The Scott Adams School - 09/30/26 WHITEBOARD! AI Luncheon. FRAUD. MIKE ROWE, Happiness!

And he's just like inspecting it.

Oh my gosh, that's scandalous, Erica. We're on.

Oh, oh, oh, hi, hi everybody.

She's in the green room. I'm just kidding.

You got the girls today. Oh, good morning. Shimmy shake. Good morning everybody. We're gonna give you guys a chance to come in and get situated. I know YouTube needs just a little bit more time. Good morning, everybody. Owen's on assignment. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I know what you're saying.

You do. Andy Wang does. I'm sure he knows. Hey, Jim Courtney. How's Alaska? You guys, we have people in the Beloves that live in Alaska, and it's so funny because there'll be like, I don't know, there's like two or three, I think, regulars that Lucinda, Jim Courtney, Owen, someone else.

Does Lucinda live in Alaska? I didn't know that.

Mm-hmm.

I had no idea. She lived in the South. What did I— where am I thinking?

30 degrees, you guys. It is so gorgeous today on the Jersey Shore, and I could scream and cry and do a jig all at once because it has been so crappy here. And just boo. Just— and we did not get a local summer. Like, the local summer kicked in, the New Yorkers went home, and then it just like rained and got cold and we had storms and it just sucked. But today it is so sunny, nothing can get me down. Don't even try it because I—

Yeah, don't try it, you guys.

I'm excited today. Okay. All right, so I think we had enough time to get everyone in here.

Everybody's ready.

Weird moment. Yeah.

I'm ready.

Are you ready? No, I'm ready. I'm really ready. You ready? Let's go. Yeah.

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Go.

Okay, it seemed like yesterday's sip, but it was different, right? Okay, right. It was different.

Every sip is unique, no matter if it's a repeat or not.

You know, it's true. It's true, Marcella. Thank you for pointing that out. What a great reframe.

Aww.

All right, so just really quick, because I know you guys are clamoring, wondering, how is Jimothy? Has anyone seen Jimothy, the short-bodied raccoon? Yes. Yes, they have. And here, here he is. There's been a Jimothy sighting. Looking stout and good. I like how he flicks his little head when he drinks to like, Swallow. He's like, youp. So Jimothy's— Jimothy's good, you guys.

He looks like he gained weight.

He looks taller.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe it's a close-up.

So be like, hey, Jimothy, are you taller?

Look at—

aww.

Cameras add pounds, so I'm sure he's just very lean. It's just the internet's making him out to be taller.

Look at his hand.

Aww.

I didn't watch this. I'm watching it with you guys.

Aw.

Poor little thing.

All right, bye, Jimothy. So you guys, you can all relax. Jimothy is looking good, looking and feeling good, living his best life. Um, and Marcella, I know you have a big update for us in more bear news. Um, let's remind the folks what was happening. Go ahead. Yeah, you tell us.

Okay, I thought it was a clip coming. I was like, sure, let's remind them. Um, it's me, I'm the clip. Uh, Katmai National Park, as you know, was, uh, hosting— Explorer was hosting a Fat Bear Week for the year of 2026. They've been doing this since 2014, so it's nothing new. But this year they were, um, you know, I asked you to vote. I don't know if you remember, uh, different people voted last year from different countries. This year, um, we have a winner.

We do.

And the winner is—

The winner is— congrats to Backpack, 2026 Fat Bear Week champion.

Yeah, he won. His mom Holly won in 2019, so it runs in the family. And they say that he— his name comes from the fact that he used to ride on his mom's back. So that's why they call them backpack. And they've— he's a gentle giant.

Of course he wouldn't— there he is. Yeah, okay, he's a gentle giant. Oh, yawning.

So they caught him doing that, like massaging himself, and then they also caught him just staring at the river quietly, possibly for fish. I don't know. I mean, if he's staring at the river, I'm sure he's staring for some reason. But he doesn't fight with other bears. I guess that's common for other bears to fight with each other. And so he's very peaceful, loves to eat.

However, if you happen to be in this park and you see Backpack, he is not that peaceful and not that gentle.

In Alaska, yeah.

Yeah, do not approach. Jim Courtney, don't approach. Approach with With a gun. No, I'm kidding.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I was telling Marcella I could be the next backpack with the way I ate yesterday. Do you guys ever just have that day where you go off the rails? I mean, like, Marcella, do you ever go off the rails, or are you super disciplined?

Have I ever not gone off the rails? That's my problem.

Yeah, like, what's your secret, you guys? What's your thing? Like, if you're like, okay, Forget it. It's all going to hell today and I'm eating whatever I want. Like, what are you going for? And I'll tell you, all right, I'll confess first. Um, here's everything I ate yesterday. Wait, I started with something that wasn't too— oh, I had a banana. I had a banana. Then I had—

That's healthy.

2 sort of huge bowls of Captain Crunch berries.

Okay.

Okay.

Sugar.

Then I had a cheese stick. I thought I was getting protein, so I had a cheese stick. Then I had, at some point I had a hard-boiled egg. Then I had 2 miniature Kit Kats from like the Halloween candy stash. Okay, so I had—

yeah, they're small, they're small.

They were like the fun size. Then I was like, uh-oh, I better counterbalance that with another hard-boiled egg.

Okay.

And then I had, oh, a regular size Reese's Peanut Butter Cup thing, like 2 Reese's Cups. And then I thought, oh my God, what have I done today? I better eat some low-fat cottage cheese. That was my bad.

Oh, this morning?

No, last night.

Oh, last night.

Okay. I felt like the protein would wash out the sugar.

Yeah.

How am I doing? Yeah. What's your go-to, Marcela, if you can have like a cheat day?

I don't know. I think like if I could have a cheat day, I would do lots of Thai food.

Oh, noodles.

Lots of noodles. Yeah, I love— my favorite food is Korean food. So like a big Korean barbecue day, but I don't know how that—

But that is really good.

Kimchi is really good for you. Like, uh, it is.

Yeah, it's fermented cabbage.

Yeah, but I would also go to Yogurtland. I really love Yogurtland. Um, not a sponsor, you guys. Not yet.

Not yet.

Um, But Yogurtland, have you— have some in New Jersey? Where are you?

Yogurtland, I don't think. But what toppings do you put on?

I don't put the toppings. No toppings. I like the yogurt for itself. Like, it's not really yogurt, you guys. It tastes like ice cream. But, but basically, that's— I'm a, I'm a no toppings kind of girl.

Yep.

Again, I refrain from—

No sugar in my coffee. No toppings in my Oh my gosh. I like to go straight to it.

Yes. Today I'll eat some meat. I'll eat some meat today.

I do like mangoes with chili and lime.

Yes.

But mango, like, you know, it's a lot of sugar.

I love that. All right, well, see, we too can be like Backpack, but I'm definitely—

You can put in the chat what you like to— what your favorite food is and if you like Yogurtland too.

Maybe kimchi and tuna sandwich. Wow. Um, Erica, what the protein in Reese's? Oh, thank you, the peanut butter. Yes. Yeah, all right, that was a little extra I forgot about.

It's all the chemicals they add to it, I think. Yeah, I'm sorry to say.

Well, I went off the rails, but anyway. Okay, you guys, so, um, listen, I want to give a shout out to Mike Rowe, and you know friend of the show, Mike Rowe. We love him. He's always rooting for, for the worker, the American worker and industry and everything else. For you, Marcella. So listen to this. This is so exciting. Ready?

Well, here's something you don't see every day. That's me in a suit and tie 15 years ago, testifying before Congress about the need for a national effort to reinvent reinvigorate the skilled trades. How about that hair, huh? Well, it took a while, but 15 years later, the feds got back to me. And today it's my privilege to announce buildfreedom.us. This is a brand new website filled with hundreds of thousands of AI-proof 6-figure jobs in the defense industrial base. I'm talking about truly essential jobs building the next generation of fighter jets and nuclear submarines and autonomous weapons and so forth. The jobs are real, they're in demand, and So is the $10 million donation Build Freedom gave me so I can give you the scholarships you need to get the training required to land one of these AI-proof 6-figure jobs. These opportunities are real. So is the money at buildfreedom.us. Go get some.

Oh, like, that is so amazing, you guys. buildfreedom.us. Jot it down. Just go take a look at it. You know, somebody—

I may change careers, you guys. I may be gone.

Real?

Yeah.

I'd be really freaking excited if I was someone that was like, I need a— I can do a career change. Like, let's, let's do something that's useful. AI-proof, 6-figure jobs. Let's go.

Is that robot-proof?

Well, I think you control the robots. Oh, you're like the robot guy.

I really would like to control the robots.

Yeah.

Okay, well, Marcela, it might be time for you to leave lawyering and go to, to buildfreedom.us, Marcela.

And you can get us going there now, you guys.

So you guys, if you have, um, anyone in your life who's just like, you know, and sometimes you're like in a job and you're like, I'm just here, I don't even really care about what I'm doing, I'm just going through the motions, like I don't really want to sell No motivation. Whatever I'm doing there. Go, go look at it. Go look at it. And training, wait, and also the older you are, the easier you are to train. It's like you're not so distracted with life. I think so. If I take classes now as a grown person versus when I had to be in a class, I'm there because I want to be there. So I'm just like, give it to me. What do I need to know? So I just love that. I love it. I think this is so exciting and Micro, great job. Great job. I'm so excited about this. So we'll have to check it out. Um, all right, so what else did I want to get to? Oh, I promised you guys I wanted to show you a clip of, um— I really, you know, Bill Maher just hits the nail on the head. Love him or not, I love him. I love him. I, I don't mind nuance in people, you guys. Like, we don't have to like everything someone says, but I— if I do like some of the things people are saying, I like them. Like, I like that I don't have to agree with you 100% of the time. I tend to agree with almost everything Bill Maher says. But listen to this the other night. And if anyone needs to, you can make a little clip of this and show your friends when they're feeling boo-hoo about voting Republican. Let's just take a look at what, what Bill says.

But here's what's crazy. The progress we've made in the last few years in both street drugs and prescription drugs Is truly phenomenal, and no one's talking about it. Deaths involving fentanyl are down 55% from their peak. Cocaine, down 37%. Heroin, 89%. There's been a 34% decrease in meth-related deaths, which has led to a 64% increase in teeth. What happened? It's not like Americans suddenly became a people who make good decisions. Well, part of it is— part of it is reasons beyond politics. That's true. Heroin, for example, lost a lot of its appeal now that people can shoot Ozempic to get skinny. But mostly it's because Democrats did some things and Republicans did other things. And by not actually ever working together, They stumbled upon positive change, or as Trump put it, it was all me. That's what he said. He said Biden did absolutely nothing. Well, actually, Biden did do something. He had great success with this issue because he made Narcan more easily obtainable. What is Narcan?

I don't know.

What I do know is. When a person used to be overdosing and about to croak and had like a minute to live before they died, the way we used to handle it was John Travolta would stick a needle in your tip. But we found something better: Narcan, and Democrats fast-tracked it. That contributed a lot to the huge decrease in drug deaths, but so did closing the border. And deporting gangbangers and disrupting supply. Narcan worked and law enforcement worked. You see, mommy and daddy, for the sake of the kids, work together even though they hate each other.

I love that. You know what, good, good for you, Bill Maher. We appreciate you highlighting those things. There is nothing wrong with pointing out success. Even if you don't technically love the party behind it or the person behind it, success is success. If we're all winning, that's the name of the game. So I love it, Marcella. Um, don't you think Scott would just be thrilled seeing those numbers with the drugs coming down?

He would be thrilled. Um, I think today, um, is Justin's, um, Like the day that he died. So I think it's— he would be thrilled about his stepson. He lost his stepson, and I think today's the day. But anyways, um, I think he would be thrilled about going down. I don't know about immigration and closing the border led to less, uh, I guess not the immigrants, but I guess the, the trafficking.

Yeah, yeah.

I do suspect that the numbers need to be looked at closer about how they came about doing it. Are they counting everybody? If they, you know, have something else, they call it something else instead of fentanyl death, you know, so you never know. It's kind of, kind of like saying, oh, crime is down, but like, they're not counting everything. But Narcan has really been helpful. And I think Scott was pivotal in, in moving us in that direction.

So, yeah, and, you know, President Trump put so much pressure on these, uh, cartel members and drug manufacturers, you know, illegal drug manufacturers. And, um, you know, it's not perfect. It's not perfect. It's better. And it's being talked about, which is what was missing with other administrations. Like, it was like nobody cared about the drug deaths. And, you know, like I was saying, it's, you know, if we lose 70,000 people a year to fentanyl deaths, and you just pictured all those people sitting in a football stadium together and a bomb dropped on them, if you need to see it that way, that's like, you know, imagine 70,000 people every football— a football stadium every year of Americans just gone from drugs. So I love that. Trump is very focused on it, his administration. So, you know, Scott definitely helped push that because all of us pushed it. I mean, we were doing hashtag fentanyl China for years.

Remember fentanyl China?

Yeah, hashtag fentanyl China. I mean, that was our hashtag. So I think it's— I think that's great news. And I like that Bill, you know, pointed out a lot of the positives. And I would like to see Republicans and Democrats work together, you know, It's just, it's just a good feeling. It's like we need to feel like a country again and not this, you know, multi-divided nation, which really just stinks. So, um, good for Bill. Good for Bill. Um, okay, Marcella, another thing I wanted to say good for the Trump administration— see, we're just so happy today, you guys. More happy news here is I think that, um, RFK Jr., his new job is going to be like some kind of talk show host when he's done with the administration. He's doing cooking shows, he's doing sit-down interviews like Oprah. Um, here he is talking with our Vice President, J.D. Vance. J.D.'s looking good, by the way. He's looking like lanky and lean and quite presidential. Let's take a look.

Very nice.

So we found close to $250 billion in fraud just since I've been leading the anti-fraud task force, and one of the things that has genuinely shocking to me about this work is how many of the programs that we have that are meant to be generous to our fellow Americans have no real eligibility criteria. In other words, whatever it says in the law, like for example, to receive food stamp benefits, you have to be a certain income, you have to be, you know, certain family situation, etc. There are these eligibility standards, but we don't enforce them, or at least the states that administer the programs don't enforce them at all. And so, you know, like a very basic thing, you have to be an American citizen to benefit from the Medicare program. I think that's a pretty common sense thing. We don't want to give healthcare to literally everybody, including people who have been here in the country illegally. And yet, because we don't check eligibility sufficiently, we were giving billions and billions of dollars to both— to people receiving benefits who weren't entitled to receive them, to phantom people who didn't even exist, and then to phantom businesses who were billing for services they weren't providing to people who didn't actually exist. And there was just so much of this stuff. And frankly, there probably is still so much of this stuff. I really do believe that we've just started to scratch the surface here. Your, your people, Dr. Oz, and your deputy secretary, you've been amazing, amazing at working with us on this. But there's just so much fraud out there.

Marcella, I'm loving this. I mean, why haven't we done this before?

Yeah, well, I know why we haven't done this before, because the certain party was benefiting. Follow the money, right? But the issue with this is like, I think Scott hit on it, allegedly. Um, I think Scott hit on it when he was talking about, and I keep thinking of this, is that the deficit It might just be all fraud, or a lot of the is fraud, you know. Um, we have many people taking advantage, um, Americans and foreign, uh, people, you know. I think one of the things Sternovich was saying is to go to Monaco, which I'm thinking of, and like record all these like supercars, like Ferraris and all that, that have Ukrainian, uh, plates or Ukrainian owners. There's so much fraud, and yet Middle America, it's like there's no money. It's like diesel is so expensive, this and that. It's like, I'm glad that the administration is hitting at fraud, and it is so hard to prosecute too because it's hard to get to that level legally. To get that, you know, the evidence to prove that. But at the same time, it's, it's wonderful that they're getting— and the enforcement of it gets other people not to commit the fraud because they're scared of getting caught. So it's good.

Yeah, it's really good. And it's like, it just boils your blood when you think about we gave all that money to Ukraine. We're like, here, launder it, have fun with it, take it. Uh, see you later. Um, you know, and, and like you see people like Randi Weingarten going over to Ukraine, you're like, um, what are you— what are you doing? Like, you're the, uh, what is she called? The school— what's her fake thing? What's she called? Randi Weingarten. That's so funny, I forget her title.

Uh, school chair of president.

I forget what it's called.

I can't—

someone will write it in the chat. I don't know why I blanked on that, but she's like the head of the Oh, the, uh, union. Teachers union. Oh my God. Okay, there we go. Um, they did buy our weapons, Erica. Nice deal, right? Yeah, teacher union loon is right. So like, why is she going to Ukraine? She's just another political—

well, she wants her supercar, obviously, or her robot or drone.

Super hairdresser. Um, all right, so you know what, it's, it's good. We're finding fraud everywhere. I happen to believe Nick Shirley kicked this off, and he showed how easy it was to do. So it's like, look, you know, you don't need to be a rocket scientist. Just follow the money. Like everyone says, follow the money. And I agree that I think our deficit is fraud. I mean, remember the Pentagon lost billions of dollars? Oh, where'd it go? Just that's it. That's just billions gone. That's it. Where'd it go? And we're done. Okay, moving along. So listen, let's get happy with Scott, you guys, because Marcella also has to give us news on some things that happened. So let's get into it. If you've seen this before, take it in again. Because you can never hear it enough. And, um, I felt like this was the, uh, whiteboard we needed today. So let's kick back for about 18, 19 minutes, have your coffee, and, um, we'll see you in a bit.

There's not much news today, so that's the news. I wanted to teach you how to be happy. Um, I've spent my life trying to turn into a formula how to be happy. And I did that in my book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. But I'm going to give you the, the, the quicker synopsis for those who you— who don't know how to be happy. And as obvious as this will be to some of you, for many of you, this will be the first time you've ever seen it explained this way. Let me explain happiness. So happiness here is at the top. That's your goal. We'd all like to be happy. In order to be happy, there are 3 chemicals in your body and your brain that need to be at the right level. Now, I'm going to grossly oversimplify the chemical nature of human beings. There are certainly lots more than 3 chemicals involved in keeping you happy. But as a general statement, if these 3 are where they need to be, You're probably going to be happy unless there's some terrible problem in your life that, you know, is unsolvable. So, did I spell serotonin wrong? I may have spelled it wrong. Tell me if I spelled that wrong. Anyway, so these chemicals can be boosted through lifestyle. If you don't know that, You don't understand how happiness works. Most people that I talk to are under the mistaken impression that happiness is something you can think your way into. In other words, if you put some happy thoughts in your head, or, or you don't have any problems, or, or there's somehow a mental process. Your happiness is not a mental process. If you think it is, you can't help yourself. You're going to be lost forever. So whether you have a mental problem that keeps you low in these things, which is typical, you know, depression, anxiety, OCD, there are a number of mental conditions which are at least associated with lower levels of these things. If you treat happiness as a physical process, the end result of which is you feel happy, Then you have a mechanism to do something about it. If you think it's a mental process, there's nothing you can do about it. You are a victim of your environment. But if you understand that you can do things in your life that will boost these chemicals, and then these chemicals in turn will make you feel good, then you have a mechanism. And for each of these things, let me explain these things. So oxytocin is the chemical that makes you feel connected to people, makes you feel in love, makes you feel bonded. And that's mostly from social interaction, especially touch. You can get it from sex, hugging. I think you can get it from your pets, you know, playing with your cat or your dog. And you can get it from a massage.

Yeah.

And children can get it from their, their parents. From touch. But these other things, dopamine and serotonin, are sort of lifestyle related. And if you get a system for all of this stuff, a system for your diet and exercise and sleep, you're going to have a lot more of it. How many people do you know who believe they're unhappy, but all they're doing is they're doing this stuff wrong? They're doing the— They're doing the lifestyle stuff wrong. And they think, hey, I'm unhappy. There's something wrong with the way I'm thinking. There's something wrong with my brain. Probably not. There's probably— and when I say probably, I'm going to say 80% of the time. For 80% of you, the feeling of not being happy or fulfilled, all of those feelings are because you don't have a system in place to work toward improving these over time. So for diet, for example, I talk about this in my book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. It should be a lifelong process of learning about diet and experimenting with what works for you. In my case, if I eat too many bad carbs, if I eat too many bad carbs, I'm unhappy every freaking time, every time. If I have a burrito for lunch, the rest of the day I'm not happy because my energy will crash and I can't be happy when I have— yes, a sugar crash. So learn about diet by making it a lifelong system to chip away at it and experiment. Learn that protein is good for you. Learn that simple carbs are bad for you always, always. Don't have cheat days. If you have a cheat day, you don't understand how anything works. There's a longer explanation for that, but don't have a cheat day. Exercise. Again, my book How to Fail teaches you how to create habits and how to organize your life so it's more likely that you'll do something active every day. Doesn't matter what you do, but be active every day. You will find that if you get exercise right, most of your days are better. Everybody who has an exercise routine will confirm what I'm saying. On days that you exercise, you feel happier. It's pretty much a one-to-one thing. So learn to do that. Get enough sleep. A lot of people think that sleep is somehow out of their control. Sleep is something you absolutely control. Now again, these are 80% true statements. 20% of the people may have some medical problem. They've got something they need to deal with. But for 80% of us, go to bed the same time, wake up the same time every day. Don't put your— don't watch TV in bed. Don't do things that get you excited. Don't watch a scary movie before you go to bed. You know, there are some very basic things which all you'd have to do is Google some articles about how to sleep, follow the steps. There aren't that many of them. Every article on how to sleep would be pretty similar. Learn a system for sleep. If you're the kind of person who likes to stay up really late on weekends, but then during the week you've got to go back to your, you know, your 8 to 5 life, you're just killing yourself. You don't have much chance of being happy if you think that you can mess with your sleep and still be happy. You can't. You can have a good evening, but your week is not going to be happy. Make sure you get some nature. There's, you know, meaning get outside. Sun is important, but it seems to be important to your chemistry to just interact with nature. So get out of the house, get around some trees, get around some grass. That helps. Do what you can to improve your social life. I recommend the Dale Carnegie method of learning how to talk to people, learning how to be good to people. Here's the big trick for a good social life. You ready? I don't believe— it's hard for me to believe I have to tell you this, but probably the vast majority of you don't know what I'm going to say next, and it will change your life.

What?

You ready? If you don't have a good social life, that's your fault. Totally. It's your fault because you don't know the technique. Having a good social life is technique. Now, I can't get into all of it. The Dale Carnegie courses will teach you, but you should know how to talk to strangers. You should know how to talk to people and have good conversations. But the main thing you need to do to have a good social life is give more than you get. That's it. Think generously and people will say, well, that's somebody I want to hang around with. That person just asked me if they could do me a favor. I barely know them. That's somebody you want to spend some time with. Invite people to your place. Set up an outing yourself. Buy somebody lunch. Solve a problem for somebody. Offer to help. All right? Social life is completely under your control. Stop thinking that people will like you for who you are on the inside. Nobody cares who you are on the inside. They can't see it. They can't see the inside of you. They know— they only know what you do. They can't read your mind. So do things that are generous. If you do that, you will have a social life. Might not be the first day, but you're going to have one. So get out in the real world, get involved in some, some groups where there are people, go make yourself a social life. I find that it's useful to have a purpose in life. A purpose, the best way to find one is to be useful To society and to other people. If what you're doing all day is good for no one but you, you will not feel like you have a purpose, and that will eat at your chemical state. It will decrease your, your happy chemicals. So find a purpose. It's easy to find a purpose. Figure out what you're good at, or at least you can become good at. And you're willing to do, then try it. If it doesn't work, try something else. You've watched me. Most of you watch me try to be useful for the Blight Authority, Bill Pulte's thing, trying to clean up the inner cities as well as Bill Pulte's philanthropic efforts. I've been trying to be supportive of that and a number of other things. I try to be helpful. Those things give me meaning. When I'm— when I'm— when I have quiet moments, I think about those things because I say to myself, yeah, I'm doing stuff that might not help. I don't know if it'll make a big difference, but at least I'm doing things that make sense, could work, are part of a solution, perhaps a little bit helpful in these different ways. Somebody says loving your family. Correct. You could build a sense of purpose around your family. Now there's a trap there because that usually means around your children because the children leave eventually. So you want to be able to find ways to find meaning that are not dependent on one or two people. I also find that when I'm learning and growing, in other words, I'm getting better at something, I feel more fulfilled and my body chemistry feels better. So it doesn't matter what you're learning or growing at. Could be your career, could be something useful in some other way, and it could be just learning the things that you need to take care of yourself. Could be just learning that. But build your talent stack, add talents all the time. You should never be— Here's my advice. You should never be in a state of not learning, period. Now you might be so busy that you have to reduce the time that you're spending learning something to a small part of your day. That would be normal, but never have a day where you didn't learn something. You can Google something, you can read an article, you can talk to somebody who knows more than you do. You could use my app, Interface by Wenhub, and call an expert to learn something you needed to know. But try to learn something every day. You'll be amazed what that does to you. You'll have a sense of moving in the right direction. All right. So in summary, happiness is not some internal mental process that you can just think your way to a better happiness. It is a chemical state. If you get your body chemistry right— mostly these 3 chemicals are the ones you hear about— You will have a feeling of contentment and happiness. To get those chemicals right, science is very clear what works. Got to get your diet right, your exercise, your sleep. Got to get out in nature, touch some people, improve your social life, avoid stress. I didn't talk about this one, but it's obvious. I do not watch movies that are dramas. I do not watch movies that are scary or have bad endings. I won't even watch a comedy if it has a bad ending. I don't expose myself to fiction which is negative because even if you think you're entertained, and you are, you're adding stress to your life. You just don't know it. I avoid stressful people. If you are toxic, I'm just not going to talk to you again. That's it. Do I feel bad when I cut people out of my life and I don't talk to them again? A little bit, but not as bad as I feel when I'm with them. The horror is spending time with toxic people. The horror is not the embarrassment or the discomfort or the awkwardness of getting rid of them. You have to get rid of toxic people and learn and grow, and that will give you a purpose if you're being useful to the world. Yeah, the news can be quite toxic as well. I'm addicted to the news at the moment because a lot of the Trump news is entertaining. It's literally funny and nobody's getting hurt most of the time. Sometimes it devolves into bad stuff. Do I make an exception for Game of Thrones? Yeah, I kind of do. I do. But when I watch Game of Thrones, I don't feel tension or stress. It's well made and it's funny and it takes me into a different world and it doesn't seem like a real world. So I don't take that too seriously. I would say if you're watching Lord of the Rings, which you would say is a drama action, a lot of people getting killed, Lord of the Rings is just sort of a fantasy fun thing, so I wouldn't worry about that. I would never watch a Quentin Tarantino movie again. I've watched his movies and they just make me feel bad, period. They're well made. Apparently Quentin Tarantino is an amazing filmmaker. All the critics agree. But a lot of his films make me feel bad, so I don't watch them. Same with Spielberg. Spielberg is on the top of my list of directors to avoid. Now, if he does a comedy movie or, you know, something lighthearted, I would certainly watch that because he's a great filmmaker. But if he does something like, um, you know, anything about the Holocaust, for example, Schindler's List, it's going to be so well made that it brings you into this horrible world and it's like you, you, you were there. I'm still scarred by movies I've seen years ago, and some of them are Spielberg's. So that's your happiness formula. The main point is to understand that it's a chemical reaction and that you control your chemistry by your lifestyle. And specifically, you can develop systems over time where maybe you don't know too much about diet, But you can learn it. Don't know too much about exercise or systems? You can learn it. And that just changed some percentage of, some percentage of those watching this. Their lives just completely changed. I guarantee you. Now, I don't know what percentage it is. Could be 1%, could be 10%, could be 30%. But for a lot of you, your life just completely changed because for the first time you're seeing a completely practical path to get from wherever you are to how you want to feel. And once you see that this works, and the only way to see it is to actually practice it, start paying attention to your diet, your sleep, And your exercise and also your touch and your nature too. Start paying attention to what you did that day and then pay attention to how you feel about your day. Once you notice there's a one-to-one correlation between doing those things right that gets your chemistry right and having a good day, you're all set. That's, that's what you need. You need that realization to make it real. And you have to do it and try it to be able to actually feel that it makes a difference. All right. I'm just looking at your comments. Now, I hear every day from people who say their life was completely transformed by thinking of their life in terms of systems versus goals. The goal would be to be happy, but how? How? You need a system to get there. So as soon as you remember that the goal doesn't tell you how to get there, the systems do, then you've got a formula for working your way through life to a better solution. All right, I'll take a picture of the whiteboard here. I will put that— that will be Part of the YouTube posting. So everything I do here on Periscope gets posted on YouTube within a few hours, and we'll post the photo on this. It'll be at @RealCoffeeWithScottAdams on YouTube. Somebody says, isn't it true that some people don't need daily relations? Well, there are people who are introverts. I would consider myself one of them. People who find that spending a lot of time with other people can be draining. Other people find that spending a lot of time with other people can be more fulfilling and energizing. But even if you're an introvert, you can't escape nature's requirements. In other words, your chemical situation has a lot in common with somebody who's not an introvert. And so even introverts do need Even the introverts do need human contact. They just need less of it and a certain kind, and they've got to control it a little better than other people. I will put the photo of this on the blog, so that will be part of the process. My blog has moved to atscottadamsays.com. All right. Somebody says, make that segment its own YouTube video, please. Maybe I'll think about that. But that's all for today, and I will talk to you all later.

Um, you guys, I got so happy. Look what I was able to summon. Ta-da! Hello, everyone. I saw Owen walking by, and I was like, hey, get in here.

Mm-hmm. I heard you must have been talking about me or something.

Uh-oh.

Oh.

Oh. All right, you guys, drop a happy emoji of any sort in the chat if you just needed that and love that whiteboard. It's just, as we say, evergreen. So that was so great. What did we say? 2 hoes and a rake. You got it, Freebird. Um, it's Freebird's description of us today. Thank you, Freebird. Love you. Rip it. Um, all right, you guys, so that was amazing. And can I just tell you First of all, how funny it was when he said cheat day, like, don't have a cheat day. I'm like, oh my God, it's—

Don't have a cheat day. I know. We were just talking about it.

We were just talking about it and how I always— like this morning when I said I was so happy. So I was like feeding the kitties and then I was like feeding the birds and I opened this slider and I was like, oh my God, it smells so fresh out in the sun and I could hear the birds and I'm like walking around my kitchen. I'm like, it's so good. All this sounds, the smell, the air. Like, I was hitting all those things that Scott said you need to hit for happiness, and it just felt so good. And one other thing, uh, Terry— Terry on YouTube, girl, you work fast. So she wanted to, uh, memorialize my cheat day. Here it is. Uh, this is everything I ate yesterday.

Oh, your cheesesteak is— oh yeah, the— is that your cheesesteak?

Yep, she's got my cheese stick. I don't drink milk, that I'll say. But yep, I was bathing in it pretty much.

She has everything. Cool. Thank you, Terry.

I know the cottage cheese. Okay. So anyway, Marcella, I mean, amazing lesson, right? Did you love it? It's so good.

Yeah, but I would break all his rules sometimes. So I, I'm ashamed, you know, but I, I actually think like a system versus goal is always better. I think he's right on all these things. Diet, exercise, sleep. Happiness is a physical process. But it's subjective sometimes. So me not sleeping in on Saturday and staying up and doing things, like, it makes me happy. So I know he didn't like that, but, um, also like what it's like, uh, watching certain films that weren't all happy, like Rambo: First Blood, my favorite film. Um, so, you know, It's like certain things bring you happiness, like vigilante movies for me. So it's, it's up to you, but you do pay attention to your diet, your exercise, your sleep, and, you know, stay away from toxic people. And I allegedly stay away from stress.

Sure, no problem. I'm gonna do that right now. Here we go. Uh, Owen, what do you do to, to Get happy. Oh boy.

Um, sometimes I do something that Scott didn't seem to want to do, which is listen to like happy songs, certain songs that'll make me feel better. Uh, there are certain Prince songs that always put me in a certain mood. There's what I call my happy song, which is like, I think Katrina and the Waves has one of those songs that I talked about before. Um, but I think a lot of the things would be the ones Scott called out. I mean, I, I think to me this is a great example of describing a system rather than a goal. Like, if you just say, I want to be happy, you're not going to necessarily even know what to do or how to get there, and it's not going to work. But if you have a system like this where you can say, okay, here are the things, here are the things I need to do if I want to be happy, and if I focus on those things, number one, you have a little more control, but you also just have a plan of action and things that you can do to make that happen. And I think it was very valid principles across the board. I think he hit most of the big boxes that I would have on my system. But I would add something that would be along the lines of what you said, Marcela, that everybody's different. And, you know, he mentioned it in a couple of cases, like if you're an introvert, it looks a little different depending on your, you know, for social contacts, stuff like that. But I think that's probably true of a lot of these things. Like some people need more sleep than others. Some people handle stress better than others. And, you know, some people might get a lot more value out of some of those things than others and need more or less or different versions of them. But I think overall, it's probably a good universal template. to start with. But I would encourage everyone to say, find out what works for you. Like, don't just say, okay, I'm going to do exactly what Scott said.

Right.

You know, just like some of it might not work for you. Some other things might work better for you and feel free to change the system. Just like he said with the reframes, like he wants to teach us how to make systems, not just pick one that was delivered to you. So I think it's a great starting point, but I would say that like it, it Happiness is a very personal formula in my mind where what makes me happy might look a lot different than what makes you happy. And if we did exactly the same things, we might end up with a very different outcome.

For sure. I mean, I, I'm like very vocal about every thought that comes in my head. You can ask all my friends and people in my life, but I'll be like, oh my God, did you hear that? Did you smell that? Did you see that? And they're just like, you're like on a constant acid trip. Like you notice Every freaking thing, like every smell, every sound, every whatever. And but so many of those things make me so happy. So I'm always like, and I'm always asking everyone, don't you love that? Like I always say to Marcela, if I'm saying a story, I'm like, don't you love that, Marcela? Like I want everyone to like love it.

Yeah, sure.

You're like, yeah, no, Erica, do you not know me yet? Um, so I, I just feel like for me, I take notice of the things that I guess people aren't noticing. And I really want those little things to make me happy or, you know, give them a chance. You know, sometimes when they say stop and smell the flowers, I'm serious, you guys, stop and smell the flowers. I will stop and smell every flower if, like, I'm on my way somewhere. I'm like, oh, I wonder if that flower smells good. And I'll give it a sniff. Or I'm like, look how that thing grew so much overnight. Like, just notice the things. And then I ponder them and I'm like, that's amazing. It's crazy how nature works or this. You know, I'm that person. I know. I'm just— I love watching my garden grow and whatever. And then also, I love— I think it's so important where Scott said, is it hard to get toxic people out of your life? Do I feel bad about it? And he said, a little, but it's not worse than I feel when I'm with that person. And it's okay to shuffle people out of your life, you guys, because honestly, if there is someone that just zaps you or makes you feel like shit, And if there's someone that, like, if you didn't know them today, but you knew what they were like, and you met them on the street, and you were like, okay, I'm meeting this person for the first time, and I know how this is going to go, would you allow them in your life? And if you wouldn't, then consider just distancing yourself from them. If you can't cut them out altogether, maybe make your time with them down to like a couple of minutes on the phone, a quick, you know, hey, how you doing? But you don't have to allow anybody in your life, even if it's your family. I know a lot of people think, no, family's family. No, listen, toxic is toxic, and nobody has a right to zap you or bring you down or make you feel sick. I mean, I've had people in my life, I actually feel sick around them. They're not in my life anymore. I can't do it. So protect yourself for your happiness and don't feel bad about putting yourself first. It's not, it's not like selfish or obnoxious. It's like self-preservation sometimes. So Scott would give you permission to put yourself first. And like he said, be really generous with the social time you have with people, you know, give to them what you want them to give to you. Go ahead, Owen.

Well, I was just gonna add on top of that, that in some situations, you might find like, you know, everything I'm doing isn't working. And I think that might apply to some toxic relationships. Like, if you are in a situation where you just can't completely cut the person out of your life because they're family, workers, your boss, whatever, you might be stuck for a while, but you should work to change the situation. And but even within the situation, there might be an approach that just doesn't come naturally to you. And so ask for help, you know, like whether it's a therapist or a close, confident friend or somebody.

Right.

Just look, look for other perspectives that you might not have, because I think a lot of the time, especially men probably, but a lot of people, I think, think, oh, I should just be able to handle it. I should just suck it up and deal with it. And I think in many cases, if you just asked for that help or asked what ideas would you do or how would you handle this situation, you may end up with a solution that you never would have thought of on your own. And that has certainly happened to me.

Yeah, I love when people ask me for help because I want to help people. So sometimes people are like, no, I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to ask. And I'm like, why? Like, don't you love when someone says, can you help me? And you can. That's like the best feeling. Marcella, Marcella, you are such a brat.

I'm like, no, I don't like people asking for help because then they don't pay me. Oh, legal help. Legal help. They're always like, oh, I need— and I'm like, oh, it's $450 an hour. And they're like, what? Never mind.

Wait, sometimes I would say that includes paying someone to help you. I mean, you know, I mentioned a therapist and other things like that. I'm not necessarily saying only, only do it if it's for free. It's just like, there often is help out there for the problems you have, whatever they are. There are solutions for a lot of things, and they're coming up with new ones all the time for medical things and even psychological things. And so, you know, whatever it is, there might be a solution out there for you. Don't just give up and say, I'm stuck with this bad situation.

Right, exactly. You know, one thing is, go outside, uh, you know, touch, you know, grass, the trees, do things like that. I think nature is very healing, no matter what makes you happy. Um, I personally don't like the sun, but I could go out during the mid-afternoon or night.

After midnight?

Into midnight. But, um, you know, it makes me happy to have fresh air, have You know, everything else. I think it really does improve some— everybody's— the way that you feel. Unless you're allergic, then stay inside, I guess.

I have a sycamore tree in my yard, and we planted it years and years ago. It's like the perfect tree to hug. You guys are dying over me today, but I wrap my arms around it and I put my cheek on his trunk and I hug it. My arms don't go all the way around, but I'm like, I I love you, sycamore tree. And then I try to like send it like love up the trunk and I'm like, here, take some good love. Like, I swear to God. And I am not like a Birkenstock-wearing granola girl, but I'm just like, I just—

Do you name it? Did you name the tree?

I didn't, no. But I do have trees named in my yard after people that have passed away that I planted in their memory. Yeah, I have Vinnie, Victor, Judy, Bob. And, uh, Jeff. Yep. So I do plant trees. Yes, let's hug a tree. It feels so good to hug a tree, you guys. I am a literal tree hugger.

Crank shows us. She's hugging a tree.

I think it might have been Andrew Huberman or somebody like that that said, like, what you really want to do is get out early in the morning if you can and see the sun in your eyes. Like, let it hit the— I think the top of your eyes. For just a couple minutes. It doesn't take long, but I think it sets your circadian rhythm properly. And then, if possible, you could also do it at the end of the day and it'll do the opposite in terms of helping you go to sleep when the sun's coming down. But, I think in terms of at least mental and overall health, I think that might be the best. And then, outside of that, of course, there's the vitamin D and all the other stuff. So, you want to get a certain amount of sunlight if you can.

Yeah.

But it doesn't necessarily have to be like sunbathing for 2 hours in the middle of the day or something.

Marcella goes out there like a vampire. She's like, no, my eyes.

I know it causes headaches. Like, I literally have physical reactions to the sun if it's too much. And I live in California, which is sunny all the time.

Oh my goodness.

I know. What can you do? Okay, so let me ask you, this is just random, but he He was— Scott was talking about burritos and eating a burrito and how it makes him really unhappy. And I was like, that's not how I feel when I eat a burrito.

But that's where I was like, maybe— How much money are your burritos?

Huh?

Are you having the $20 burrito or are you maybe having like the $2 burrito?

Everything's $20 in California. But yeah, the expensive one, of course.

What do you like in your burrito, Marcella?

Um, carne asada.

Oh, yum. Yep. So when are you burrito?

I like burritos.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, a traditional Mexican, you know, like the— I guess what you might expect from a place like Chipotle or any, any Mexican restaurant. Yeah, Chipotle is good. Um, yeah, I, I'm a fan. I mean, I've probably done more of the bowl sorts of things when I go to Chipotle now just because I like to be lower carb if I can, although I'm certainly not I'm not a monk about it. I have various carb-like things in there, but I think when I can avoid the bread, I just do.

You guys, listen, the first time I ever went to Chipotle, just so you know, that's not a burrito. That's like a birthed baby. They handed me that burrito, I was like, what the hell is this? It was like a loaf. I was like, oh my God, it's crazy.

You just had a baby.

I was like, this thing— like, my friend handed it to me, it was like wrapped in that foil thing, and I was like, this is a burrito? I'm like, I feel like I'm holding like a newborn baby. It was so gross. But, but it is good. Tasty. So tasty.

JV's being naughty again, but I won't mention why.

All right, I'll read later and then we'll punish him. Um, all right, you guys, I am so happy today. Nobody ruin it, okay? All good news all day. That's all I'm asking for. And, uh, Owen, I'm so glad you could join us. Tomorrow the 3 of us return. We are gonna have to catch up on news. We've got so much to talk about, and we're gonna probably be rapid fire tomorrow. Owen and Marcella are gonna teach me the news tomorrow. I love rapid fire news day. And of course I will have clips, because God forbid I don't. I can't help myself. Um, oh my God, Alien, was that you? Yeah, Lord, you're Disgusting. Um, you guys, oh, by the way, let me just let you know, I've— oh, I have a letter from Chester, by the way, that I will read to you tomorrow. Yes.

Oh.

Um, you guys, Chester has managed to drop the links in the show notes for you guys. So if you want to grab your Dilbert calendar, the wall calendar you see back there, if you want to get your Your Coffee with Scott Adams official mug, the simultaneous swaddle blanket—the links are all in the show notes for you, so you can grab them. And I love everybody posting their pictures, getting their calendars—it's so fun. And what else did I want to tell you guys? There was one more housekeeping thing. Oh, if you liked any part of today, if it was Scott's whiteboard that did it for you, hit the thumbs up, hit the little notification bell so you don't miss us.

Like, like us.

Like us. Even if you only like one of us, like it for that one person. Um, and we appreciate you guys coming and visiting with us every morning. We have so much fun, and I love Scott's whiteboard today. Really put me in a good mood. And, uh, no cheat day for me today, you guys. I'm gonna be good today. All right, so Owen and Marcella, thank you for being here, and we'll see you tomorrow. And let's say thank you to Scott and Shelley for allowing the Scott Adams School to be here every Monday through Friday with you guys. I like you too, Crank One. And let's have a closing sip to our happiness guru, our beloved Scott Adams. To Scott! To Scott! And in honor of Marcella's hourly rate, we're going to play cha-ching today. So if you want to stick around, Robo Goon. Over there, you should stick around and dance with us. And if anyone has to go, we get it. All right, guys. See you in the morning. Bye, everyone.

Bye, yo. Did I leave? What am I? You're here. Can I stay?

Of course.

It's not music. It's music plus.

How do you like being criticized? Hated. Don't you? Don't you hate getting criticized? Everybody hates it. It's not something you enjoy. Here's a reframe for you. Every criticism you receive, just play this sound effect when you get it. Ready? Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching. Every time somebody criticizes you, you just made money. Do you know why I say that? Because you just made money. It's true. If somebody criticizes My live streams, and I'll tell you the biggest criticism I'm hearing is that my shelves are boring. Now, do I feel good that you're telling me that there's something about my thing that I do every day isn't good? No, nobody likes to be criticized. It's not like you can enjoy it. But how do I receive it? Do I receive it as ah? I guess I suck. I could, right? How easily could I receive a criticism like that as, God, I'm an idiot. Why didn't I see it? Obviously those shelves need something on them. That'd be really easy, wouldn't it? I don't. Here's how I hear it. Catching, catching, stretching, stretching, catching, catching. I know exactly what to change to do a better job because you told me. That's like money. If somebody hands you a thing that will definitely make you money, what is your feeling about it? Do you feel Oh, I hate it when people give me a thing that makes me make money. I'll bet most of you think exactly that. You think, I hate criticism, guys. Not me. Years ago, when people would criticize my comic, I would hate it, of course, but then I would say, oh, a lot of people are saying the same thing, so I'll change it. And then I would make that change. And that made me rich. I literally got rich by being criticized and understanding the criticism as cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. Two, three, four. Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. Every time I hear one, I say, wait a minute, you just told me how to get richer. The same applies if you're not trying to get rich. Suppose you just wanted a better social— The best advice somebody gave me was the cruelest thing anybody ever said. One day my female friend told me how negative I am and what a bummer it was. Listen to because I was complaining about stuff all the time. Now, I was not aware that I was a big complainer. I had no idea. I thought I was a person who talked about my day, the funny parts of it. So in my mind, I had no idea that I was having an effect on other people. Once I learned that, do you know how powerful that was? I was able— because it was something I could change— I would become aware of the ratio of negative things I said to positive. Cha-ching! It was probably Probably the most important change I've ever made to my social toolbox. I would say that that one change really, really changed my life.

That's the, that's the rephrase.

So next time you get criticized, whether personally or whether professionally, say to yourself, say to yourself, say to yourself, cha-ching, cha-ching. Just try it. Like, actually say that little sound. Cha-ching. Not figuratively. I'm not talking figuratively. I mean, actually say that. Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. What do you hear? What do you hear? What do you hear? What do you hear?

Cha-ching, cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-ching, ching-ching-ching-chong, ching-ching. I love cha-ching. Oh my gosh, that was a happy show today, you guys. So yes, yes, lots of news went by today. I see your comment, Metal Seer. We'll chat about it tomorrow. And by the way, we'll know more tomorrow about that airplane situation and, uh, all sorts of other things. And oh my gosh, what else will today bring that we have to talk about tomorrow? I gotta get to work right now on the show for tomorrow. It's gonna be big, really, really big, right, Marcella?

I like big. Yeah. That's good.

I can't. I can't with her, you guys. I can't.

What will you eat today? That's gonna be fun. Me. I'm gonna eat meat. Dios mio, Dios mio.

Oh, Dios mio, Dios mio. I'm gonna have some carne asada. Create habits, you guys. Yes, you guys. Go outside. And remove someone or something toxic. It feels so good, honestly. It's easier if you're Italian, by the way. Um, you don't feel as bad. But anyway, all right, you guys, so we love you. We will be back tomorrow morning. Have the best day ever and rewatch— oh God, that picture— and rewatch the, um, happiness lesson if you need to. And I agree, we should play that once a month, or at least every couple months, right? All right, guys. Love you. Say your byes. Bye, you guys. Bye, D. Amazing. Bye, Suburban Girl. Goldie Flynn. Patty. Patty. Dream. Mad Mitch. Ooh, Drill. Hey, Mad Mitch. Smar. Goldie. Oh my gosh. Scott Richie. Day. A year and a day older. Let's see. Oh my gosh!

Look at all the friends. I am Charles Robert.

I do need my romper room mirror. Bye, Marge. Marge, is it a gorgeous day? You can't even not be excited today, right? Marge and I live near each other. J W J B. Mm-hmm. It's amazing. All right. Bye, guys. Bye.