How To Be Happy

What if your obsession with self-improvement is the exact thing that is keeping you unhappy? In this solo episode of How to Be Happy , I want to pull back the curtain on a massive paradox sitting right at the heart of the modern wellness world. We live in an era dominated by "optimisation culture" where online gurus tell us that if we can just perfect our morning routines, master our mic...

Happiness isn’t just about how we navigate life when everything is running smoothly. It’s about how we respond when things don't go to plan and we are faced with unexpected challenges. In this episode of How to Be Happy , I sit down with Luke "Cookie" Cook, the founder of Cuppa TV and the Cuppa Collective. Luke has built a social movement designed to elevate helpful voices, bring peo...

Have you ever ticked every single box of success—earned the degrees, smashed your goals, and meticulously followed every hot wellness trend—only to wake up feeling completely exhausted, disconnected, and hollow inside? We live in a society obsessed with peak performance, 5 AM morning clubs, and optimised routines. But the uncomfortable truth is that the commercialisation of modern self-care has tu...

Have you ever woken up on a Tuesday morning, looked at your stable life, and felt a bit of an ache open up in your chest? You are ticking every box society handed you, yet you still find yourself asking: “Is this it? ” We live in a world obsessed with keeping us occupied, but it rarely keeps us fulfilled. In this solo episode of How to Be Happy , I dive into the psychology of human meaning and pur...

When the going gets tough, the tough get going—or so the old saying goes. But in a modern world where chronic, low-grade stress has officially become our most commonly cited daily feeling , why aren't we all naturally coming back stronger? The truth is that standard self-help culture has completely misdiagnosed resilience. Bouncing back to the exact same place after a crisis isn't enough—t...

I want to have a conversation about a topic that a lot of corporate self-help spaces conveniently choose to ignore: Money . Throughout this season of the podcast, we have been breaking down the 7 Cs of employee happiness; dissecting concepts like Culture, Connection, and Celebration. But let’s be real: none of those other Cs matter if your people are not being paid adequately or fairly. In this so...

Do you constantly criticise yourself for not being 100% productive every single day? In our hyper-accelerated world, we have built an impossible expectation that we should always be performing at maximum optimisation. But trying to maintain a peak level of output 24/7 isn't sustainable. It’s a direct recipe for chronic burnout, exhaustion, and anxiety. In this solo episode of How to Be Happy ,...

What if simply showing up to work and doing your day-to-day job could give you a profound sense of meaning, contribution, and joy? In a world where so many people feel like their work completely lacks a core purpose, we often default to a dangerous corporate mindset: “One day, when we are large or successful enough, then we will think about giving back.” But waiting for an arbitrary finish line is...

Are you running an organisation or managing a team that is constantly hitting milestones, only to immediately sprint toward the next KPI without a single moment of pause? In today’s high-pressure corporate world, we have institutionalised an endless treadmill of "more"—and it is driving our best talent straight into burnout and resignation. In this episode of How to Be Happy (at Work) ,...

Have you ever walked through your front door after a long day, looked at the mess, and felt instantly overwhelmed? You are not alone. Our homes have become overcrowded warehouses for our stress . In this episode of How to Be Happy , happiness researcher Declan Edwards explains how your living space secretly rules your mood . We look at the fascinating science of "Environmental Wellbeing"...

Have you ever ticked every single box of success—earned the degrees, smashed your goals, and worked yourself to the bone—only to realise you’ve completely forgotten how to relax? It is incredibly easy to fall into a cycle of perfectionism, chronic people-pleasing, and hustle culture, running your health straight into the ground just to prove your worth. In this episode of How to Be Happy , I’m sit...

We spend a massive chunk of our waking hours at our jobs, yet millions of people drag themselves through the week feeling completely unseen, disconnected, and burnt out. As organizations, we pour millions of dollars into flashy HR software, task-tracking apps, and corporate wellness initiatives. But according to the raw data, most companies are aggressively over-investing in operational systems th...

How many times over the last few weeks have you looked out the window at a grey, freezing morning and felt your mood instantly take a nosedive? As human beings, we have a bad habit of becoming "weather hostages"—holding our happiness ransom until the sun graciously decides to return . We treat winter like an adversary to survive rather than a natural season to enjoy . In this solo episod...

If you opened up Google right now and typed in “how to be happy,” you would be hit with over eight billion different results . That is roughly one opinion for every single person alive on the planet today. In a world flooded with that much noise, it is completely normal to feel confused, overwhelmed, and stuck trying to figure out what actually works. In this special edition episode of How to Be H...

Have you ever found yourself trapped in the frustrating "yo-yo" cycle of starting a strict new fitness routine, burning out after six weeks, and completely stagnating? We often look at physical health as a clinical chore; a prescribed block of time where we force ourselves to "exercise" to fix a lazy lifestyle. But what if true physical well-being isn't about isolated gym s...

This episode of How to Be Happy: At Work explores the fourth of the 7 Cs of Workplace Happiness : Contribution . Declan Edwards dives into why "top talent" needs more than just a fair paycheck and recognition; they need to know that their work actually matters to another human being. Declan breaks down the "silent killer" of engagement: the rise of "BS Jobs", meaningl...

This episode of How to Be Happy addresses a common frustration many of us face as the temperature drops and the days get shorter: the "winter slump." If you’ve been judging yourself for losing consistency with your morning walks or feeling a dip in your motivation, Declan Edwards is here to tell you that you aren’t lazy, you’re human. Declan explores the biological and psychological reas...

In this second part of our deep dive into the state of the world's wellbeing, Declan Edwards and Ami Rankin shift their focus from the global happiness rankings to the frontline of our daily lives: the workplace. We spend a massive portion of our existence at work, yet the latest data from the Gallup 2026 State of the Global Workplace report reveals a cooling engine in the global economy. For...

We live in an era obsessively designed for comfort, convenience, and hacking our way out of effort. But what if our non-stop pursuit of ease is actually rotting our resilience and long term happiness? In this episode of How to Be Happy , Declan Edwards sits down with Paul Watkins; a man described as a split between Harry Potter and Bear Grylls. Paul is an academic, a pharmacist, and an MBA graduat...

"We check all the standard boxes of success—the director title, the high corporate salary, the beautiful home—but what happens when you reach the top of that ladder and realise you’re still going to bed stressed and unfulfilled?" In this episode of The Ripple Effect , host Declan Edwards sits down for a raw, and deeply human interview with Andy Danesi . Three years ago, Andy was a high-p...

"Happiness isn't a solo emotion. It’s a mix. It’s a blend. It’s a cocktail." In this episode of How to Be Happy , Declan Edwards challenges the myth that we are only supposed to feel one thing at a time. He introduces the concept of emotional complexity; the science-backed ability to hold and experience multiple, even contrasting, emotions at once to build higher resilience and wellb...

For decades, Australia has been known as the "lucky country," but the latest data suggests that the luck might be running out when it comes to our collective wellbeing. In this month's episode of The Ripple Effect , Declan Edwards and Ami Rankin dive deep into the newly released 2026 World Happiness Report to uncover a startling trend: despite our economic stability and high life exp...

"People don’t leave workplaces; they leave managers." In this episode, Declan Edwards tackles one of the biggest pain points in the modern office: micromanagement . We often hire capable, functional adults because we trust their skills, only to accidentally treat them like children the moment they start the job. Declan explains why this impulse stifles innovation, erodes trust, and ultim...

This episode of How to Be Happy tackles one of the most misunderstood topics in personal growth: Motivation . We’ve all felt that spark of excitement that disappears the moment things get difficult or boring. In this deep dive, Declan Edwards moves past the "just do it" clichés to explore the actual science of what drives human action and, more importantly, what keeps it sustainable. Dec...

"The price of happiness is effort, and the price of genuine connection is inconvenience." In this special monthly edition of The Ripple Effect , Declan Edwards and Ami Rankin are back from the BU Happiness College Immersion Retreat in the Blue Mountains. This episode serves as a "taste test" of the retreat experience, offering a look at the tools, stories, and breakthroughs tha...