was courageous and very glamorous, very striking and very, very, very, very intelligent. And she, she was an advocate for conditions in mental hospitals in a time when no one really cares. And I can’t go out in public to go out shopping or somewhere in my area that I live in.

[00:04:45] Without a lot of people want to stop and tell me what’s going on with their life and they’re excited to see me, you know, and they, oh, I’m doing all this since last time I saw you and I’m so happy. And so it can take a while with me to get somewhere. Okay. So, and that’s how she was too. So I have my other ad was.

[00:05:02] A serious educator and she was like my cheerleader. She was the youngest one and very serious. She was right there with me when I was young when we were doing IQ tests and things. And I always felt like I was a weird kid. Maybe I was a little out of place, but I always felt like the power of their belief in me made me always feel like I had an amazing future because they were so cool, you know.

[00:05:22] And so they kind of kept me going mentally, you know, my mom was cool, but I was kind of still out of, I was not the kid that they wanted, sort of, you know, I wasn’t like. The football playing. I, I like sports and being out, I was always outdoors, but I wasn’t like the, I wasn’t a, a good boy scout. I wasn’t good in that type of situation.

[00:05:40] Okay. . So I, I didn’t like the, I’m, I’m not, I’m not really good with authority figures if I don’t respect them. Okay. If they’re respectable. I, I’m, I’m, I’m honored. I’m honored to respect somebody, but I, I, like I said, I can see things. At a younger age than most people are aware of and that was where I got my kind of like, I have a big thing about something about if I find someone that is like, especially another man or woman that has a strong, honest integrity, you know, and and sort of stands up for things that I’m going to automatically I’m going to feel aligned.

[00:06:12] Yeah, and they’re generally going to be people that are happier. They’re going to be people that are easy to laugh and they let people in. Yeah. So that’s what you look for. I go in the room in a new place, just like going to a new podcast, and I expect that I’m going to meet friends right away. And look at us.

[00:06:28] Yeah. I’ve never had. I always say, I was proud. I go, I like everyone. And then how does that feel when you say that? How does that change your whole dynamic and your day to day life? And there are people, man, that are hard. They make it hard sometimes, you know, but, but you know, you have to just say, I don’t know what they’re going through.

[00:06:46] I don’t know what they’ve been through. So I’m really learning that lesson a lot as I, as I mature, I think that’s really important is to really be respectful of what people want to tell you. Yeah, that’s amazing. Mind your own business. I still think mind your own business is the greatest phrase. I think it’s important, you know, um, 

[00:07:02] Mick Hunt: Mind your own business, right?

[00:07:04] Stay focused 

[00:07:05] Eric North: on you. Focus on being your best. Being your best example, being your, being your hero. We got to be our own hero, right? Right, right, right. Man, you know, we have to be our own heroes for ourselves because everyone counts on us, 

[00:07:17] Mick Hunt: that’s, that’s correct. You can’t be a hero for someone else until you’ve become a hero for yourself.

[00:07:22] And I learned that from Eric. 

[00:07:23] Eric North: Well, I just think it’s really important. I think it’s so important that we, that we, we. We don’t have to have a lot of self congratulation. Okay, we don’t have to have a lot of that. But I think we need to be able to realize our innate powers and able to be able to vocalize them and actually use them and feel them.

[00:07:39] So if we have, if I have a warrior like mentality, a lot of people have a warrior like mentality. I’m not the only one. And you know, it’s about, it’s about using that for good. For Susan, I care about everyone. I care about my own needs for my family, but I also care about the impact we have on everyone else and equity or fairness and everything else.

[00:08:00] Mick Hunt: No, absolutely. You know, we’ve talked a little bit offline and you talked about. Your personal journey and some of the challenges that you face. Can you share a specific moment where you had to dig deep to find happiness and how that influenced your, your future work? 

[00:08:18] Eric North: You know, I always had a lot of friends and I was kind of, I was part of the fun crowd and everything.

[00:08:22] And then I got to a point where I met someone who was kind of dangerous and ended up being someone very dangerous for me. And we were together for a long time. We had a really Two dysfunctional rock star couple together kind of times, okay? We did a lot of stuff that was cool and a lot of stuff that was like, really like, ah.

[00:08:42] And, um, it was very abusive. Not on my part, it was a very abusive relationship towards me. And I’m not, and I didn’t have, I’ve never had like, I’ve done, Partying, drinking and things. But I was never like part of that. There was never something that had, that had me locked down. We just got into a place where I was concerned for my life.

[00:09:03] When you’re with someone who’s abusive, they usually try to control everything in your life. So they try to get rid of your family, get rid of your friends, get rid of your job, anything that distracts you from being, from being kept in line by them. You know, so you isolate, you become isolated. And I was extremely isolated and, and, and there was an incident where all I could do was call my mom and I hadn’t talked to in six months and guess what?

[00:09:29] She came to the rescue and I was able to take that moment and go, turn not, I’m not turning around. I’m not turning around. I’m not looking back going forward. Now I’m done. I had. 20. I had like $50. Wow. You and I and I, and I had lost a a through a lot of reasons. I lost a, a real, a, a really good corporate job.

[00:09:48] My own, I was like 30. I was like 31, 3, 2. And I lost a really, I had just that, that career just kind of sputtered and, um, it was just good too. ’cause that’s not what I was, it’s not what I wanted to do with my life. Anyway. So you think, I think about all these things is, is anything that brings you into a place where there’s a reckoning, you know, and you really have to think about.

[00:10:06] I don’t know if there’s some way out of this, you know, like, and if you’re thinking that there always is a way out of it. Okay. And a lot of people think they have no choice and it leads to self harm and leads to other things that are bad, like bad nutrition, like poor nutrition, you know, sleep or self, anything, and just got to let it go.

[00:10:23] And you got, and you got to think you got to let it go. It’s hard because I had, I was angry for a long time after we’ve, after we split up, I think you go through a phase of, I was angry. I was angry at myself. I was, I was angry. I was, I was, I was like, I was not a victim, but I was, I was, I was kind of damaged emotionally because I wouldn’t, I wasn’t able to trust anyone for a long time after that.

[00:10:43] Um, so I put myself into work, you know, work for me as a solace to look, to go into another place that a better place. So I put myself to work and I liked working. I found I could start working for myself and then I got into real estate and it really started. Ideal career for me for about 10 years and during that 10 years ago, I started my, I started my, um, I started doing testosterone replacement therapy with a clinic in Florida around 2011 or so and 2010 I was at 43 and I was 42 42 and I was, I was, I was going from super high achiever full of energy every day.

[00:11:20] So my energy levels were down. I was not feeling myself and I was actually feeling sometimes. Coming home from a really great day at real estate. And then I didn’t, I didn’t feel like going to the gym. I didn’t feel like having sex. I didn’t feel like, yeah, I was just, things were just kind of going into like, kind of, um, not, not a happy place.

[00:11:35] And I got on this therapy and it changed my, it just changed my, their clinic I went to is from Florida and I think Florida, everything there was kind of chaotic anyway. But, um, they were wonderful people. And I learned, I learned about my own health from them. I really, I learned about how my blood, what these blood work numbers meant and things like that.

[00:11:51] So I was able to start. Learning how to take control of my health. You know, and doing it in a way that was safely done and nothing crazy. It was just therapy. 

[00:12:00] Mick Hunt: And 

[00:12:01] Eric North: I always seem to people, I think I’m a trustworthy person. I think people tend to come to me with ideas or they want to help me help them or sure.

[00:12:10] And the owner of the clinic had heard about me. From people, he was from his employees and he was like, I’m really excited to meet this guy. Maybe he wants to go into business with me. So I went down to Florida and I met him and like, and I just, I just, I just, and we didn’t end up going to business, but he helped me get started.

[00:12:26] And I spent like two weeks in his business every day with different people in the office. And then I was like, I don’t want to do any of this in my own, in my own place. If I open in my own place, we’re going to do things a lot differently. And, um, but I learned, but I’m learning how I want to, at least I’m learning the approach.

[00:12:41] I’m learning the approach. I’m learning the nuts and bolts. So then I started that and that was the beginning of like working for myself, which is my, I just had a picture the other day. I just came up in Facebook. It was like me and like a sleeveless shirt. I’m 40 something. So I’m pretty jacked up. And I used to do, um, men’s physique competitions.

[00:12:59] So it was pretty like, I looked like an owner of a TRT clinic. And it was a picture of me doing drywall because I was in the beginning of the business. I invested all my money and went into my 401k to start it. I mean, I was, I was going to be broke, broke, broke, broke, or I was going to make it. 

[00:13:13] Mick Hunt: And you were in the business, right?

[00:13:15] Eric North: When I started a business that was at the time, not mainstream, it was, there was a lot of negativity. There’s a lot of misinformation, the facts that were not, they’re not correct about it. And, um, and that in this time period, now I have the enjoyment that when people call me. How soon can I make an appointment back in the day?

[00:13:32] I had to do everything. I was cleaning the bathroom, taking trash out, you know, doing everything and all aspects and working on weekends to go to trade shows and go in places to get my name out. That was a time when I had to be. I had to let all that other stuff in the past go and I had to start learning how to be in control of my life, you know, and it was, there were times when it was really hard and the times when I wasn’t sure about the mortgage almost 12 years later.

[00:13:57] Now, I have, I have a business that has helped me launch other businesses now, and give me the opportunity to have really good to create really great jobs for people that they work for me. 

[00:14:08] Mick Hunt: Love it. Let’s talk about the happiness warrior. 

[00:14:11] Eric North: Yes. And there we go in the happiness warrior. So all that entrepreneur stuff, but that’s where I got to the point where I got kind of bored with business, okay, because I thought, I wouldn’t say I never get bored.

[00:14:20] I say, I got the point where I said, I need to do something more. I need to do more. And I sort of flew around the modeling business for a while. That was kind of fun. I got to meet a lot of people. And then Happiness Warrior, once my, uh, publicist told me that I was a Happiness Warrior, I just took that right on and put it right on like a suit.

[00:14:39] I thought this would give me a really, really powerful motivation to be my best every day. Never let anyone down, never let myself down. Always being adaptable, always being ready for change. I, I, I developed my core values and I, I use those a lot. And I have to take care of him where it was going to cove in time and everybody’s health wise.

[00:14:59] I said, I need to help people. And so I started doing a lot of, I did a lot of videos online that, you know, they’d just be like, you know, this is how we just take it, take it down a notch here and start, start feeling better about ourselves first, the world again, get our mask off, you know, but that was a tough time to help people get through as well.

[00:15:18] And that was a time that I felt like I could do a lot of good. Yeah. Like when the, when Covid started, and this is terrible , I, I, I was thinking, I’m, I was thinking I’m, I’m, I’m training for something. I’ve been doing all these things to get all my, all my skills and every, all my power is, um, honed. And I then when it came, I said, oh my God, I gotta close my business.

[00:15:36] I gotta do all this stuff. And I thought, this is what I’m ready for Now. I’m ready to be a leader now. I’m ready to make sure this is in my world, this is gonna be handled as well as I can. to wherever the other side is. I think that aside now is awesome. I think where we are right now, despite some political stuff, I think where we are right now as, as, as a world, we have a lot, we have a lot of potential now.

[00:15:57] Mick Hunt: So in the book, the happiness warrior, what are three things that people should go dive into the book that they’re going to get out of it, that they can implement like right now? 

[00:16:07] Eric North: First thing is that they have a right to be happy and then to give themselves permission to be happy. We need to make, I think really, really, really important is to make the mind body connection that we’re spirit, you know, like we’re, we’re, we’re everything in our bodies and our mind and we eat what we think, what we speak, it affects who we are, it affects our health, it affects our outcome, you know, making that just adjustment to.

[00:16:31] Loving yourself as much as possible that includes loving yourself in spirit and soul and body and mind. And I think it’s a very important because people don’t realize that they deserve. Much more of their lives. Yeah, that’s what I really try to think about is that act of just starting something that you’re dreaming about doing can can lead to something that is more amazing than you ever thought of.

[00:16:55] I totally agree. So I try to always be positive spin without calling myself a positive person. I don’t know what, but I always, I don’t like, I like to steer the ship. Yeah, my direction where I steer is towards. Everyone is happy with themselves, content with themselves, and at peace with everyone around them.

[00:17:12] Tough. That is a hot, that is a mighty goal, but I think it’s, I think it’s possible. Oh, 

[00:17:18] Mick Hunt: wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly. And I told the audience and the listeners when we started that there’s some things that I want them to write down and they, these things were impactful for me. Okay. Eric, one of the things that you released It’s titled the only five things that matters and I have to be very honest and transparent.

[00:17:36] It is probably the best article or blog that I have read in 2024 because it is so impactful. Like I love things that are action and that’s what this podcast is about, right? Like, We want to give the listeners, the viewers things that they can start implementing in their life today, right? Like, you don’t need to go hire anyone.

[00:17:55] These are insights that you can start putting into your life. 

[00:17:58] Eric North: Everyone is capable. The answers, the answers we’re looking for are always within. Absolutely. You know that. This is, your story is so inspirational too, because you were able to dig. Pass whatever was going on and say, I deserve to live and be better.

[00:18:13] And you make my life the way I, the way I want it to be right. And when we’re younger, we get put into boxes and places and we don’t necessarily get a chance to make what we want to do of ourselves, you know, and then when you get older, the blessing is that we really have that, that wisdom 

[00:18:28] Mick Hunt: wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly, I want to go into, again, for those, and we’ll have this It’s the link to this article, um, in the show notes, but it’s on the, the metropolitan digital.

[00:18:41] com, metropolitan digital. com. And with Eric, it’s the five things that matter and what he’s talking about here, the five things that truly matter. To have a happy life and to impart happiness in your life. And so Eric, we’re going to go through these together. So I’m going to highlight what the first one is.

[00:18:58] And I want you to kind of tell us what you meant by that. So number one, and everyone write this down, express gratitude before rest at night, I’m going to say that again, express gratitude before rest at night. Eric, why is that important? I’m going to tell you, it totally changed my life. I had the best sleep the first night that I implemented this.

[00:19:18] I slept like a baby since being a baby, 

[00:19:21] Eric North: it started for my need to get better sleep. And then I was with my sister one day and she has a pretty high stressful. She’s an entrepreneur too. We don’t have time to talk half the time. And when, when we do have something to say, it was kind of very insightful. And she says, when I go to bed at night, I know that I’ve done my best.

[00:19:39] I sleep, I go to sleep right away and I said, well, it wasn’t what I was expecting and that wasn’t what I was expecting for you to say, but it touched me because I was like, that’s kind of what I need to hear myself. So nothing I’m doing is new. I’m just passing information that I’m processing information and sharing it and I think it’s important, but that was very important.

[00:20:01] So then I started this practice of, you know, I grew up, I grew up, you know, prayer before bed and things like that. And I wasn’t my thing, but I did it because it was the right thing to do at the time. And I still think there’s something very valuable and kind of recounting your day. And that’s the first thing I say in my, in my prayer or whatever it is, and my affirmation is I did my best today.

[00:20:22] I will do better tomorrow, because what’s the point? You don’t want to do better tomorrow. What’s the point? What’s the point? I think, oh, I did this really cool day. Maybe I can, if you’re just, if you’re like shooting baskets, okay, and you’re getting like, you’re getting, you’re getting them on, keep doing it better, you know, anything like that.

[00:20:39] Something that creates a higher level of self esteem, skill, affirmation, anything like that. And so that I can do better tomorrow is always exciting to me. 

[00:20:47] Mick Hunt: Yeah. 

[00:20:48] Eric North: Excited. Totally agree. And then I might go through a little bit and it depends on how tired I am. I’m usually, I’m usually ready for bed. I’ll just say, I am grateful.

[00:20:57] I am thankful. I am content. I’m happy. You can go. You can go. Amen. Or you can go nothing. You can do whatever you want is there’s no rules. Okay, it’s whatever strikes us as individuals is important. But I think that I did my best today. I can do that. I will do better tomorrow. I think that’s crucial. 

[00:21:14] Mick Hunt: It is.

[00:21:14] And I’ll tell you again, once I read this, and then I saw a few of your videos that were kind of talking about this as well. You actually have to believe it too, right? Gratitude, but don’t say things just to say things like have conviction around that gratitude. And like I said, Eric, I, I owe you because now it is a part of my nightly routine.

[00:21:38] Eric North: I’ll tell you an embarrassing tidbit real quick off the, I went to my high school reunion last year and I, I was one of those kids, I was a good kid. And the kids, the guys, the kids, the adults that came, the older adults that came to my reunion, they were like the core group of friends that I had back then, it was like the cheerleaders and the class president and all the good, all the good kids that participated and they were good kids.

[00:21:59] They’re all grown up now. And one of them, um, She said to me, she says, I just, I remember you as being very earnest. I thought, but that’s probably that at that age, at a young age, I would have been embarrassed by that. And then at this age, I’m just like, Oh, that’s so awesome to hear that because I’ve never, I’ve never changed.

[00:22:18] You know, and I was honest. I mean, I was an earnest, that’s embarrassing. You know, I was like, I said, you know, I see, I see, you should get to know me better now because now I’m all another, another world going on. So that’s how I feel. And I also, I know you’re on there, your questions, but in the morning, what’s the first thing that we should do as we wake up, be 

[00:22:40] Mick Hunt: thankful that we saw this day, 

[00:22:42] Eric North: right?

[00:22:42] But I always say, I always say, and I did this, I used to have another, um, Instagram called redefining 50 when I was turning 50 and a lot of people followed that and some people were like, I get my employees this to want them to listen to what you’re saying. It’s motivational. And I started this thing. I heard I picked it up somewhere.

[00:23:01] As soon as I wake up, I don’t care where I am, what I’m doing. I say, good morning, Eric. It’s going to be a great day. That’s all I have to say. I like it. And you believe it. One time I was, I was, I was during COVID and I skipped it. I was traveling to, um, I was traveling to Arizona. I was at the airport. And everything was going wrong and it was just a big mess.

[00:23:23] And usually I have a really happy journey. Usually when I go anywhere, I’m happy. Everything’s wonderful. Nothing gets in my way. Everything’s fun. And this morning, everything was kind of like dark. And then I was going up into the elevator to the, to get coffee in the place that’s closed. I said to myself.

[00:23:38] I didn’t say that this, I didn’t get my affirmation this morning. That’s the reason everything is terrible. Okay. And then I did it and I was by myself in this mirrored elevator and I’m looking at myself and I’m like, Hey, Eric, it’s going to be a great day. After that, everything went really well. So it’s just voodoo.

[00:23:57] It’s whatever you want to call it, but I think it’s, it’s the mindset mindset. It’s a mindset. And the people would tell me, it’s just, it’s so, a three year old can do this as well as a 60, 70 year old. It can be any age, but for a P, I’ve had a lot of really high level folk, people, high level people that do amazing things that have told me, and you would think, oh, they’re just too jaded to do anything like that.

[00:24:20] Right? Well, they do it. And then, and then I hear, Oh, good. Believe how awesome my life has been. Yeah, I do believe it because I believe in it, you know, but I love hearing that because I think, okay, they might, even if they forget about me, they’re still going to spread that. They’re still going to share that with others and that’s going to help more people.

[00:24:39] Mick Hunt: That’s really 

[00:24:39] Eric North: good stuff. Really good stuff. I go rambling off. I think those are important things to get to know what my real intention is. 

[00:24:45] Mick Hunt: Of course. Of course. And that’s why we’re doing this. This is this is your show. This is this is what it’s about. All right. So let’s go through the other 4. So we have a person.

[00:24:54] I won’t 

[00:24:55] Eric North: digress. 

[00:24:55] Mick Hunt: I’ll keep going. No, no, no. You’re doing good. So number 1 was express gratitude before rest at night. Number 2, and this 1 is deep. Always express desires and intentions verbally with someone you care about. You trust what’s the what’s the meaning behind that one? 

[00:25:11] Eric North: Do we want our life to happen or do we not want it to happen?

[00:25:13] If we want it to happen, we have to be proud of it. We have to be proud of our decisions and our choices and we have to own it. We have to own it. And by owning it, I mean, I don’t want to have like this idea of accountability. I mean, this is now something that belongs to us. These are our dreams. Is there a death or destiny?

[00:25:29] So sharing that with someone that you trust, I, I, I can’t, I didn’t just become the happiest warrior all by myself. There’s so many people that I’ve sort of come along with me in my journey over the years that would do anything for me. And they’re, they’re, they’re, they’re, they’re, and I’m not, it’s another thing that I don’t, I don’t deserve that.

[00:25:49] But I, I think if I have to make it honorable, I want to make sure I give, I give value, you know? So it’s us. I 

[00:25:57] Mick Hunt: love it. I love it. All right. Number three, be always at work on something that provides value. Love it. To me, that’s one of the best nuggets of wisdom that I’ve heard in a while. Always be working on something that provides value.

[00:26:11] Eric North: There is always something that we can be doing to improve our mindset, make ourselves happier, take our mind off something that’s negative and turn it around. And I think that it really comes down to What am I doing with my time right now? And we need to take time off and I’m a big believer in time off and I’m a big believer in being outside and tuning out and tuning out of our phones and everything.

[00:26:32] But I think that having something that gives us pleasure to something that gives that makes us feel like we’re part of something that we’re creating something or there’s so many things. It doesn’t there’s no definition of what that is. It’s just the definition that we find within ourselves. And for me, it’s coming from my aunt, since that I want to, I’m the happiest lawyer.

[00:26:52] They were happy to split their happiness where it’s just, I’m just, maybe I’m the one in the family who’s carrying that along, you know, but that’s my right now. And in my time in life, right at the present, that’s who I am. Love it. Call me the happiest lawyer, say my name. I don’t care. No, I’m just kidding.

[00:27:07] Mick Hunt: That is it. That is it. All right. Number four, number four is absolutely my favorite. And it’s something that I work on a couple of times a year. Number four, nurture key relationships and let others go. And so I say this a little bit differently. I say, always work on your circle. Your circle of friends, but nurture key relationships and most important, you got to be able and willing to let others go so powerful because when you talk about happiness and Eric, I say this a lot, everyone that you think is for you isn’t always for you.

[00:27:42] Yes. Right. When you talk about happiness, there are some people in this world whose main objective is to bring up all the obstacles in life. There are people in this world who are just negative by nature. And the more that you have, and you have this in the blog, the negative vocabulary around you, the negative mindset surrounds you.

[00:28:03] It starts to penetrate into you, whether you want it to or not. And so I love number four, nurture key relationships. Most importantly, let others go. So Eric, I love your two minute take on that. 

[00:28:14] Eric North: I have, I have such a place in my life for friendship. It’s a very important. Part of who I am, and it’s not about having, I have friends everywhere, but I mean, it’s this friends that I’ve had for maybe a short time that have become very important.

[00:28:29] But a lot, a lot of it with me are long term, deep friendships that don’t, we don’t see each other all the time, but I call those my friends for life. And I always tell them, you’re my friend for life. You know, you’re my friend for life, no matter what, you know, and if we. We were my one best friends in halfway across the world for five years, but we’re still walking the door, the best friends again, you know what I mean?

[00:28:48] There’s not going to be, I’m not, I’m still, I’m still solid with that friendship for other, I have also found that there are, like you just said, there are people who hurt people, hurt other people, hurt other people. So you got to think about, and having, having anyone who’s gone through a rebuild in their life or a renewal in their life knows that.

[00:29:07] We have to, man, we have to, if we want to get out of our funk or whatever, or our trauma, we have to be around, we have to say no to negative people. We have to say no to people that are gossiping or saying things about people or people, anything that, we have to be around positive people that are happy.

[00:29:24] And they’re there, we can find them, you know, they’re always there. 

[00:29:27] Mick Hunt: And that’s the key, go to those places because if there’s situations, if there’s places that always bring negativity to you, stop going there. Yeah, right. It is totally okay to be in control of your surroundings and your situations as adults.

[00:29:41] It is totally okay to stop negativity from creeping in. 

[00:29:45] Eric North: I thought the same way with business too. I think it just overlays everything in our lives and I think it’s important with family. I think no one can hurt you more than family. More than our family members. I think it’s important to be forgiving too.

[00:29:59] I mean, I think in realizing that there are people that might be angry at them, but I think it’s important to realize that I don’t get a lot of second chances in life, right? That’s right. Some things are very finite. And once you cross that line, you’re done. And that’s why I’m big on, that’s why I’m really big on that.

[00:30:15] Words have spirit words, have spirit because words never go away. Yeah, absolutely. And words are beautiful. I find so much pleasure in writing words. My thoughts come out of my head so fast, but I’m creating a new column. I’m not even sure who actually writes it. It just comes out of my head. It comes out of my head on the keyboard.

[00:30:34] And I look at that as a gift. It’s a gift, not that I have. It’s a gift that’s been given to me. I feel like if I don’t use it, I will lose it, but I’m also, I’m using it because it really, I find that it really helps me to have more clarity and maintain more clarity and identify what people need to hear.

[00:30:50] So I go through phases where I’m thinking a lot about self. I do a lot. Almost everything is self empowerment. I want to lift myself. 

[00:30:56] Mick Hunt: Absolutely. 

[00:30:57] Eric North: And I want people to feel that they have everything that I have. Okay, I don’t want to be, I don’t, I’m not, I want to always have that kind of idea that no one’s better than anyone else.

[00:31:07] I don’t think that’s ever true. Um, be kind and be kind. Not nice is fine, but kind is actually taking, taking that feeling that you do care about someone else, you know, and we do care about other people and that can change someone’s entire life. 

[00:31:23] Mick Hunt: Absolutely. Yeah, totally. All right. Number five. Okay, we’ll get there.

[00:31:29] Dang it, Eric. You wrote number five for me. Take care of your bodies and minds as if your life depends on it because honestly it does. And so I made 2024 my year to, to get back into better shape. You know, I don’t make excuses. So I’ll just say I took advantage of COVID. How about that? I took it. I 

[00:31:47] Eric North: have, I have some really I don’t have a diet for your plan for you, but I have a couple of really good tips for almost anyone.

[00:31:54] Okay. All right. Let’s get these tips. Now we need them. I’m going to do the first book of your reference book kind of thing, but my books, the future will be happiest words guide to love the happiest words guide to your body. Okay. And not science so much all sciences. It’s. solid factual stuff, but I’m coming to as a regular person trying to help someone else, you know, on their journey without feeling bad about them.

[00:32:18] And my biggest thing is I don’t want anyone to ever feel bad about themselves. Okay. You can’t start anything good. If you’re feeling like you’re, you’re already fighting yourself and you’re, you’re defensive. So I want everybody to feel like happy playing field, where it’s just about learning about themselves.

[00:32:33] So for food. And I think everything we eat has a purpose today. I want to have a really good brain for you. I want to be on my, my, my brain to be on fire, not on caffeine. So I had, I had some like canned salmon, some, I made some brain food and I just had something light that kept me some good protein, good energy, a little holy bread.

[00:32:53] And that to me, it was like, It was perfect because I had the protein, but I wasn’t feeling heavy from a hamburger or something like that. I’m still a little, I’m subconsciously feeding my brain and feeding my, you know, feeding my brain mostly. I want to stay sharp and focus. And then one of the rules that I have, which is not always easy to do, is that everything, every time we have a, even if it’s a snack, some snacks are not so bad, every meal, every major meal, It should have a something, something from the produce family.

[00:33:23] Okay. So breakfast, have some fruit of some sort. Don’t have fruit juice because that’s high in sugar. Let’s have raw fruit. You know, I do, I do frozen blueberries, which are easy and much cheaper. And, um, that’s also brain food. Cause that’s after I have my, my little breakfast, I have, I’m going to write. I’m going to close out.

[00:33:41] I’m going to have to do a little emails and a little bit of work and get everything set up for the day. And then I’m going to shut that side down. I’m going to write for an hour. And I needed my brain to be under my control. You know, I need to have things under control. I need to have, you know, everything be on, on track.

[00:33:56] And then I say every meal have, what we do in, in our house is we have, I like preparing my own food most of the time. So we have a big salad before every meal, and we eat that first. Because when you have that fiber in the greens inside of you, you’re fuller, and you’re also going to accept the food that’s coming on top of it now.

[00:34:14] It’s going to be easier to digest, too. So you’re not going to eat as much, but you’re going to feel full, and you’re going to feel satisfied, and you’re going to feel energized from food that way. Pretty easy stuff. And the other thing I have, this is about bigger for me, water, black coffee, whole organic milk, and not very much, if you want to have any kind of milk, whole organic milk, small amount, if you, you know, you need it every day, and the water, black coffee, tea, or something like that, anything else, all beverages, no sweet beverages, put it that way.

[00:34:42] Mick Hunt: So I need to throw the oat milk away that I just bought here? 

[00:34:45] Eric North: You can do that. I, I, that’s, that’s, that’s also dietary too. So that’s not a point, but for me, that’s, that’s how I am. I’m very like. That’s to be the cleanest, best stuff, and that’s all I will drink. Mostly I drink water. Coffee, I drink coffee during the day.

[00:34:57] And, um, but that way you’re, a lot of people get a lot of sneaky calories in from things that they drink. I believe it. I love, I love it all. I love all that stuff. But I have to say to myself, you know, it’s, I, I have, I want to be a good example for you. Okay. And you can count on this. Not kick your butt, but it’s going to be like on your side.

[00:35:18] You know, I didn’t like that idea. You’re a coach and you got to hurt somebody. I like the idea that you go, okay, well, you know, how do you feel about doing this? How do you feel today? Which is, is this making a difference? Is this positive thing for you? If it’s not working, there’s another way. Absolutely.

[00:35:32] Absolutely. And also my whole thing is never give up, especially on yourself. 

[00:35:36] Mick Hunt: There you go. I love that. All right, Eric, I’m getting you out of here on this. What’s one thing you want listeners to do right now? What’s, what’s your biggest key to happiness? 

[00:35:47] Eric North: Well, I really would like to have everyone reading me every week.

[00:35:51] Okay. I’d like to have people start to really talk to me and get back to me. And I have a new website. It’s beautiful. It’s www. thwarrior. com. So It stands for the happiness where thwarrior. com get in there. I’m going to get some new pictures pretty soon. I just, I didn’t, I did a new photo shoot with a really cool guy there a day.

[00:36:10] And I’m just trying to keep it all right. All my articles are on there too. So you can get into the issue wire file on there. And I’m just trying to build an audience that we can start to say, Hey, do you want me to come and speak for your event? I’d love to go speak for your event. Set something up that the speaker that you’ve never had before, like you’ve never had before, because I’m not going to do it in the scripted kind of way.

[00:36:31] That is done. I’m going to take, I’m going to mold this, anything I do, I’m going to kind of mold it in the way I want it to be. So everyone’s having fun with learning and serious too. I think I’m always serious too. I’m very serious person. I like to laugh, but I’m very serious. 

[00:36:47] Mick Hunt: Awesome stuff. So T H warrior warrior.

[00:36:54] Thwarrior. com and you can also find Eric on Facebook, on Instagram, he has a ton of articles, he has a ton of videos, like I promise you, you will not regret it. 

[00:37:06] Eric North: You will not. I have everything as well, Mick, and I have um, it’s called the Happiness Warrior Official. Yep. That is, that’s, that’s where all my, all my, a lot of, a lot of my video, all my videos and things are too.

[00:37:16] So, 

[00:37:17] Mick Hunt: and, and that’s what I follow the happiness warrior official on Instagram. That’s what I follow. I follow you too there. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. You can find daily inspiration, daily motivation. You, you will find, I promise you something every day from Eric and it’ll put a smile on your face.

[00:37:37] And a smile in your heart as well. And Eric, that’s what I appreciate the most about you, brother. 

[00:37:41] Eric North: Oh, I can’t, I have so many things I appreciate about, about you as well, mate, and I also just thank you for having me on your show. This is your personal show and it means a lot to me. It means more than anything to me.

[00:37:54] So 

[00:37:54] Mick Hunt: it means the world that you’re here. It means the world that you’re here and we’re definitely going to do this again. So I can see us having a happiness warrior series that we do on the podcast. I think we should do that for the people. 

[00:38:06] Eric North: We’ll be the happiness warrior duo. Okay, 

[00:38:08] Mick Hunt: there you go. I love all the listeners out there.

[00:38:12] Remember, you’re because. is your superpower. I’m Lisa. 

[00:38:17] Podcast Outro: Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launches a revolution in your life. Don’t forget to rate and review the podcast and be sure to check us out on YouTube at Mick Unplugged.

[00:38:31] Remember, stay empowered, stay inspired and stay unplugged.