December 23, 2025 • 48 mins
What if healthy aging isn’t just about adding years to your life—but adding energy, clarity, and purpose to the years you already have?
In this episode of Asking for a Friend, host Michele Folan sits down with Eric North (aka “The Happiness Warrior”), a wellness speaker and coach who’s redefining what it looks like to be strong—emotionally and physically—at 61. Eric is the creator of the Happiness Workout, a simple daily practice that blends breathwork, functional movement, and mindset training to help people build resilience, reduce stress, and regain momentum in midlife.
This conversation dives into what it really takes to stay well in your 40s, 50s, and 60s—especially when life feels heavy, habits slip, or motivation disappears. You’ll hear practical tools for rebuilding confidence, getting out of “survival mode,” and creating small daily rituals that support mental fitness, consistent movement, better sleep, and emotional strength.
Michele and Eric also discuss why community matters, how to reintroduce movement without overwhelm, and how to shift from fear-based aging to intentional living.
If you’ve felt stuck, tired, or like you’ve been playing small, this episode is your reminder: you’re not finished yet.
Follow Eric North: Instagram @thehappinesswarriorofficial
Follow Michele: @askingforafriend_pod and subscribe for weekly midlife wellness + fitness insights.
_________________________________________
If you’re doing “all the right things” and still feel stuck, adding a layer of support may be an option. I’ve partnered with a trusted telehealth platform offering modern solutions for women in midlife—including micro-dosed GLP-1 and other peptide therapies.
https://elliemd.com/michelefolan - Create a free account to view all products.
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Like to connect? Email me at askingforafriendpodcast1@gmail.com
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Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified healthcare provider with any questions regarding a medical condition.
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Michele Folan (00:00):
The new year is coming.
So let me ask you something.
Are your goals the same onesyou made last year and maybe the
year before that?
If you're a midlife womannavigating menopause, stubborn
weight gain, bone loss, and lowenergy, starting over every
January, isn't the problem.
The plan is faster way isn't aquick fix or a crash diet.
(00:24):
It's a lifestyle built for themenopausal body, one that needs
protein to protect muscle,strength training to support
bone density, and smartnutrition to keep your
metabolism working with you, notagainst you.
Because this isn't aboutlooking good and address for one
event.
It's about staying strong,mobile, and independent for
(00:45):
decades to come.
I'm not coaching you for your40s.
I'm coaching you so you're notin a nursing home at 80.
If this is the year you stopchasing skinny and start
building strength for life,welcome to Faster Way.
Check the show notes for moredetails.
Health, wellness, fitness, andeverything in between.
(01:11):
We're removing the taboo fromwhat really matters in midlife.
I'm your host, Michele Folan,and this is Asking for a Friend.
Today's episode is all aboutwhat it really takes to stay
strong, emotionally andphysically as we age.
(01:31):
My guest, Eric North, alsoknown as the Happiness Warrior,
is 61 and living proof thatlongevity isn't just about
adding years, it's about addingenergy, clarity, and purpose to
those years.
Eric is a wellness speaker andcoach who created the happiness
workout, a simple daily practicethat blends breath work,
(01:51):
functional movement, and mindsettraining.
His philosophy challenges theidea that aging equals decline.
Instead, he shows how emotionalresilience, presence, and
consistent rituals can help usfeel more powerful in midlife
than we ever did in our 30s.
In this conversation, we diginto mental fitness, stress
(02:12):
resilience, rebuildingconfidence, and what it means to
age with intention, not fear.
Eric offers practical tools youcan use today to move out of
stagnation and back intomomentum.
This is a grounded, inspiringlook at how to live better,
stronger, steadier, and morejoyful in the second half of
(02:33):
life.
Eric North, welcome to Askingfor a Friend.
Eric North (02:37):
Well, thank you for having me, Michele.
I've been looking forward tothis all week.
And here we are and I'm readyto go.
Michele Folan (02:42):
Well, I get publicists that reach out every
once in a while.
And I saw this one and I said,ooh, this is one I'm gonna grab
for sure.
But I want to start first,Eric, with a little bit about
your career path.
How did you end up where youare today?
Eric North (03:01):
Oh, I guess well, I'm 61, so I've had a lot of
years.
I've had a lot of years.
So I I can tell you, I kind ofdivide my life up into decades
and how I, you know, each decadeis another really another story
of my life.
But if I say 15 years ago orso, I I um I had gone from a
typical career path, you know,just office office stuff, and I
(03:22):
became a personal trainer.
I I went to the point where Iwas so I had a job that I was uh
it was it was a defensecontractor, and they had lunch
catered every day, big fatteninglunches and brownies, because
they didn't want you to leavethe office ever.
And they had and they expect usto work Saturday and Sunday
too.
And some of them were like,Yeah, I had to cut my wife's
(03:42):
anniversary trip off so I couldwork tonight.
Yeah.
And they all were unhealthy.
They all were always screamingat each other every time we had
a meeting.
And I had this one lady thatworked there with me, and both
of us were always sort ofhorrified by the whole place.
Okay.
And it was just the point whereI was, I had reached a point in
my career where I had an officein mahogany furniture and a
window on 15th Street downtown.
(04:04):
But I was really, it was at thepoint where I can't do this
every day for the rest of mylife.
And I took a and I thought,what my real passion in life is
fitness.
I'm sort of a semi-competitiveathlete, but mostly the
competition is for me.
I want to always, I was, Iwould I have an instilled uh
value system to always do mybest, which is just how I was
(04:26):
Tom Wired.
So I I I said, you know, I haveI have what I need right now to
survive and saved up.
I can do something different.
And I really thought I want tobe a personal trainer.
And that was kind of like Ireally wanted to do good in the
world as a personal trainer, notjust going to the gym and
having a client every day.
I wanted to make an impact.
And I I started doing it and Irealized that it was while while
(04:49):
there were some really greatbenefits to being a trainer, it
was also kind of limiting as faras where I wanted to go in my
life.
And I so I went to anothercareer into real estate because
I'm always really easy I'malways really easygoing with
people.
I can really make someone feelcomfortable right away and feel
like I'm listening to them.
And I always feel like there'sa little trick to that.
But the trick is just to bekind and confident and
(05:10):
empathetic, and that's all itis.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah.
Eric North (05:12):
And so I did that for 10 years.
And then I had, and then I was,I then I became sort of a
typical stressed-out highachiever.
And I was like, I only haveenergy.
I had so much energy my entirelife.
But in my in my early 40s, Istarted to feel like I was
hitting a wall.
And I didn't know what it was.
This is a time we didn't havetestosterone clinics that there
weren't very, I never heard ofone.
I didn't know what that was.
(05:33):
And a friend of mine said, Mydoctor said I had low T, but he
didn't really do anything aboutit.
You're just getting old.
I was in my 40s.
I was in my early 40s.
I wasn't old at all.
I was certainly not, and Ididn't feel old.
And my I have a lot of very oldfriends.
I've lived in this city most ofmy life.
And an old friend of minecalled me up out of the blue and
said, I was back when we usedto make phone calls.
Hey, I haven't talked to you ina long time, but I just went to
(05:55):
this clinic in Florida, andthey do legally prescribed
testosterone therapy.
And I think that would reallybe great.
You're the kind of person thatwould be really good for the
really good for you becauseyou'd thrive.
And I was like, okay, well,I'll take your advice.
And I just started therapy, andI wouldn't say anything about
me changed personally, but Ifelt like a new human.
I he was a new man or whatever.
I feel like I felt like I'drenewed myself very well.
(06:17):
And I felt that drive andenergy that I had when I was in
my 20s, I felt again in my 40s.
And then I have a way ofgetting to know people.
So I got to know the personthat helped me there pretty
well.
And he said, you know, I talkto the boss about you all the
time, the owner of the clinic,and he wants to work with you
and help me set up anotherclinic in DC.
And I was like, Well, that's abig step now.
(06:37):
You know, I'm I'm I'm doingreally well in real estate.
I have a really good, I'm wellknown in town.
Do I want to start, and youhave to do it full-time.
Anything you do in life, youhave to give or give everything
to.
And I said, Well, do I want tostart a business?
I said, Well, my dad had abusiness growing up, so I had a
lot of entrepreneur kind of kindof knowledge back from my from
my my teenagers.
So I started this clinic and itbecame really a passionate
(07:01):
thing in my life.
I'm really helping people livebetter lives, live healthier
lives.
And I have to be also a goodexample.
I like, and I'm a corny person,I like being a good example.
I like, you know, I likeknowing that what I'm doing, I
have an integrity and honesty inmy life.
And I, you know, it's it'sfine.
So I became kind of the goodexample.
I kind of shamelessly used mybody a lot just to promote ads
(07:25):
and stuff back then.
It was it was worthwhile doing.
And as I'm as the businessmatured, I was able to step away
from that part of it and justlet other people manage it and
run it for me and create jobs.
And then I was at the pointwhere I, you know, I was having
a good time once in a whilegoing to conferences and in my
in my business area.
But I was like, what am I doingwith my life?
I still have something higherthat I need to do, something
(07:45):
more powerful and personal thatI need to bring out of myself.
And my best friend for 25 yearssaid, you know, everyone's
always so inspired when they'rearound you.
They always feel good.
You lift everyone up.
And what whether you're in ataxi or in a hotel lobby or you
know, just strangers on thestreet, they always feel good.
You should be, you be, you'd bethe best motivational speaker.
Well, of course, my bestfriend's telling me I'll be the
(08:07):
best.
And I just started thinkingabout this.
And then at 50, I started myfirst Instagram account, which
was Redefining 50.
That's what it was called.
Because I was determined that Iwas going to be a different 50
than you see typically, but lookjust probably very similar to
yourself.
You just decided that thiswasn't what I was gonna do in my
(08:28):
life.
I wasn't gonna get old, rathergonna just find ways to
revitalize myself and helpothers.
That's really what it's reallywhat it's about.
So that started me off, and Idid I did pretty well with that.
And then I um I hooked up witha uh a publicist who started me
on the have as a happinesswarrior.
He said, I've never talked toanyone and been so sure in my
(08:48):
life of pronouncing this on you.
And it I said, well, that kindof fits to me.
It feels good.
I don't feel like I don't feelembarrassed by it all.
I feel like actually it'sempowering.
So I became the happinesswarrior, and I'd say it makes me
happy to have an impact onother people's lives that's
positive.
And that's really what it is.
(09:09):
And I don't like to live in aperiod a space of negativity.
And I always tell them, I do alot of things out loud.
I say a lot of things to myselfout loud.
I don't know if you do that ornot, but I say I have my morning
affirmation.
But I also say to myself, Iwill never live in fear.
I will not let fear be part ofmy life that's self-created.
And so I can't be afraid.
And I've always been sort oflike, what's next?
(09:29):
Let's just go, you know.
So that's where I am.
Michele Folan (09:32):
It's a long story, but no, I and I let you
talk.
I let you talk because I thinkthis is uh a nice way to kind of
launch into this topic becauseI just put out a story yesterday
about living big.
Quit thinking small, live big.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (09:53):
And I'm 61, like you are.
Eric North (09:55):
Oh, you are wonderful, okay.
Michele Folan (09:57):
And I I'm not finished yet.
Eric North (10:00):
No, no.
Michele Folan (10:01):
And I have lots of clients that are not finished
yet.
And I think there's this onelittle piece that's missing is
are we satisfied with life?
And so I love what you had tosay.
It's like you still felt likeyou had more to do and and you
didn't know exactly what it was,but you went after it anyway.
(10:22):
And I love that.
I think that is if I could if Icould bundle this whole topic
up into with a little bow, thatwould that would be it.
And um so you you talk aboutaging with purpose instead of
fear.
How did your perspective onaging shift between 40 and 60?
Eric North (10:44):
Well, I've realized that I can't get away on my
looks anymore.
So I have to I have to okay,that's that was that's in the
past.
And that's a different time inmy life.
And you know, I was you know,it was a happy time.
And I used to compete on stageand bodybuilding and men's
physique shows too.
So I was in good shape for wellinto my 50s.
And you know, now at 61, I I Ireally have to really work a
(11:05):
little.
I don't have to work, Iwouldn't say the time is is in
the gym is like hours, but I'dsay the way I work now is very
efficiently, the way I work out.
And so that's kind of itthere's so many good things we
can still do at this age.
And I I feel like there's ourlifespans can expand.
And that's why I own alongevity clinic too, to to help
(11:26):
people maximize the goodproductive years of their life
and increase that.
Michele Folan (11:30):
All right.
I have to make a comment aboutthe longevity clinic because I
talk a lot about hormones on mypodcast.
Eric North (11:39):
Yeah, I know, yeah.
Michele Folan (11:40):
And I think it's something that maybe women may
not be having that conversationnecessarily with their partners,
but it is really important thatmen also keep that in check.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yes.
Michele Folan (11:55):
Because if if if your partner is 40 or 50 and
falling asleep at seven o'clockat night and doesn't have
energy, and I mean, certainly weneed to back everything up with
good lifestyle.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yes, right.
Michele Folan (12:09):
And hormones aren't gonna solve all your
problems, right?
It's just it's a piece of it'sa piece of the puzzle.
And I say the same thing aboutpeptides.
But I just think that sometimeswe women, we think about
ourselves taking hormones, butwe forget about our guys.
Eric North (12:26):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (12:27):
That they need they need hormones too.
Eric North (12:29):
I think most of the trouble in the world is for men
with low testosterone who don'trealize it.
We we tend to say, oh, thatguy's really crazy and he's all
raging, but the guy is mostlyhas a very low, I can guarantee
you from being in this businessfor a long time, I can guarantee
you that raging idiot like yousee on a TikTok video or
somewhere is probably has a verylow testosterone and a high
estrogen imbalance.
(12:51):
See, and the world is becomingmore imbalanced as far as
hormonally, too.
I think we're seeing childrenwith lower with much younger
puberty, and and a lot of thingsare happening where men
especially are in an estrogenicworld.
We live in a very estrogenicworld, but there were a lot of
things in our life that weren'taround 50, 60 years ago that
we're breathing every day andthat we're drinking every day.
Michele Folan (13:11):
Yeah, consuming.
Eric North (13:12):
And I think that causes, and I always tell the
guys that call the clinic that II talk to every new patient
before they come on, I want tomake sure they're in the right
place.
And I always tell them this isnot your fault, but you're
living in a world that's justwe've kind of messed it up a
lot.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yeah.
Eric North (13:25):
And I and I think this is a way to kind of protect
ourselves a little bit bychecking our hormones, but also
those daily, good, consistenthabits that make it work, make
it actually work and put ittogether.
Michele Folan (13:37):
Yeah, we can't, yeah.
We we've got it, we've got tostart with a healthy lifestyle
first.
And and and I don't want tomake this about mindset.
Yeah, exactly.
Um, I don't want to make thisabout hormones, but I will say
our young men are showing upwith low T more and more these
days, too.
And and that's something thatwe really need to, you know,
(13:58):
keep a get a handle on.
Eric North (14:00):
And the thing is they do every when when your
hormones are like balanced, Isay balanced, and only a few
clinics can really do a goodbalancing.
I don't think there's there's alot of people and influencers
out there that are sellingpeptides that are not for human
consumption and people sellingthis and selling that.
Oh, you're gonna you're gonnalook so good.
But it really comes down tohaving something really done
with a sound medical team andunderstanding that, hey, this is
(14:24):
not a magic bullet.
This is something that's gonnaenhance your lifestyle if you
have a good, if you have ahealthy lifestyle.
Michele Folan (14:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree.
But you you say emotionalresilience is as important as
these things, as is cardio, asstrength training for longevity.
What does the research or maybeeven your own experience show
about that connection?
Eric North (14:49):
Well, I think what what when we have emotional
resilience, it means we're ableto, I I have a kind of a core
values list, and one of mine isis have a ready for anything
mindset.
And then and that was all thisis all around when just before
COVID, I started developing allthis stuff.
And when COVID hit and theworld kind of dramatically went
upside down, all my all of mycore values were really helpful
(15:11):
in navigating that time too.
And I had two businesses, I waswhen I'm an entrepreneur, and I
feel like having emotionalresilience is you know to tell
yourself, first of all, talkwhen we talk to ourselves,
everyone talks to themselves atsome time in the day, is to use
positive words.
I'm not stupid, I'm not anidiot, you know, I'm not, I'm
not incapable.
But people use these things allthe time.
(15:31):
I'm so stupid, I'm so dumb, I'mso you know, emotional.
And they tell you that they'reemotional before they're
emotional.
And those are self-defeatingways of looking at ourselves.
And if once we change thedialogue with ourselves, then we
become capable, then we becomeconfident.
And a lot of what I do in lifein general is I really, I
(15:53):
really, I try, I don't know whyI care so much, but I really
want people to feel moreself-confidence in themselves
and see their value.
Everyone has value.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Yeah.
Eric North (16:01):
Sometimes they've been tamped down so hard and
trampled on that they're afraidto raise their voice or use
their voice.
But everyone has value.
So and that's what I try to do,is try to lift up the
conversation so we're talkingbetter to ourselves and then to
others.
Michele Folan (16:15):
So do you speak to yourself out loud?
Eric North (16:18):
I have I first of all, I have two pit bulls.
I talk to them all the time outloud.
So I guess it's probably thesame thing.
To myself, if I have a lot ofself-discipline.
So when my self-disciplinefeels like there's a crack in it
and I can talk, I can talkmyself out of doing something
that that's good for me.
I tend to turn myself aroundand tell and tell myself that
(16:39):
this is the stupid way to talk,the stupid way to think about
myself.
And just not I don't saystupid, but I think it's the
negative talk.
Once I turn that conversationaround my head, I'm gonna have
an amazing time.
I'm gonna I'm gonna be reallyglad I did what I did what I
decided to do.
Yeah.
Michele Folan (16:53):
I talk to myself.
You should like to talk toyourself.
Eric North (16:57):
I think a lot of things like affirmations should
be verbalized.
I think I'm corny and I saythis all the time.
I learned a long time ago.
I try to be around happy peopleanyway, and I have a lot of, I
have a couple of, I have threeaunts that are well, there's
only one left alive, but threeaunts that were very much in my
upbringing, who were all threevery magnetic, empathetic,
(17:22):
strong.
I mean, got things done, butwere always with this sort of
protective aura around them ofjust of love and goodness.
Don't mess with them, you know.
But they didn't want to live inthat way.
So they just kind of and theytaught me a lot because I was a
shy kid.
I used to stutter.
I was just insecure as a young,as a young kid, I was into a
lot of books too.
(17:43):
So I was just kind of, and theybrought the best out of me, and
they always made me feel like Ihad a really big, I had
something bigger in my lifeahead of me.
And I think that though theywere my original happiness
warriors.
Michele Folan (17:53):
Yeah.
So oh, that's so neat.
I love that.
Eric North (17:56):
Yeah, I'm lucky.
I was very lucky to have themin my life.
Michele Folan (17:58):
So I love that.
So why do you think so manypeople maybe 40s, 50s, let's say
60s, because that's a largepart of my audience, they lose
life force.
So I'm not talking becausethey're sick, but it's almost
like that inertia that we losesome at points in our life where
(18:20):
we just I don't want to say wegive up, but we just start to
kind of look at life as, well,time to slow down.
Eric North (18:28):
Yeah, I don't understand that either.
I do understand how it happens,but I think it becomes when
people are feeling you feel likeas you get older, you're you're
you're more marginalized andyou feel more on the outside
sometimes.
And then you start, well,you're too old for doing that.
You're too old for that.
You're you that that's foryoung people, or this is, you
know, how do you even and youknow, and I'm around people of
(18:49):
all ages all the time.
I think I was like, I wasdriving by I was riding my bike
by a school today, the teacherswere really animated in helping
the kids.
I thought they get to be kidsevery day.
The teachers get to be withyoung people every day, no
matter how old they get, untilthey retire if they choose to.
And how uplifting that must bebecause then you're always in
touch with what's going on inthe world because the young
generation is going to lead theway someday.
Michele Folan (19:10):
Right.
Yeah.
And then I wrote this down, andI'd love to get your insight
into this.
How can someone know if they'reliving in survival mode instead
of vitality mode?
What are the signs?
Eric North (19:27):
Saying no to everything.
That's one thing I think rightthere.
Just saying no before you evenbefore you even understand what
you're doing.
I think recognizing that thatthat no is is fear-based, and
then recognizing that that thatfear is keeping you from
reliving, it's keeping all of usfrom living better lives.
And it's a matter of walkingthrough a new, a new doorway, a
(19:48):
new, you know, opening a window.
You find you find a new lightsomewhere, I think.
And if you just I also thinkthat we live in a world right
now where everything'sdelivered.
Everything's delivered.
You don't have to really.
Leave your house.
And right there, that'salienating.
And then why do you bother?
That's hard to make then yousay it's hard to make friends.
It's hard to make friends whenyou're at home all the time and
(20:09):
you're getting an Amazondelivery every 10 minutes.
You know, it's hard.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah.
Eric North (20:12):
So I think there's a lot to be said just for social
interaction.
Michele Folan (20:16):
You know, let's let's put a challenge out there,
Eric.
Eric North (20:18):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (20:19):
To people listening to this.
Over the holidays in the nextend of January, say yes to
something that you have thatpull to say no because you you
you're more comfortable in yourjammies and your slippers at 7
30 at night.
But why why not say yes?
Say yes to that lunch date oryou know, go shopping with a
(20:43):
friend or whatever.
Eric North (20:45):
Yeah.
I did something like that acouple of years ago, and I said,
I'm I don't like networkingpretty particularly, like
meeting strangers andnetworking.
And I don't want to I don'thave to sell myself to anyone.
I'd rather just socialize andlisten to people's ideas.
It's more what I'm into, orlisten to what they're thinking
about.
So I made a vow to myself thatI would go out once a month to
some type of like businesssocial event.
(21:07):
And it went pretty well.
And then in March of 2020, itall stopped.
Okay, so everything ended.
But that was my goal.
And it went really well.
I started doing it like inNovember.
It was like November, December,January, February, and then all
of a sudden it was all stopped.
And that was kind of liberatingbecause I because I was able to
look at the well, I'm not isthere a fear of missing out?
And I realized some of thesethings I'm not missing out on, I
(21:27):
don't want to do.
I know, I don't enjoy.
And the ones that I did enjoy,the people I connected with, I
continued to socialize with andand you know and collaborate
with.
Michele Folan (21:35):
Yeah, you know, and um this isn't about me, but
I do have a story for you.
So last week I went to afashion show.
My daughter was in the fashionshow, so she asked me to come
and and support and was happy todo that.
And I went by myself.
Now, 20 years ago, I've beenlike, I'm not going to that by
myself.
(21:55):
But I was like shakingeverybody's hand at the table,
networking, you know, who, youknow, like what do you do?
You know, all this made a greatbusiness connection.
I love doing that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (22:10):
And I think we need to challenge ourselves
sometimes to step out of ourcomfort zone, even at 61.
Eric North (22:18):
And go out by yourself and be the let people
orbit around you.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Yeah.
Eric North (22:22):
Let your energy show who they are.
And just for once withouthaving without having a sidekick
all the time.
I like having lots of friendsaround too.
I'm very social.
But I also, there's a value ingoing out.
I go out by myself.
I'll do business trips bymyself quite often.
And I'll just jump into thepool, basically, to see what
happens.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah.
Eric North (22:39):
And you find your way.
And it's fun.
And it's fun.
Meaning, I always think when Iwas younger, I backpacked
through Europe a few times.
It was cheap back then.
You had a little backpack.
I could travel for $10 a day.
And I would just go whereverthe world, wherever the world,
whatever struck me that day.
But every time I wentsomewhere, I would make a new
pack of friends immediately.
And then another new pack offriends somewhere else, another
(23:01):
new pack of friends somewhereelse.
And it was just like it wasmagical because you could just
go anywhere and just have meetpeople from all over the world.
Michele Folan (23:08):
It's so fabulous.
Eric North (23:10):
So long ago, I can't remember myself.
I can't imagine myself doingthat now.
Michele Folan (23:13):
But it was uh Eric, we're gonna take a quick
break.
When we come back, I want totalk about the happiness
workout.
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All right, we are back.
Before we take a break, I saidI want to talk about the
happiness workout.
And I would love it if youwould walk us through what it
(24:38):
looks like in a real day forsomeone in their 50s or 60s who
is in doing the happinessworkout.
Eric North (24:46):
It's not complicated.
There's no and there's no setlesson plan for it, other than
the fact that I we startedtalking, I went off topic a
little bit.
Do I talk to myself?
Yes, every morning, no matterwhat.
I'm doing that, I said I'vebeen doing this for my aunts,
gave me this a long time ago,but also as a as a last 10
years, I've probably done thisevery single morning.
I don't care where I am or whatI, you know, I don't care how I
(25:09):
sound, or someone can hear mein the next room, I say, good
morning, Eric.
It's gonna be a great day.
I say it as if I love thatperson that I'm talking to.
And that right there isprobably the most important part
of the happiness workout, isgiving yourself a daily
affirmation that makes sense toyou.
(25:30):
It may not be the same that Ido, it may be longer for
someone, but for me, it's verysimple.
And I will tell you, Ianecdotally, I had a really um
crazy early flight one morning.
And I couldn't get a car to gothere and everything.
It was really a big mess.
I totally forgot.
And I got to the airport, andthen the airport was screwed up.
(25:51):
And I said to myself, I was inan elevator, I said, Good
morning, Eric.
It's gonna be a great day.
I because I'd forgotten, likethree hours later.
And everything changed,everything started going
smoothly, the rest of the daywas awesome, and everything was
great.
I just forgotten.
It wasn't a punishment, but itwas more a reminder to myself
that I deserve to be happy everyday.
I deserve to have a great dayevery day, and everyone does.
Michele Folan (26:12):
You're manifesting.
Eric North (26:13):
I'm manifesting, and I don't like to use all that
stuff so much as like, oh, youknow, you're gonna do you're
gonna make everything come toyou.
But when you manifest in sortof a pure form like that, you're
not, you're you're doingsomething really good for
yourself.
It's it's just I like to keepthings very elemental and very
simple and just break it down sothat everyone can understand
that.
And I think if you feel stupiddoing that, that's you, that's
(26:34):
the inner voice stopping us fromfrom from doing something
that's good for ourselves.
And that happens a lot.
I think the reason I'm aboutbeing stagnated in life, that
happens a lot.
People feel like, I don'tdeserve something good.
I don't deserve to be happy.
And if you know the firstproblem in happiness for workout
is having the morningaffirmation.
I always say, have some waterin the morning to get started
before you have coffee oranything.
(26:56):
Don't go, I need coffee, somewater, walk around a little bit.
I unload the dishwasher in themorning.
It's just a stupid thing.
And I do some stretching, and Ithink it's very important to do
stretching.
I think shoulder stretching, ifyou work out in the morning and
you're anxious and nervous, ifyou do a good shoulder roll, it
takes the anxiety level waydown.
And then that's scientific thatthis had an the Washington Post
(27:17):
just had an article about doingshoulder rolls and how they
they actually they immediatelylower blood pressure and heart
rate.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Yeah.
Eric North (27:23):
And it's neat.
You can do this at your desk,yeah, you know, yeah.
And stuff like that.
And then I think the other mostimportant thing, even if it's
cloudy out or if it's evenraining, raining can be kind of
hard, but getting any kind ofnatural light early in the
morning, and that's in the firstcouple hours of daylight, is
the best light for usemotionally.
And what that does is it setsus, it sets our rhythms and our
(27:43):
in our brain better.
So we're less depression, more,more uplifting day, happier
spirit.
And it really makes a bigdifference.
If you can see the sunrise andyour schedule allows it, get up
and do it.
Michele Folan (27:55):
Yeah.
It doesn't have to be sunny.
Eric North (27:57):
No, no, it can be a big, beautiful, cloudy morning.
It doesn't matter, but havesome way to appreciate.
I think important thing, andanother thing I said on another
podcast, I think if you can gobarefoot outside for a while,
even if it's even if it's on apatio, do that too.
It's harder in the winter, butit's possible.
You know, it's better.
Anything's possible if if wehave the will for it.
So anything where you're intouch with the earth, and
(28:18):
actually, I think another thingthat makes me really sad with
people I hear about is that ourour our our society's connection
with nature is going down anddown and down every year.
So over 50% of people don'tfeel connected with nature.
And I think, well, that's justsitting under a tree.
Looking at this tree iswonderful, is a beautiful thing
that has life.
So I'm kind of weird that way.
(28:39):
I just I like to there's athing called forest bathing that
they do, especially especiallyin Japan, where they just go
into the forest and they just itfeels like a massage almost
because it's mental.
Michele Folan (28:48):
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
You know, and here's somethingelse too.
And I tell my clients, youknow, try to get in as much
outdoor walking as you can.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (28:58):
But it's also good to unplug.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Yes.
Michele Folan (29:01):
Not you know, take the earbuds out and and
really connect with the soundsso that you're paying attention
to what's going on around you.
Yeah.
I think that is that's suchgreat advice, right?
Eric North (29:13):
I have removed, I have, I rarely, I have a set of
headphones I can do for apodcast, but I rarely have any
headphones on.
I don't wear them to the gym.
I used to wear them when I rodemy bike.
I ride my bike a lot.
That's my primary uh mode oftransportation.
And I had a big accident in mybike and had to have my my my
quads rebuilt.
I had my headphones on.
(29:33):
I'm not blaming that, but afterthat, I was like, I want to be
present in my life when I'm outdog walking, walking, riding my
bike, anything that I'm doingthat's active and I'm outside, I
want to be present.
And that has changed my wholemindset.
I'm much more relaxed now.
I'm much more life, just feelsum smoother when I when I don't
have all this.
I podcasts are awesome, but Idon't need to walk around the
(29:55):
neighborhood, listen to apodcast.
And like I might see a neighborI want to talk to too.
Michele Folan (29:59):
Yeah.
And then you also blend breathwork.
So we talked about somefunctional movement.
Yeah.
And then mental training.
What makes this mix especiallypowerful for aging bodies and
brains?
Eric North (30:14):
Because it slows us down, lets us get into ourselves
a little bit.
Like I said, like you said,it's it's it helps us to
deprogram all the negativity inthe world around us.
And I think that's veryimportant.
Nothing is going to hurt usunless we allow it to hurt us,
unless we allow it to hurt us.
And often our fears are notgonna are ungrounded.
So if you can go through, andthen if we're happier, and I'm
(30:34):
I'm trying to build more happypeople.
I'm trying to build people thatare connected with a bond of
happiness, like they have innerhappiness and they understand
what that means.
And I think that's that'sreally so the happy smart back
to the happiness where youworkout, it's also being having
some kind of social activity,even if it's just going to the
grocery store.
Something where you're out inpublic and you get to smile at
someone and say hello or helpthem with something makes a big
(30:56):
difference in how we and how therest of our day goes.
And then I'm always aboutmovement.
Movement is key to everything.
So humans are supposed to move.
That's how we're built ourbodies are built.
When we sit, we we we getinjured.
Michele Folan (31:09):
Yeah.
And don't get me started onthat.
Eric North (31:12):
I know that's that I did my research on you too.
I saw how you I really likedyour the the way you look at
life with your clients and theway you um you've been doing
your your um peanut butter um uhprojecting biscuit thing.
Yeah, those look so good, butyou were so pat you were so into
it, you know.
I thought that's someone who'svery authentic.
Michele Folan (31:33):
So I eat before I work out.
Eric North (31:36):
I do too.
Michele Folan (31:37):
I don't work out fasted.
And there's two camps on thatone.
People that are like, oh no,you gotta work out fasted.
And I'm like, no, you don't.
Eric North (31:47):
And no, you don't.
No, you don't.
And I I've been in in workout,high-level workouts, and I
should personal trainer for along time.
Here's some big myths.
Intermittent fasting doesn'tmatter.
There's no I was thought it wasvery fishy when it became a big
thing a few years ago.
I thought to myself, there'ssomething about people doing
this that trying to be holierthan other people.
I think it's a lot of trying tobe better than someone else.
(32:09):
Oh, I can go to 16 hours, 18hours, you know, without eating.
I don't feel good when I don'teat when I don't eat better.
I feel like my morning walk, Ijust need water, some coffee,
and I'll go out for two, youknow, a two or three mile fast
walk.
But to go to the gym, you know,I have I have a home gym and I
have a uh an actual gym that Igo to.
(32:29):
When I'm in my home gym, I'mcooking something at the same
time.
I'm having I always havepineapple.
I think pineapple is one of thebest foods you can eat to work
out because it helps withinflammation and and digestion.
And I think it's it's fine tohave something carb-wise to kind
of feel your workout, make youstronger.
I think you're stronger whenyou have a little nutrition
beforehand.
Michele Folan (32:49):
Yeah.
Eric North (32:50):
And that's what it's all about, is being able to
break the muscle down andrecover faster.
Michele Folan (32:53):
And so again, what maybe worked for you when
you were 25 or 30 years old isnot the secret sauce when we get
in midline.
Eric North (33:03):
Like Michelle, let's go for a walk and go to the
bakery and have a stop and go.
Michele Folan (33:07):
Yeah.
Oh, oh my God, you and I couldgo down a whole rabbit hole with
this one.
But yeah, I thought this wasinteresting because as I was
doing my research, what roledoes forgiveness play in letting
go emotionally and to grab thathealthy life?
Eric North (33:29):
Everything.
Holding on to I see peopleaging so fast when they hold on
to negativity.
Yeah.
And if you see people that youknow, and you could I sometimes
try to avoid people that havetoo much negative energy.
I'll just, I won't be mean, butI'll just kind of I'll go away,
I'll drift away.
I'll see them, and they'restill and I had a friend on I
had used to always becomplaining about something and
(33:51):
something and something, uh andboyfriend, you know, or always
something.
And then we we hooked, we wemet up about five years after we
had kind of split apart.
And it was the same thing, andI'm calling an Uber while we're
talking because I'm ready to getthe heck out of there, you
know, because I thought, andthis person used to be
beautiful, and it just uh agesyou so much.
And forgiveness is can be hard.
(34:13):
We want it's sometimes thatthat little thing that we're mad
about, it keeps people alive.
I think sometimes some peoplethe anger keeps them alive, but
I think it also makes them evenmore more dreadful.
But it's forgiveness is has tobe used appropriately.
Okay.
So some things you have to beable to walk away from in life
and have a boundary.
Otherwise, you can stillforgive that person because you
(34:34):
may not want to be around themor something, you know.
And um, it's it it that is whenI was able to be f more
forgiving, I feel like I'dfinally grown up.
Michele Folan (34:43):
Yeah.
Eric North (34:44):
Now it's probably my fifties.
Michele Folan (34:45):
You know, and I think sometimes when we carry
that with us for so long, itkeeps us from living.
Eric North (34:55):
It does.
Michele Folan (34:56):
It keeps us from being.
Eric North (34:57):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (34:58):
And I think that is one of the worst things we
can do to ourselves is to holdon to that shit.
Eric North (35:06):
It is shit.
And life is life is and you canlet someone I say, I don't have
to let someone shit on me.
I mean, I hate to use thatword, but I don't if someone I
don't have I can I can walk awayfrom that.
I don't have to take it either,you know?
Michele Folan (35:19):
Yeah.
Eric North (35:20):
We all have that choice.
Michele Folan (35:21):
I'd love to talk a little bit about breath work.
I've done um a podcast onbreath work with my friend
Sandy, and I want to know howyou implement breath work into
your whole routine.
Eric North (35:36):
Oh, it I think for I'll kind of go backwards in my
day because at night breath workis how I go to sleep.
So I'd I'll do a I'll do a uh afour-second inhale,
seven-second um hold,four-second exhale, and then a
little kind of break in betweenand then repeat.
And that feels a little bitlike your heart's gonna burst at
(35:57):
first when you're not used toit.
But once you get used to it andget a rhythm for it, it's very
simple, and you hold on to thatbreath.
And when you're holding thebreath, you really start to
think differently in your headfor that seven seconds, too.
That starts to really clearthings.
I think it kind of clearsthings out.
And I fall asleep so easilythat way.
And that is also after myevening affirmation, which is,
you know, that I did my best, Iwas told I did my best today,
(36:18):
I'll do better tomorrow.
Tomorrow's a new opportunity tofor new life.
That's what I'll tell myselfalmost every night before I go
to bed.
And if I don't think, if Ithink I have something that I
have to think about that daythat maybe I didn't do as well
as I as I should have, I'llthink about it and I'll I won't
do it.
I won't do it again.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Okay.
Eric North (36:33):
And then that and that leads me to be more
relaxed.
And then the breathing, thenI'm asleep in five minutes
before you know it.
And that's kind of backwards.
Now, during the day, I have todo a podcast or I have to be on
live television or something.
Couple of, just quick inhales,you know, just kind of get
yourself in exhales just to kindof clear the head.
I think it's breathing for meis about bringing stress down
(36:54):
and clearing my head and havinga having a um open mindset after
that.
So you know, important.
Michele Folan (37:00):
Oh, it is very.
And you've maintainedincredible strength and vitality
even at 61, right?
What are the core physicalpractices that you rely on now?
And how has that changed sinceyour 40s?
Eric North (37:18):
I think the time I spend in the gym is less is less
now than in my 40s.
So my 40s is more aboutrefining my physique and my
outward appearance.
And when now in my 60, or late50s to 60, became my my VO2 max,
like my cardio strength, myability to ride my bike up steep
hills and to keep that going.
(37:38):
And then another thing I'vealways done, and this is kind of
a guy thing, is since I was ayoung, my family was very into
fitness, but as a young man, Imoved around and a lot of it.
I always had a pull-up bar thatwould go on a door and door
frame.
So pull-ups are one of the mostimportant things in my life.
And being able to just do goodpull-ups now at this age is
something that I have a really Iit's gonna take a really hard
(37:59):
time for me when it starts toget older and it's getting a
little harder.
As we get older, we don't loseour life vitality, but we lose
our force.
We're not quite as strongsometimes.
They're able to push as fast aswe did maybe 10 years ago.
So I look at that as my mypull-up volume.
And then I also do a lot ofpush-ups too.
And I don't do them as much asI used to.
(38:21):
I do I have to take a day offand rest now more sometimes too.
Before I could do them everyday, I could work out high
intensity six days a week.
Michele Folan (38:29):
Yeah, but I think, you know, we can't
overlook recovery days because Ithink that's where I mean,
yeah, you know, it's kind of themental and the physical piece
there as well.
Eric North (38:40):
Without a recovery day, I would be a mess.
That's what I know now.
I tell anybody who's workingout now, too.
Recovery days in between aweightlifting days, I think
important.
And but I but I do believe thateveryone, if if if physically
possible, and I talk about thiswhen I'm doing a thing on TV,
I'll talk about how to makethings accessible to all levels
of ability levels, butphysically possible to move
(39:02):
cardio-wise 40 minutes a day,preferably outside.
And that's what you need.
That's that's not it's not themaximum, it's not the minimum.
It's kind of the ideal sweetspot for most people, is 40
minutes at a pretty highintense, uh intenser heart rate.
Michele Folan (39:15):
Yeah.
You know, I had this week, Ihave Dr.
Vonda Wright, who is orthopedicsurgeon, and she talked about
at least 45 minutes three timesa week in zone two.
You know, you're not breathlessto where you can't have a
conversation, but you're you'reat a good there.
Eric North (39:36):
I mean, I think three days a week is okay, but I
really don't think if if you'rephysically able, I think it's
good to do it over.
I try to.
Michele Folan (39:44):
I definitely try to.
Eric North (39:45):
I can tell.
I yeah, yeah, yeah.
If I can.
You know, like the other day itwas thirty seven degrees and
raining hard in the morning.
I was like, I'm gonna go lateron today, you know.
So yeah.
Michele Folan (39:55):
Yeah, I probably pass on that one too.
Eric North (39:57):
Not crazy, not that crazy, but yeah.
Michele Folan (39:58):
Well, and I think this brings up But good
question.
How can sedentary adultsreintroduce movement in a way
that builds momentum instead ofmakes them feel discouraged?
Eric North (40:10):
The whole discouragement part is so sad
because I think we we tend toput such high expectations on
ourselves.
And I like I can't like Ireally have a problem with New
Year's resolutions because Ithink they're just ridiculous.
I think it should be somethingthat is a daily mindset thing
where you're gonna change.
You're gonna change something,it takes three weeks to make a
good habit come true.
And so I to be discouraged.
(40:33):
Everyone who's physicallycapable can can build every day.
So if you if you if it takes ifyou can just take five, I think
just a five-minute walk aftereach meal is a start.
Ten minutes is then you get toten minutes.
Go to the mailbox, go down the,you know, go down in the street
and come backwards again, gofor a walk in the woods, which
is really good.
It doesn't have to be an hourwith with weights in your hands
(40:56):
and you're dead.
You have to be give yourself atime to get make it part of your
life, make it something thatyou look forward to doing every
day.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
Yeah.
Eric North (41:04):
And I always think walking is the best medicine
too.
Walking is a is a natural wayto start feeling more confident
in ourselves as well.
Michele Folan (41:11):
Oh, and it's free.
Eric North (41:13):
It's free.
It's free, it's freeeverything.
Yeah.
Michele Folan (41:16):
That that's really good advice.
unknown (41:17):
Yeah.
Eric North (41:18):
It's a free therapy session.
Michele Folan (41:19):
So we've talked a lot about your your own good
habits.
Is there another core habitthat you don't skip?
Eric North (41:26):
Just we even talked about nutrition, but I really
believe that making our ownfoods and knowing where our food
comes from is a reallyimportant part of life.
And I'm not everyone hasaccess.
I have access to so manyfarmers markets in this city
that I that I it's crazy.
But I always have this, I makeit a really big habit on it.
If I don't have anything else,sometimes Saturday is the day to
get other things done.
(41:46):
A Saturday morning for me, andI'm sad now because my farmer's
market's closed for the winter.
My my my my local one.
There's another one down theroad.
But Saturday mornings for me issort of a ritual.
I go for a bike ride.
I live near the I live near abig park with lots of bike
trails, and it's an incrediblybeautiful.
And I do that, and then I rideup to the farmer's market, and
(42:07):
then I get my food.
But I know all the farmers, andI know I know who's growing my
vegetables, I know who gets themeat that I use, I know who's
the apple farmer has 37different types of far of
apples, and he's doing a studywith the University of
Pennsylvania.
It's kind of an amazing groupof people who do this every
every week.
And just being a part of thatand coming home, and I'll share
that on a video sometimes iswhat I've, you know, like what I
(42:29):
picked up.
And it's just it's an easy wayto eat healthy and also have
some respect for where our foodcomes from, too.
And nutritionally dense foodsare so important and and and
they help.
And if we're really thinkingeven even deeper, what I do is I
think, what am I doing thatday?
What what foods do I need toenhance that day and make me
stronger and feel better andhave energy levels that are on
(42:50):
during the day?
And that's one of my bigthings, is eating with a
purpose.
Michele Folan (42:54):
You know, playing it forward, because I think
sometimes we eat the say we eata couple cookies on an empty
stomach, and then we wonder whyat two o'clock in the afternoon
we're crashing and going for thecaffeine and more sugar.
And I always, when I eatsomething, I think, okay, how am
I gonna feel after I eat this?
(43:15):
And I do too.
Yeah.
I think it's just such a goodpractice.
And the other thing is if itcomes from the ground or has a
mother, then that's always agood option to eat rather than
something that comes out of apackage.
Eric North (43:31):
And and to respect what it took to bring that to
their table, too.
I think it's very important.
You know, I these people who goon these carnivore diets, what
kind of quality of meat are theyeating every day?
And they're not getting abalance.
I don't think that's a good wayto live at all.
But that's just another anybodywho wants to challenge me on
that, that's fine.
I don't believe in it at all.
Speaker 2 (43:48):
Yeah.
Eric North (43:49):
I think we need fiber, I think we need
vegetables, I think we needthings to clear and purify our
system.
And so I'm a big thing aboutvariety of foods.
Fruit, I think fruit is afruit, it I it gets a lot of bad
rap for having too much sugar.
I think you can eat all thefruit you want, which is fine.
All the fruit you want, have abanana.
I have bananas all the time.
I've I would I have I haveorganic apples are an essential
(44:10):
part of my daily diet, no matterwhat.
You know, when I'm traveling,I'll get my hotel to get me
apples.
Yeah, you know, to make sure Ihave them.
Michele Folan (44:15):
Yeah, organic.
Yeah, organic is important.
Eric North (44:18):
And I'm not always an organic person for
everything, but it's certainthings like apples or berries
are very important.
Michele Folan (44:24):
Yes.
Oh, we're on the same pagethere.
Eric North (44:26):
I that's that's like talking to a little person.
Heck yeah, heck yeah.
Michele Folan (44:30):
Yeah, and and you know, I often challenge people
who have done keto and they'relike, oh, but I lost so much of
weight on keto.
I'm like, well, then why areyou back talking to me?
Eric North (44:42):
Because the weight is it is all they think it's a
simple game where they can theythink they can gain the system
with some kind of trendy thingthat happens.
I'm going to um in my in mybusiness world, there's a a
group called A4M, which does allthe longevity medicine and
stuff.
And they have a huge umconference in Vegas in about 10
days.
So I have to go to that.
(45:03):
About 6,000 doctors and peoplewho do who do longevity
medicine.
And every year, though, there'sa new fad.
There's a new fad every year,it's something or other.
And I just sort of ignore that.
I just sort of, I really, I'mnot missing out.
There's a fear of missing out.
If I don't do this new fad, I'mgonna miss out on this thing.
And I've just never reallyprescribed to that.
I've always thought, let's juststay with what I think is
(45:23):
sensible and what works for me.
And as as my needs have changedover my lifespan too.
We keep talking about being 61.
61, you've learned a long time,but you've also realized that
to have that nice smile and hadthat happy energy and
everything, it takes a littlebit of work.
It takes a little bit of, it'scalled self-love.
Speaker 3 (45:41):
Yes.
Eric North (45:42):
Self-love is not about getting your I love, you
know, getting a pedicure isawesome, but self-love to me is
not about all the superficialthings, it's about the inner,
the inner, our inner needs ofwhat we need.
And being able to do thatwithout any guilt and without
any shame.
Michele Folan (45:55):
So yeah, I love that.
I agree.
And then for listeners who areready to reclaim their energy,
emotional vitality, what's oneritual they can start today?
Eric North (46:08):
Morning affirmation.
I want everyone to challengethemselves to say something
that's gonna make you feelreally good every day, that's
gonna get you through the day.
It can be whatever you want, itcan be the same thing.
Good morning, Michelle.
It's gonna be a great day.
And it's infectious.
People start to pick up on thattoo.
If we share that with, and Ithink sharing our experiences
with others is what it's allabout.
(46:29):
We're doing a podcast to shareour experiences here.
But sharing things with othersthat work, don't just don't be
afraid to raise your voice andsay something.
Speak up.
This is what helps me.
I want to hear, I want to, I'malways interested in other
people's experiences and andthings that work for them too.
Michele Folan (46:46):
Yeah.
Eric North (46:46):
Because there's a lot we can pick up.
Michele Folan (46:48):
It's the importance of community.
Eric North (46:50):
Community is so important.
It's been my focus all daytoday.
It's been my focus.
What I've been thinking aboutis community, how important that
is.
Michele Folan (46:56):
Eric North, where can listeners learn more about
your work and connect with youand begin the happiness workout?
Eric North (47:03):
Well, I'm on Facebook, which is for a lot of
my old friends, but I'm also mymy biggest platform is is
Instagram, and I'm the HappinessWarrior official.
So if you start looking up theHappiness Warrior official, I'll
be on there.
I do videos every week, and Itry to do it.
And I really lately I've beengetting a lot of interactions
and a lot of a lot of a lot ofpeople have been talking to my
talking back to me, which Ilove.
Michele Folan (47:23):
Oh I love that.
That's great interaction.
Eric North (47:25):
Interaction, I encourage it.
I want more interaction becauseI want to be able to hear
feedback and what makes peoplehappy.
When I do TV, I want my I havemy neighbors, I'll be like, I'm
on, I'm on channel five thisweek and you'll watch it, and
they'll be like, they'll give mecriticism sometimes.
They'll like you to show us alittle bit more about for older
people or make it make it alittle bit easier for you know a
disabled person to understand.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
Oh, that's awesome.
It's important.
Michele Folan (47:45):
Yeah, yeah.
Eric North (47:45):
It feels good.
You know, someone's watching metoo.
I love that.
Makes me feel good.
Michele Folan (47:50):
Makes us all feel good, right?
Eric North (47:51):
Yeah, it does make it.
Michele Folan (47:54):
Eric North, I love your passion and
enthusiasm.
This was such an upliftingconversation, and I would really
recommend listeners check outEric at the Happiness Warrior
Official.
And uh thanks for being heretoday.
Eric North (48:11):
Oh, thank you so much.
I feel like it does like wejust got started, but it was so
much fun.
Michele Folan (48:16):
Thanks for being here.
Thank you for listening.
Please rate and review thepodcast where you listen.
And if you'd like to join theAsking for a Friend community,
click on the link in the shownotes to sign up for my weekly
newsletter where I share midlifewellness and fitness tips,
insights, my favorite finds, andrecipes.
The new year is coming.
So let me ask you something.
Are your goals the same onesyou made last year and maybe the
year before that?
If you're a midlife womannavigating menopause, stubborn
weight gain, bone loss, and lowenergy, starting over every
January, isn't the problem.
The plan is faster way isn't aquick fix or a crash diet.
(00:24):
It's a lifestyle built for themenopausal body, one that needs
protein to protect muscle,strength training to support
bone density, and smartnutrition to keep your
metabolism working with you, notagainst you.
Because this isn't aboutlooking good and address for one
event.
It's about staying strong,mobile, and independent for
(00:45):
decades to come.
I'm not coaching you for your40s.
I'm coaching you so you're notin a nursing home at 80.
If this is the year you stopchasing skinny and start
building strength for life,welcome to Faster Way.
Check the show notes for moredetails.
Health, wellness, fitness, andeverything in between.
(01:11):
We're removing the taboo fromwhat really matters in midlife.
I'm your host, Michele Folan,and this is Asking for a Friend.
Today's episode is all aboutwhat it really takes to stay
strong, emotionally andphysically as we age.
(01:31):
My guest, Eric North, alsoknown as the Happiness Warrior,
is 61 and living proof thatlongevity isn't just about
adding years, it's about addingenergy, clarity, and purpose to
those years.
Eric is a wellness speaker andcoach who created the happiness
workout, a simple daily practicethat blends breath work,
(01:51):
functional movement, and mindsettraining.
His philosophy challenges theidea that aging equals decline.
Instead, he shows how emotionalresilience, presence, and
consistent rituals can help usfeel more powerful in midlife
than we ever did in our 30s.
In this conversation, we diginto mental fitness, stress
(02:12):
resilience, rebuildingconfidence, and what it means to
age with intention, not fear.
Eric offers practical tools youcan use today to move out of
stagnation and back intomomentum.
This is a grounded, inspiringlook at how to live better,
stronger, steadier, and morejoyful in the second half of
(02:33):
life.
Eric North, welcome to Askingfor a Friend.
Eric North (02:37):
Well, thank you for having me, Michele.
I've been looking forward tothis all week.
And here we are and I'm readyto go.
Michele Folan (02:42):
Well, I get publicists that reach out every
once in a while.
And I saw this one and I said,ooh, this is one I'm gonna grab
for sure.
But I want to start first,Eric, with a little bit about
your career path.
How did you end up where youare today?
Eric North (03:01):
Oh, I guess well, I'm 61, so I've had a lot of
years.
I've had a lot of years.
So I I can tell you, I kind ofdivide my life up into decades
and how I, you know, each decadeis another really another story
of my life.
But if I say 15 years ago orso, I I um I had gone from a
typical career path, you know,just office office stuff, and I
(03:22):
became a personal trainer.
I I went to the point where Iwas so I had a job that I was uh
it was it was a defensecontractor, and they had lunch
catered every day, big fatteninglunches and brownies, because
they didn't want you to leavethe office ever.
And they had and they expect usto work Saturday and Sunday
too.
And some of them were like,Yeah, I had to cut my wife's
(03:42):
anniversary trip off so I couldwork tonight.
Yeah.
And they all were unhealthy.
They all were always screamingat each other every time we had
a meeting.
And I had this one lady thatworked there with me, and both
of us were always sort ofhorrified by the whole place.
Okay.
And it was just the point whereI was, I had reached a point in
my career where I had an officein mahogany furniture and a
window on 15th Street downtown.
(04:04):
But I was really, it was at thepoint where I can't do this
every day for the rest of mylife.
And I took a and I thought,what my real passion in life is
fitness.
I'm sort of a semi-competitiveathlete, but mostly the
competition is for me.
I want to always, I was, Iwould I have an instilled uh
value system to always do mybest, which is just how I was
(04:26):
Tom Wired.
So I I I said, you know, I haveI have what I need right now to
survive and saved up.
I can do something different.
And I really thought I want tobe a personal trainer.
And that was kind of like Ireally wanted to do good in the
world as a personal trainer, notjust going to the gym and
having a client every day.
I wanted to make an impact.
And I I started doing it and Irealized that it was while while
(04:49):
there were some really greatbenefits to being a trainer, it
was also kind of limiting as faras where I wanted to go in my
life.
And I so I went to anothercareer into real estate because
I'm always really easy I'malways really easygoing with
people.
I can really make someone feelcomfortable right away and feel
like I'm listening to them.
And I always feel like there'sa little trick to that.
But the trick is just to bekind and confident and
(05:10):
empathetic, and that's all itis.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah.
Eric North (05:12):
And so I did that for 10 years.
And then I had, and then I was,I then I became sort of a
typical stressed-out highachiever.
And I was like, I only haveenergy.
I had so much energy my entirelife.
But in my in my early 40s, Istarted to feel like I was
hitting a wall.
And I didn't know what it was.
This is a time we didn't havetestosterone clinics that there
weren't very, I never heard ofone.
I didn't know what that was.
(05:33):
And a friend of mine said, Mydoctor said I had low T, but he
didn't really do anything aboutit.
You're just getting old.
I was in my 40s.
I was in my early 40s.
I wasn't old at all.
I was certainly not, and Ididn't feel old.
And my I have a lot of very oldfriends.
I've lived in this city most ofmy life.
And an old friend of minecalled me up out of the blue and
said, I was back when we usedto make phone calls.
Hey, I haven't talked to you ina long time, but I just went to
(05:55):
this clinic in Florida, andthey do legally prescribed
testosterone therapy.
And I think that would reallybe great.
You're the kind of person thatwould be really good for the
really good for you becauseyou'd thrive.
And I was like, okay, well,I'll take your advice.
And I just started therapy, andI wouldn't say anything about
me changed personally, but Ifelt like a new human.
I he was a new man or whatever.
I feel like I felt like I'drenewed myself very well.
(06:17):
And I felt that drive andenergy that I had when I was in
my 20s, I felt again in my 40s.
And then I have a way ofgetting to know people.
So I got to know the personthat helped me there pretty
well.
And he said, you know, I talkto the boss about you all the
time, the owner of the clinic,and he wants to work with you
and help me set up anotherclinic in DC.
And I was like, Well, that's abig step now.
(06:37):
You know, I'm I'm I'm doingreally well in real estate.
I have a really good, I'm wellknown in town.
Do I want to start, and youhave to do it full-time.
Anything you do in life, youhave to give or give everything
to.
And I said, Well, do I want tostart a business?
I said, Well, my dad had abusiness growing up, so I had a
lot of entrepreneur kind of kindof knowledge back from my from
my my teenagers.
So I started this clinic and itbecame really a passionate
(07:01):
thing in my life.
I'm really helping people livebetter lives, live healthier
lives.
And I have to be also a goodexample.
I like, and I'm a corny person,I like being a good example.
I like, you know, I likeknowing that what I'm doing, I
have an integrity and honesty inmy life.
And I, you know, it's it'sfine.
So I became kind of the goodexample.
I kind of shamelessly used mybody a lot just to promote ads
(07:25):
and stuff back then.
It was it was worthwhile doing.
And as I'm as the businessmatured, I was able to step away
from that part of it and justlet other people manage it and
run it for me and create jobs.
And then I was at the pointwhere I, you know, I was having
a good time once in a whilegoing to conferences and in my
in my business area.
But I was like, what am I doingwith my life?
I still have something higherthat I need to do, something
(07:45):
more powerful and personal thatI need to bring out of myself.
And my best friend for 25 yearssaid, you know, everyone's
always so inspired when they'rearound you.
They always feel good.
You lift everyone up.
And what whether you're in ataxi or in a hotel lobby or you
know, just strangers on thestreet, they always feel good.
You should be, you be, you'd bethe best motivational speaker.
Well, of course, my bestfriend's telling me I'll be the
(08:07):
best.
And I just started thinkingabout this.
And then at 50, I started myfirst Instagram account, which
was Redefining 50.
That's what it was called.
Because I was determined that Iwas going to be a different 50
than you see typically, but lookjust probably very similar to
yourself.
You just decided that thiswasn't what I was gonna do in my
(08:28):
life.
I wasn't gonna get old, rathergonna just find ways to
revitalize myself and helpothers.
That's really what it's reallywhat it's about.
So that started me off, and Idid I did pretty well with that.
And then I um I hooked up witha uh a publicist who started me
on the have as a happinesswarrior.
He said, I've never talked toanyone and been so sure in my
(08:48):
life of pronouncing this on you.
And it I said, well, that kindof fits to me.
It feels good.
I don't feel like I don't feelembarrassed by it all.
I feel like actually it'sempowering.
So I became the happinesswarrior, and I'd say it makes me
happy to have an impact onother people's lives that's
positive.
And that's really what it is.
(09:09):
And I don't like to live in aperiod a space of negativity.
And I always tell them, I do alot of things out loud.
I say a lot of things to myselfout loud.
I don't know if you do that ornot, but I say I have my morning
affirmation.
But I also say to myself, Iwill never live in fear.
I will not let fear be part ofmy life that's self-created.
And so I can't be afraid.
And I've always been sort oflike, what's next?
(09:29):
Let's just go, you know.
So that's where I am.
Michele Folan (09:32):
It's a long story, but no, I and I let you
talk.
I let you talk because I thinkthis is uh a nice way to kind of
launch into this topic becauseI just put out a story yesterday
about living big.
Quit thinking small, live big.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (09:53):
And I'm 61, like you are.
Eric North (09:55):
Oh, you are wonderful, okay.
Michele Folan (09:57):
And I I'm not finished yet.
Eric North (10:00):
No, no.
Michele Folan (10:01):
And I have lots of clients that are not finished
yet.
And I think there's this onelittle piece that's missing is
are we satisfied with life?
And so I love what you had tosay.
It's like you still felt likeyou had more to do and and you
didn't know exactly what it was,but you went after it anyway.
(10:22):
And I love that.
I think that is if I could if Icould bundle this whole topic
up into with a little bow, thatwould that would be it.
And um so you you talk aboutaging with purpose instead of
fear.
How did your perspective onaging shift between 40 and 60?
Eric North (10:44):
Well, I've realized that I can't get away on my
looks anymore.
So I have to I have to okay,that's that was that's in the
past.
And that's a different time inmy life.
And you know, I was you know,it was a happy time.
And I used to compete on stageand bodybuilding and men's
physique shows too.
So I was in good shape for wellinto my 50s.
And you know, now at 61, I I Ireally have to really work a
(11:05):
little.
I don't have to work, Iwouldn't say the time is is in
the gym is like hours, but I'dsay the way I work now is very
efficiently, the way I work out.
And so that's kind of itthere's so many good things we
can still do at this age.
And I I feel like there's ourlifespans can expand.
And that's why I own alongevity clinic too, to to help
(11:26):
people maximize the goodproductive years of their life
and increase that.
Michele Folan (11:30):
All right.
I have to make a comment aboutthe longevity clinic because I
talk a lot about hormones on mypodcast.
Eric North (11:39):
Yeah, I know, yeah.
Michele Folan (11:40):
And I think it's something that maybe women may
not be having that conversationnecessarily with their partners,
but it is really important thatmen also keep that in check.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yes.
Michele Folan (11:55):
Because if if if your partner is 40 or 50 and
falling asleep at seven o'clockat night and doesn't have
energy, and I mean, certainly weneed to back everything up with
good lifestyle.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yes, right.
Michele Folan (12:09):
And hormones aren't gonna solve all your
problems, right?
It's just it's a piece of it'sa piece of the puzzle.
And I say the same thing aboutpeptides.
But I just think that sometimeswe women, we think about
ourselves taking hormones, butwe forget about our guys.
Eric North (12:26):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (12:27):
That they need they need hormones too.
Eric North (12:29):
I think most of the trouble in the world is for men
with low testosterone who don'trealize it.
We we tend to say, oh, thatguy's really crazy and he's all
raging, but the guy is mostlyhas a very low, I can guarantee
you from being in this businessfor a long time, I can guarantee
you that raging idiot like yousee on a TikTok video or
somewhere is probably has a verylow testosterone and a high
estrogen imbalance.
(12:51):
See, and the world is becomingmore imbalanced as far as
hormonally, too.
I think we're seeing childrenwith lower with much younger
puberty, and and a lot of thingsare happening where men
especially are in an estrogenicworld.
We live in a very estrogenicworld, but there were a lot of
things in our life that weren'taround 50, 60 years ago that
we're breathing every day andthat we're drinking every day.
Michele Folan (13:11):
Yeah, consuming.
Eric North (13:12):
And I think that causes, and I always tell the
guys that call the clinic that II talk to every new patient
before they come on, I want tomake sure they're in the right
place.
And I always tell them this isnot your fault, but you're
living in a world that's justwe've kind of messed it up a
lot.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yeah.
Eric North (13:25):
And I and I think this is a way to kind of protect
ourselves a little bit bychecking our hormones, but also
those daily, good, consistenthabits that make it work, make
it actually work and put ittogether.
Michele Folan (13:37):
Yeah, we can't, yeah.
We we've got it, we've got tostart with a healthy lifestyle
first.
And and and I don't want tomake this about mindset.
Yeah, exactly.
Um, I don't want to make thisabout hormones, but I will say
our young men are showing upwith low T more and more these
days, too.
And and that's something thatwe really need to, you know,
(13:58):
keep a get a handle on.
Eric North (14:00):
And the thing is they do every when when your
hormones are like balanced, Isay balanced, and only a few
clinics can really do a goodbalancing.
I don't think there's there's alot of people and influencers
out there that are sellingpeptides that are not for human
consumption and people sellingthis and selling that.
Oh, you're gonna you're gonnalook so good.
But it really comes down tohaving something really done
with a sound medical team andunderstanding that, hey, this is
(14:24):
not a magic bullet.
This is something that's gonnaenhance your lifestyle if you
have a good, if you have ahealthy lifestyle.
Michele Folan (14:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree.
But you you say emotionalresilience is as important as
these things, as is cardio, asstrength training for longevity.
What does the research or maybeeven your own experience show
about that connection?
Eric North (14:49):
Well, I think what what when we have emotional
resilience, it means we're ableto, I I have a kind of a core
values list, and one of mine isis have a ready for anything
mindset.
And then and that was all thisis all around when just before
COVID, I started developing allthis stuff.
And when COVID hit and theworld kind of dramatically went
upside down, all my all of mycore values were really helpful
(15:11):
in navigating that time too.
And I had two businesses, I waswhen I'm an entrepreneur, and I
feel like having emotionalresilience is you know to tell
yourself, first of all, talkwhen we talk to ourselves,
everyone talks to themselves atsome time in the day, is to use
positive words.
I'm not stupid, I'm not anidiot, you know, I'm not, I'm
not incapable.
But people use these things allthe time.
(15:31):
I'm so stupid, I'm so dumb, I'mso you know, emotional.
And they tell you that they'reemotional before they're
emotional.
And those are self-defeatingways of looking at ourselves.
And if once we change thedialogue with ourselves, then we
become capable, then we becomeconfident.
And a lot of what I do in lifein general is I really, I
(15:53):
really, I try, I don't know whyI care so much, but I really
want people to feel moreself-confidence in themselves
and see their value.
Everyone has value.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Yeah.
Eric North (16:01):
Sometimes they've been tamped down so hard and
trampled on that they're afraidto raise their voice or use
their voice.
But everyone has value.
So and that's what I try to do,is try to lift up the
conversation so we're talkingbetter to ourselves and then to
others.
Michele Folan (16:15):
So do you speak to yourself out loud?
Eric North (16:18):
I have I first of all, I have two pit bulls.
I talk to them all the time outloud.
So I guess it's probably thesame thing.
To myself, if I have a lot ofself-discipline.
So when my self-disciplinefeels like there's a crack in it
and I can talk, I can talkmyself out of doing something
that that's good for me.
I tend to turn myself aroundand tell and tell myself that
(16:39):
this is the stupid way to talk,the stupid way to think about
myself.
And just not I don't saystupid, but I think it's the
negative talk.
Once I turn that conversationaround my head, I'm gonna have
an amazing time.
I'm gonna I'm gonna be reallyglad I did what I did what I
decided to do.
Yeah.
Michele Folan (16:53):
I talk to myself.
You should like to talk toyourself.
Eric North (16:57):
I think a lot of things like affirmations should
be verbalized.
I think I'm corny and I saythis all the time.
I learned a long time ago.
I try to be around happy peopleanyway, and I have a lot of, I
have a couple of, I have threeaunts that are well, there's
only one left alive, but threeaunts that were very much in my
upbringing, who were all threevery magnetic, empathetic,
(17:22):
strong.
I mean, got things done, butwere always with this sort of
protective aura around them ofjust of love and goodness.
Don't mess with them, you know.
But they didn't want to live inthat way.
So they just kind of and theytaught me a lot because I was a
shy kid.
I used to stutter.
I was just insecure as a young,as a young kid, I was into a
lot of books too.
(17:43):
So I was just kind of, and theybrought the best out of me, and
they always made me feel like Ihad a really big, I had
something bigger in my lifeahead of me.
And I think that though theywere my original happiness
warriors.
Michele Folan (17:53):
Yeah.
So oh, that's so neat.
I love that.
Eric North (17:56):
Yeah, I'm lucky.
I was very lucky to have themin my life.
Michele Folan (17:58):
So I love that.
So why do you think so manypeople maybe 40s, 50s, let's say
60s, because that's a largepart of my audience, they lose
life force.
So I'm not talking becausethey're sick, but it's almost
like that inertia that we losesome at points in our life where
(18:20):
we just I don't want to say wegive up, but we just start to
kind of look at life as, well,time to slow down.
Eric North (18:28):
Yeah, I don't understand that either.
I do understand how it happens,but I think it becomes when
people are feeling you feel likeas you get older, you're you're
you're more marginalized andyou feel more on the outside
sometimes.
And then you start, well,you're too old for doing that.
You're too old for that.
You're you that that's foryoung people, or this is, you
know, how do you even and youknow, and I'm around people of
(18:49):
all ages all the time.
I think I was like, I wasdriving by I was riding my bike
by a school today, the teacherswere really animated in helping
the kids.
I thought they get to be kidsevery day.
The teachers get to be withyoung people every day, no
matter how old they get, untilthey retire if they choose to.
And how uplifting that must bebecause then you're always in
touch with what's going on inthe world because the young
generation is going to lead theway someday.
Michele Folan (19:10):
Right.
Yeah.
And then I wrote this down, andI'd love to get your insight
into this.
How can someone know if they'reliving in survival mode instead
of vitality mode?
What are the signs?
Eric North (19:27):
Saying no to everything.
That's one thing I think rightthere.
Just saying no before you evenbefore you even understand what
you're doing.
I think recognizing that thatthat no is is fear-based, and
then recognizing that that thatfear is keeping you from
reliving, it's keeping all of usfrom living better lives.
And it's a matter of walkingthrough a new, a new doorway, a
(19:48):
new, you know, opening a window.
You find you find a new lightsomewhere, I think.
And if you just I also thinkthat we live in a world right
now where everything'sdelivered.
Everything's delivered.
You don't have to really.
Leave your house.
And right there, that'salienating.
And then why do you bother?
That's hard to make then yousay it's hard to make friends.
It's hard to make friends whenyou're at home all the time and
(20:09):
you're getting an Amazondelivery every 10 minutes.
You know, it's hard.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah.
Eric North (20:12):
So I think there's a lot to be said just for social
interaction.
Michele Folan (20:16):
You know, let's let's put a challenge out there,
Eric.
Eric North (20:18):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (20:19):
To people listening to this.
Over the holidays in the nextend of January, say yes to
something that you have thatpull to say no because you you
you're more comfortable in yourjammies and your slippers at 7
30 at night.
But why why not say yes?
Say yes to that lunch date oryou know, go shopping with a
(20:43):
friend or whatever.
Eric North (20:45):
Yeah.
I did something like that acouple of years ago, and I said,
I'm I don't like networkingpretty particularly, like
meeting strangers andnetworking.
And I don't want to I don'thave to sell myself to anyone.
I'd rather just socialize andlisten to people's ideas.
It's more what I'm into, orlisten to what they're thinking
about.
So I made a vow to myself thatI would go out once a month to
some type of like businesssocial event.
(21:07):
And it went pretty well.
And then in March of 2020, itall stopped.
Okay, so everything ended.
But that was my goal.
And it went really well.
I started doing it like inNovember.
It was like November, December,January, February, and then all
of a sudden it was all stopped.
And that was kind of liberatingbecause I because I was able to
look at the well, I'm not isthere a fear of missing out?
And I realized some of thesethings I'm not missing out on, I
(21:27):
don't want to do.
I know, I don't enjoy.
And the ones that I did enjoy,the people I connected with, I
continued to socialize with andand you know and collaborate
with.
Michele Folan (21:35):
Yeah, you know, and um this isn't about me, but
I do have a story for you.
So last week I went to afashion show.
My daughter was in the fashionshow, so she asked me to come
and and support and was happy todo that.
And I went by myself.
Now, 20 years ago, I've beenlike, I'm not going to that by
myself.
(21:55):
But I was like shakingeverybody's hand at the table,
networking, you know, who, youknow, like what do you do?
You know, all this made a greatbusiness connection.
I love doing that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (22:10):
And I think we need to challenge ourselves
sometimes to step out of ourcomfort zone, even at 61.
Eric North (22:18):
And go out by yourself and be the let people
orbit around you.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Yeah.
Eric North (22:22):
Let your energy show who they are.
And just for once withouthaving without having a sidekick
all the time.
I like having lots of friendsaround too.
I'm very social.
But I also, there's a value ingoing out.
I go out by myself.
I'll do business trips bymyself quite often.
And I'll just jump into thepool, basically, to see what
happens.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah.
Eric North (22:39):
And you find your way.
And it's fun.
And it's fun.
Meaning, I always think when Iwas younger, I backpacked
through Europe a few times.
It was cheap back then.
You had a little backpack.
I could travel for $10 a day.
And I would just go whereverthe world, wherever the world,
whatever struck me that day.
But every time I wentsomewhere, I would make a new
pack of friends immediately.
And then another new pack offriends somewhere else, another
(23:01):
new pack of friends somewhereelse.
And it was just like it wasmagical because you could just
go anywhere and just have meetpeople from all over the world.
Michele Folan (23:08):
It's so fabulous.
Eric North (23:10):
So long ago, I can't remember myself.
I can't imagine myself doingthat now.
Michele Folan (23:13):
But it was uh Eric, we're gonna take a quick
break.
When we come back, I want totalk about the happiness
workout.
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All right, we are back.
Before we take a break, I saidI want to talk about the
happiness workout.
And I would love it if youwould walk us through what it
(24:38):
looks like in a real day forsomeone in their 50s or 60s who
is in doing the happinessworkout.
Eric North (24:46):
It's not complicated.
There's no and there's no setlesson plan for it, other than
the fact that I we startedtalking, I went off topic a
little bit.
Do I talk to myself?
Yes, every morning, no matterwhat.
I'm doing that, I said I'vebeen doing this for my aunts,
gave me this a long time ago,but also as a as a last 10
years, I've probably done thisevery single morning.
I don't care where I am or whatI, you know, I don't care how I
(25:09):
sound, or someone can hear mein the next room, I say, good
morning, Eric.
It's gonna be a great day.
I say it as if I love thatperson that I'm talking to.
And that right there isprobably the most important part
of the happiness workout, isgiving yourself a daily
affirmation that makes sense toyou.
(25:30):
It may not be the same that Ido, it may be longer for
someone, but for me, it's verysimple.
And I will tell you, Ianecdotally, I had a really um
crazy early flight one morning.
And I couldn't get a car to gothere and everything.
It was really a big mess.
I totally forgot.
And I got to the airport, andthen the airport was screwed up.
(25:51):
And I said to myself, I was inan elevator, I said, Good
morning, Eric.
It's gonna be a great day.
I because I'd forgotten, likethree hours later.
And everything changed,everything started going
smoothly, the rest of the daywas awesome, and everything was
great.
I just forgotten.
It wasn't a punishment, but itwas more a reminder to myself
that I deserve to be happy everyday.
I deserve to have a great dayevery day, and everyone does.
Michele Folan (26:12):
You're manifesting.
Eric North (26:13):
I'm manifesting, and I don't like to use all that
stuff so much as like, oh, youknow, you're gonna do you're
gonna make everything come toyou.
But when you manifest in sortof a pure form like that, you're
not, you're you're doingsomething really good for
yourself.
It's it's just I like to keepthings very elemental and very
simple and just break it down sothat everyone can understand
that.
And I think if you feel stupiddoing that, that's you, that's
(26:34):
the inner voice stopping us fromfrom from doing something
that's good for ourselves.
And that happens a lot.
I think the reason I'm aboutbeing stagnated in life, that
happens a lot.
People feel like, I don'tdeserve something good.
I don't deserve to be happy.
And if you know the firstproblem in happiness for workout
is having the morningaffirmation.
I always say, have some waterin the morning to get started
before you have coffee oranything.
(26:56):
Don't go, I need coffee, somewater, walk around a little bit.
I unload the dishwasher in themorning.
It's just a stupid thing.
And I do some stretching, and Ithink it's very important to do
stretching.
I think shoulder stretching, ifyou work out in the morning and
you're anxious and nervous, ifyou do a good shoulder roll, it
takes the anxiety level waydown.
And then that's scientific thatthis had an the Washington Post
(27:17):
just had an article about doingshoulder rolls and how they
they actually they immediatelylower blood pressure and heart
rate.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Yeah.
Eric North (27:23):
And it's neat.
You can do this at your desk,yeah, you know, yeah.
And stuff like that.
And then I think the other mostimportant thing, even if it's
cloudy out or if it's evenraining, raining can be kind of
hard, but getting any kind ofnatural light early in the
morning, and that's in the firstcouple hours of daylight, is
the best light for usemotionally.
And what that does is it setsus, it sets our rhythms and our
(27:43):
in our brain better.
So we're less depression, more,more uplifting day, happier
spirit.
And it really makes a bigdifference.
If you can see the sunrise andyour schedule allows it, get up
and do it.
Michele Folan (27:55):
Yeah.
It doesn't have to be sunny.
Eric North (27:57):
No, no, it can be a big, beautiful, cloudy morning.
It doesn't matter, but havesome way to appreciate.
I think important thing, andanother thing I said on another
podcast, I think if you can gobarefoot outside for a while,
even if it's even if it's on apatio, do that too.
It's harder in the winter, butit's possible.
You know, it's better.
Anything's possible if if wehave the will for it.
So anything where you're intouch with the earth, and
(28:18):
actually, I think another thingthat makes me really sad with
people I hear about is that ourour our our society's connection
with nature is going down anddown and down every year.
So over 50% of people don'tfeel connected with nature.
And I think, well, that's justsitting under a tree.
Looking at this tree iswonderful, is a beautiful thing
that has life.
So I'm kind of weird that way.
(28:39):
I just I like to there's athing called forest bathing that
they do, especially especiallyin Japan, where they just go
into the forest and they just itfeels like a massage almost
because it's mental.
Michele Folan (28:48):
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
You know, and here's somethingelse too.
And I tell my clients, youknow, try to get in as much
outdoor walking as you can.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (28:58):
But it's also good to unplug.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Yes.
Michele Folan (29:01):
Not you know, take the earbuds out and and
really connect with the soundsso that you're paying attention
to what's going on around you.
Yeah.
I think that is that's suchgreat advice, right?
Eric North (29:13):
I have removed, I have, I rarely, I have a set of
headphones I can do for apodcast, but I rarely have any
headphones on.
I don't wear them to the gym.
I used to wear them when I rodemy bike.
I ride my bike a lot.
That's my primary uh mode oftransportation.
And I had a big accident in mybike and had to have my my my
quads rebuilt.
I had my headphones on.
(29:33):
I'm not blaming that, but afterthat, I was like, I want to be
present in my life when I'm outdog walking, walking, riding my
bike, anything that I'm doingthat's active and I'm outside, I
want to be present.
And that has changed my wholemindset.
I'm much more relaxed now.
I'm much more life, just feelsum smoother when I when I don't
have all this.
I podcasts are awesome, but Idon't need to walk around the
(29:55):
neighborhood, listen to apodcast.
And like I might see a neighborI want to talk to too.
Michele Folan (29:59):
Yeah.
And then you also blend breathwork.
So we talked about somefunctional movement.
Yeah.
And then mental training.
What makes this mix especiallypowerful for aging bodies and
brains?
Eric North (30:14):
Because it slows us down, lets us get into ourselves
a little bit.
Like I said, like you said,it's it's it helps us to
deprogram all the negativity inthe world around us.
And I think that's veryimportant.
Nothing is going to hurt usunless we allow it to hurt us,
unless we allow it to hurt us.
And often our fears are notgonna are ungrounded.
So if you can go through, andthen if we're happier, and I'm
(30:34):
I'm trying to build more happypeople.
I'm trying to build people thatare connected with a bond of
happiness, like they have innerhappiness and they understand
what that means.
And I think that's that'sreally so the happy smart back
to the happiness where youworkout, it's also being having
some kind of social activity,even if it's just going to the
grocery store.
Something where you're out inpublic and you get to smile at
someone and say hello or helpthem with something makes a big
(30:56):
difference in how we and how therest of our day goes.
And then I'm always aboutmovement.
Movement is key to everything.
So humans are supposed to move.
That's how we're built ourbodies are built.
When we sit, we we we getinjured.
Michele Folan (31:09):
Yeah.
And don't get me started onthat.
Eric North (31:12):
I know that's that I did my research on you too.
I saw how you I really likedyour the the way you look at
life with your clients and theway you um you've been doing
your your um peanut butter um uhprojecting biscuit thing.
Yeah, those look so good, butyou were so pat you were so into
it, you know.
I thought that's someone who'svery authentic.
Michele Folan (31:33):
So I eat before I work out.
Eric North (31:36):
I do too.
Michele Folan (31:37):
I don't work out fasted.
And there's two camps on thatone.
People that are like, oh no,you gotta work out fasted.
And I'm like, no, you don't.
Eric North (31:47):
And no, you don't.
No, you don't.
And I I've been in in workout,high-level workouts, and I
should personal trainer for along time.
Here's some big myths.
Intermittent fasting doesn'tmatter.
There's no I was thought it wasvery fishy when it became a big
thing a few years ago.
I thought to myself, there'ssomething about people doing
this that trying to be holierthan other people.
I think it's a lot of trying tobe better than someone else.
(32:09):
Oh, I can go to 16 hours, 18hours, you know, without eating.
I don't feel good when I don'teat when I don't eat better.
I feel like my morning walk, Ijust need water, some coffee,
and I'll go out for two, youknow, a two or three mile fast
walk.
But to go to the gym, you know,I have I have a home gym and I
have a uh an actual gym that Igo to.
(32:29):
When I'm in my home gym, I'mcooking something at the same
time.
I'm having I always havepineapple.
I think pineapple is one of thebest foods you can eat to work
out because it helps withinflammation and and digestion.
And I think it's it's fine tohave something carb-wise to kind
of feel your workout, make youstronger.
I think you're stronger whenyou have a little nutrition
beforehand.
Michele Folan (32:49):
Yeah.
Eric North (32:50):
And that's what it's all about, is being able to
break the muscle down andrecover faster.
Michele Folan (32:53):
And so again, what maybe worked for you when
you were 25 or 30 years old isnot the secret sauce when we get
in midline.
Eric North (33:03):
Like Michelle, let's go for a walk and go to the
bakery and have a stop and go.
Michele Folan (33:07):
Yeah.
Oh, oh my God, you and I couldgo down a whole rabbit hole with
this one.
But yeah, I thought this wasinteresting because as I was
doing my research, what roledoes forgiveness play in letting
go emotionally and to grab thathealthy life?
Eric North (33:29):
Everything.
Holding on to I see peopleaging so fast when they hold on
to negativity.
Yeah.
And if you see people that youknow, and you could I sometimes
try to avoid people that havetoo much negative energy.
I'll just, I won't be mean, butI'll just kind of I'll go away,
I'll drift away.
I'll see them, and they'restill and I had a friend on I
had used to always becomplaining about something and
(33:51):
something and something, uh andboyfriend, you know, or always
something.
And then we we hooked, we wemet up about five years after we
had kind of split apart.
And it was the same thing, andI'm calling an Uber while we're
talking because I'm ready to getthe heck out of there, you
know, because I thought, andthis person used to be
beautiful, and it just uh agesyou so much.
And forgiveness is can be hard.
(34:13):
We want it's sometimes thatthat little thing that we're mad
about, it keeps people alive.
I think sometimes some peoplethe anger keeps them alive, but
I think it also makes them evenmore more dreadful.
But it's forgiveness is has tobe used appropriately.
Okay.
So some things you have to beable to walk away from in life
and have a boundary.
Otherwise, you can stillforgive that person because you
(34:34):
may not want to be around themor something, you know.
And um, it's it it that is whenI was able to be f more
forgiving, I feel like I'dfinally grown up.
Michele Folan (34:43):
Yeah.
Eric North (34:44):
Now it's probably my fifties.
Michele Folan (34:45):
You know, and I think sometimes when we carry
that with us for so long, itkeeps us from living.
Eric North (34:55):
It does.
Michele Folan (34:56):
It keeps us from being.
Eric North (34:57):
Yeah.
Michele Folan (34:58):
And I think that is one of the worst things we
can do to ourselves is to holdon to that shit.
Eric North (35:06):
It is shit.
And life is life is and you canlet someone I say, I don't have
to let someone shit on me.
I mean, I hate to use thatword, but I don't if someone I
don't have I can I can walk awayfrom that.
I don't have to take it either,you know?
Michele Folan (35:19):
Yeah.
Eric North (35:20):
We all have that choice.
Michele Folan (35:21):
I'd love to talk a little bit about breath work.
I've done um a podcast onbreath work with my friend
Sandy, and I want to know howyou implement breath work into
your whole routine.
Eric North (35:36):
Oh, it I think for I'll kind of go backwards in my
day because at night breath workis how I go to sleep.
So I'd I'll do a I'll do a uh afour-second inhale,
seven-second um hold,four-second exhale, and then a
little kind of break in betweenand then repeat.
And that feels a little bitlike your heart's gonna burst at
(35:57):
first when you're not used toit.
But once you get used to it andget a rhythm for it, it's very
simple, and you hold on to thatbreath.
And when you're holding thebreath, you really start to
think differently in your headfor that seven seconds, too.
That starts to really clearthings.
I think it kind of clearsthings out.
And I fall asleep so easilythat way.
And that is also after myevening affirmation, which is,
you know, that I did my best, Iwas told I did my best today,
(36:18):
I'll do better tomorrow.
Tomorrow's a new opportunity tofor new life.
That's what I'll tell myselfalmost every night before I go
to bed.
And if I don't think, if Ithink I have something that I
have to think about that daythat maybe I didn't do as well
as I as I should have, I'llthink about it and I'll I won't
do it.
I won't do it again.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Okay.
Eric North (36:33):
And then that and that leads me to be more
relaxed.
And then the breathing, thenI'm asleep in five minutes
before you know it.
And that's kind of backwards.
Now, during the day, I have todo a podcast or I have to be on
live television or something.
Couple of, just quick inhales,you know, just kind of get
yourself in exhales just to kindof clear the head.
I think it's breathing for meis about bringing stress down
(36:54):
and clearing my head and havinga having a um open mindset after
that.
So you know, important.
Michele Folan (37:00):
Oh, it is very.
And you've maintainedincredible strength and vitality
even at 61, right?
What are the core physicalpractices that you rely on now?
And how has that changed sinceyour 40s?
Eric North (37:18):
I think the time I spend in the gym is less is less
now than in my 40s.
So my 40s is more aboutrefining my physique and my
outward appearance.
And when now in my 60, or late50s to 60, became my my VO2 max,
like my cardio strength, myability to ride my bike up steep
hills and to keep that going.
(37:38):
And then another thing I'vealways done, and this is kind of
a guy thing, is since I was ayoung, my family was very into
fitness, but as a young man, Imoved around and a lot of it.
I always had a pull-up bar thatwould go on a door and door
frame.
So pull-ups are one of the mostimportant things in my life.
And being able to just do goodpull-ups now at this age is
something that I have a really Iit's gonna take a really hard
(37:59):
time for me when it starts toget older and it's getting a
little harder.
As we get older, we don't loseour life vitality, but we lose
our force.
We're not quite as strongsometimes.
They're able to push as fast aswe did maybe 10 years ago.
So I look at that as my mypull-up volume.
And then I also do a lot ofpush-ups too.
And I don't do them as much asI used to.
(38:21):
I do I have to take a day offand rest now more sometimes too.
Before I could do them everyday, I could work out high
intensity six days a week.
Michele Folan (38:29):
Yeah, but I think, you know, we can't
overlook recovery days because Ithink that's where I mean,
yeah, you know, it's kind of themental and the physical piece
there as well.
Eric North (38:40):
Without a recovery day, I would be a mess.
That's what I know now.
I tell anybody who's workingout now, too.
Recovery days in between aweightlifting days, I think
important.
And but I but I do believe thateveryone, if if if physically
possible, and I talk about thiswhen I'm doing a thing on TV,
I'll talk about how to makethings accessible to all levels
of ability levels, butphysically possible to move
(39:02):
cardio-wise 40 minutes a day,preferably outside.
And that's what you need.
That's that's not it's not themaximum, it's not the minimum.
It's kind of the ideal sweetspot for most people, is 40
minutes at a pretty highintense, uh intenser heart rate.
Michele Folan (39:15):
Yeah.
You know, I had this week, Ihave Dr.
Vonda Wright, who is orthopedicsurgeon, and she talked about
at least 45 minutes three timesa week in zone two.
You know, you're not breathlessto where you can't have a
conversation, but you're you'reat a good there.
Eric North (39:36):
I mean, I think three days a week is okay, but I
really don't think if if you'rephysically able, I think it's
good to do it over.
I try to.
Michele Folan (39:44):
I definitely try to.
Eric North (39:45):
I can tell.
I yeah, yeah, yeah.
If I can.
You know, like the other day itwas thirty seven degrees and
raining hard in the morning.
I was like, I'm gonna go lateron today, you know.
So yeah.
Michele Folan (39:55):
Yeah, I probably pass on that one too.
Eric North (39:57):
Not crazy, not that crazy, but yeah.
Michele Folan (39:58):
Well, and I think this brings up But good
question.
How can sedentary adultsreintroduce movement in a way
that builds momentum instead ofmakes them feel discouraged?
Eric North (40:10):
The whole discouragement part is so sad
because I think we we tend toput such high expectations on
ourselves.
And I like I can't like Ireally have a problem with New
Year's resolutions because Ithink they're just ridiculous.
I think it should be somethingthat is a daily mindset thing
where you're gonna change.
You're gonna change something,it takes three weeks to make a
good habit come true.
And so I to be discouraged.
(40:33):
Everyone who's physicallycapable can can build every day.
So if you if you if it takes ifyou can just take five, I think
just a five-minute walk aftereach meal is a start.
Ten minutes is then you get toten minutes.
Go to the mailbox, go down the,you know, go down in the street
and come backwards again, gofor a walk in the woods, which
is really good.
It doesn't have to be an hourwith with weights in your hands
(40:56):
and you're dead.
You have to be give yourself atime to get make it part of your
life, make it something thatyou look forward to doing every
day.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
Yeah.
Eric North (41:04):
And I always think walking is the best medicine
too.
Walking is a is a natural wayto start feeling more confident
in ourselves as well.
Michele Folan (41:11):
Oh, and it's free.
Eric North (41:13):
It's free.
It's free, it's freeeverything.
Yeah.
Michele Folan (41:16):
That that's really good advice.
unknown (41:17):
Yeah.
Eric North (41:18):
It's a free therapy session.
Michele Folan (41:19):
So we've talked a lot about your your own good
habits.
Is there another core habitthat you don't skip?
Eric North (41:26):
Just we even talked about nutrition, but I really
believe that making our ownfoods and knowing where our food
comes from is a reallyimportant part of life.
And I'm not everyone hasaccess.
I have access to so manyfarmers markets in this city
that I that I it's crazy.
But I always have this, I makeit a really big habit on it.
If I don't have anything else,sometimes Saturday is the day to
get other things done.
(41:46):
A Saturday morning for me, andI'm sad now because my farmer's
market's closed for the winter.
My my my my local one.
There's another one down theroad.
But Saturday mornings for me issort of a ritual.
I go for a bike ride.
I live near the I live near abig park with lots of bike
trails, and it's an incrediblybeautiful.
And I do that, and then I rideup to the farmer's market, and
(42:07):
then I get my food.
But I know all the farmers, andI know I know who's growing my
vegetables, I know who gets themeat that I use, I know who's
the apple farmer has 37different types of far of
apples, and he's doing a studywith the University of
Pennsylvania.
It's kind of an amazing groupof people who do this every
every week.
And just being a part of thatand coming home, and I'll share
that on a video sometimes iswhat I've, you know, like what I
(42:29):
picked up.
And it's just it's an easy wayto eat healthy and also have
some respect for where our foodcomes from, too.
And nutritionally dense foodsare so important and and and
they help.
And if we're really thinkingeven even deeper, what I do is I
think, what am I doing thatday?
What what foods do I need toenhance that day and make me
stronger and feel better andhave energy levels that are on
(42:50):
during the day?
And that's one of my bigthings, is eating with a
purpose.
Michele Folan (42:54):
You know, playing it forward, because I think
sometimes we eat the say we eata couple cookies on an empty
stomach, and then we wonder whyat two o'clock in the afternoon
we're crashing and going for thecaffeine and more sugar.
And I always, when I eatsomething, I think, okay, how am
I gonna feel after I eat this?
(43:15):
And I do too.
Yeah.
I think it's just such a goodpractice.
And the other thing is if itcomes from the ground or has a
mother, then that's always agood option to eat rather than
something that comes out of apackage.
Eric North (43:31):
And and to respect what it took to bring that to
their table, too.
I think it's very important.
You know, I these people who goon these carnivore diets, what
kind of quality of meat are theyeating every day?
And they're not getting abalance.
I don't think that's a good wayto live at all.
But that's just another anybodywho wants to challenge me on
that, that's fine.
I don't believe in it at all.
Speaker 2 (43:48):
Yeah.
Eric North (43:49):
I think we need fiber, I think we need
vegetables, I think we needthings to clear and purify our
system.
And so I'm a big thing aboutvariety of foods.
Fruit, I think fruit is afruit, it I it gets a lot of bad
rap for having too much sugar.
I think you can eat all thefruit you want, which is fine.
All the fruit you want, have abanana.
I have bananas all the time.
I've I would I have I haveorganic apples are an essential
(44:10):
part of my daily diet, no matterwhat.
You know, when I'm traveling,I'll get my hotel to get me
apples.
Yeah, you know, to make sure Ihave them.
Michele Folan (44:15):
Yeah, organic.
Yeah, organic is important.
Eric North (44:18):
And I'm not always an organic person for
everything, but it's certainthings like apples or berries
are very important.
Michele Folan (44:24):
Yes.
Oh, we're on the same pagethere.
Eric North (44:26):
I that's that's like talking to a little person.
Heck yeah, heck yeah.
Michele Folan (44:30):
Yeah, and and you know, I often challenge people
who have done keto and they'relike, oh, but I lost so much of
weight on keto.
I'm like, well, then why areyou back talking to me?
Eric North (44:42):
Because the weight is it is all they think it's a
simple game where they can theythink they can gain the system
with some kind of trendy thingthat happens.
I'm going to um in my in mybusiness world, there's a a
group called A4M, which does allthe longevity medicine and
stuff.
And they have a huge umconference in Vegas in about 10
days.
So I have to go to that.
(45:03):
About 6,000 doctors and peoplewho do who do longevity
medicine.
And every year, though, there'sa new fad.
There's a new fad every year,it's something or other.
And I just sort of ignore that.
I just sort of, I really, I'mnot missing out.
There's a fear of missing out.
If I don't do this new fad, I'mgonna miss out on this thing.
And I've just never reallyprescribed to that.
I've always thought, let's juststay with what I think is
(45:23):
sensible and what works for me.
And as as my needs have changedover my lifespan too.
We keep talking about being 61.
61, you've learned a long time,but you've also realized that
to have that nice smile and hadthat happy energy and
everything, it takes a littlebit of work.
It takes a little bit of, it'scalled self-love.
Speaker 3 (45:41):
Yes.
Eric North (45:42):
Self-love is not about getting your I love, you
know, getting a pedicure isawesome, but self-love to me is
not about all the superficialthings, it's about the inner,
the inner, our inner needs ofwhat we need.
And being able to do thatwithout any guilt and without
any shame.
Michele Folan (45:55):
So yeah, I love that.
I agree.
And then for listeners who areready to reclaim their energy,
emotional vitality, what's oneritual they can start today?
Eric North (46:08):
Morning affirmation.
I want everyone to challengethemselves to say something
that's gonna make you feelreally good every day, that's
gonna get you through the day.
It can be whatever you want, itcan be the same thing.
Good morning, Michelle.
It's gonna be a great day.
And it's infectious.
People start to pick up on thattoo.
If we share that with, and Ithink sharing our experiences
with others is what it's allabout.
(46:29):
We're doing a podcast to shareour experiences here.
But sharing things with othersthat work, don't just don't be
afraid to raise your voice andsay something.
Speak up.
This is what helps me.
I want to hear, I want to, I'malways interested in other
people's experiences and andthings that work for them too.
Michele Folan (46:46):
Yeah.
Eric North (46:46):
Because there's a lot we can pick up.
Michele Folan (46:48):
It's the importance of community.
Eric North (46:50):
Community is so important.
It's been my focus all daytoday.
It's been my focus.
What I've been thinking aboutis community, how important that
is.
Michele Folan (46:56):
Eric North, where can listeners learn more about
your work and connect with youand begin the happiness workout?
Eric North (47:03):
Well, I'm on Facebook, which is for a lot of
my old friends, but I'm also mymy biggest platform is is
Instagram, and I'm the HappinessWarrior official.
So if you start looking up theHappiness Warrior official, I'll
be on there.
I do videos every week, and Itry to do it.
And I really lately I've beengetting a lot of interactions
and a lot of a lot of a lot ofpeople have been talking to my
talking back to me, which Ilove.
Michele Folan (47:23):
Oh I love that.
That's great interaction.
Eric North (47:25):
Interaction, I encourage it.
I want more interaction becauseI want to be able to hear
feedback and what makes peoplehappy.
When I do TV, I want my I havemy neighbors, I'll be like, I'm
on, I'm on channel five thisweek and you'll watch it, and
they'll be like, they'll give mecriticism sometimes.
They'll like you to show us alittle bit more about for older
people or make it make it alittle bit easier for you know a
disabled person to understand.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
Oh, that's awesome.
It's important.
Michele Folan (47:45):
Yeah, yeah.
Eric North (47:45):
It feels good.
You know, someone's watching metoo.
I love that.
Makes me feel good.
Michele Folan (47:50):
Makes us all feel good, right?
Eric North (47:51):
Yeah, it does make it.
Michele Folan (47:54):
Eric North, I love your passion and
enthusiasm.
This was such an upliftingconversation, and I would really
recommend listeners check outEric at the Happiness Warrior
Official.
And uh thanks for being heretoday.
Eric North (48:11):
Oh, thank you so much.
I feel like it does like wejust got started, but it was so
much fun.
Michele Folan (48:16):
Thanks for being here.
Thank you for listening.
Please rate and review thepodcast where you listen.
And if you'd like to join theAsking for a Friend community,
click on the link in the shownotes to sign up for my weekly
newsletter where I share midlifewellness and fitness tips,
insights, my favorite finds, andrecipes.
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