Welcome to What's Running You with Morgan Simpson. Hey everybody and welcome to another episode of What's Running You. And this is going to be kind of a follow-up on the happiness episodes. This is going to be part two. we're gonna be talking about the secret of life that's right the secret of life or for me a secret to life i would say a big one for me and let's just get right into it you know these things are going to be short and fun and uh you know for me
A real secret of life is to realize two parts. One, that my brain is not designed to make me happy. And two, that I'm not my brain. I think about this all the time. Like my brain is basically designed to protect me, to keep me safe, to keep me, you know, basically surviving.
It's for survival. So that's my brain's purpose. Its job is not to make me happy. Its job is not to, um, to do that stuff. So if I'm going to live a life of happiness, I've got to come from a deeper place in a different place. And number two, I was saying that I'm not my brain. I kind of look at it like, and I've thought this for years and I never told anybody ever.
And I was thinking about this kind of topic. So I shared it, you know, I told my wife the other day for the first time, and it's not that dramatic, but it's just like, I view life kind of like scuba diving. And that is like you when you go scuba diving, you get a wetsuit, you get flippers, you get goggles, you get, you know, scuba tank. And you basically get these things you put on these things so that you can experience.
that world right so you can see underwater so you can breathe underwater so you can move so you put on that stuff to to experience that kind of different realm so to me like that's almost how i view earth You know, or like like life, you know, it's like I think of it as like there's this soul, this kind of more eternal kind of.
your true self part of you and I think it kind of comes down here and it gets this body and this brain to kind of experience life you know it lets you feel gravity and I feel like your brain is kind of like condenses your consciousness so that you can experience this world and its its its main job is to like protect you you know so it's constantly looking out for things like it's on the lookout of like danger oh there's a
a bear, I should run or whatever, but it's also emotional stuff. You know, you feel pain, you want to avoid it. So that's just what I realized. Like, I don't believe my, all my thoughts, like my thoughts are literally just protecting me, you know? And some of them are great. Some of them I'm like.
You know, I tell myself like, hey, that's a thank you brain for like finding that fear. That's not imminent danger. So I'm not going to worry about that. I'm going to let that go. But thanks for doing your job. You know, I kind of look at it that way. I really like.
I heard an interview, I think it was on the Tim Ferriss podcast with... with jerry seinfeld he was talking about almost like with working out like his brain he's like my brain's a little silly little thing like i just have to give tasks to i have to make it as simple as possible and give it stuff to do and that's kind of i really like that because i do think that's it you know and if we get lost in there like sometimes i feel like
You know, I talk in the book about like dealing with anxiety and I feel like like when I was thinking the other day, like when I'm anxious, it's because I'm lost in my head. Like I can't get out of that story and I'm just like stuck there and I'm believing all this stuff. And it's like, I feel like the way I get out of it is like separate myself from that. So, um, just a helpful tip for me.
that I'm not my brain. I think, you know, that, uh, that fear is what causes all the stuff and craziness we see in the world, you know? So. You know, that fear that our brain's trying to protect us from can be very destructive. So it's good to notice it and accept it and like look at those things and not be afraid. You know, I think so much of our problem is that we don't look at these kind of darker things in us that are.
that are just survival and and you know so i think it'd be good to look at those things and just be aware of them and say hey that's just your brain doing its thing but to to not but you have to look at it to like stop it and kind of be conscious of it. So I think it's a good, a good thing to do. So that's just a little thought for you. You're not your brain and your brain's not designed to make you happy. So if you're going to be happy, you have to.
come from a deeper part of yourself and you have to talk to your brain like you have to run your brain not your brain run you that's the way i look at it like my soul has to run my brain and be like because it's a great tool your brain is like an amazing tool that if you're running it it's awesome
But you don't want it running you because that's where stress, anxiety, fear, a lot of bad stuff comes up. So let's live from a deeper part of ourselves. That's where happiness comes from. And thanks so much for listening. Really appreciate y'all. And we'll talk to you soon. Thanks.