Valuetainment - February 19, 2026


“The Happiness Formula” - Longevity Doctor REVEALS Why Money Won’t Make You Happy


Episode Stats


Length

13 minutes

Words per minute

184.86804

Word count

2,454

Sentence count

178


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of the Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with her mom to talk about what it means to grow up in a low-income family and why it s important to have a sense of purpose and a purpose in life.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.940 I'm Kelly Kennedy. I've been called a hope dealer for leaders and with over 300 episodes
00:00:06.940 of the Business Development Podcast, we'll guide you and we'll always be in your corner.
00:00:12.900 Follow the Business Development Podcast on Spotify and let's make 2026 your best year
00:00:19.120 yet.
00:00:23.520 I came from a very low income, nobody was winning, family, divorce, finances, we had
00:00:28.720 nothing, you know, food stamps, my dad was a cashier at a 99 cent store and I read a book
00:00:33.340 called The Genius in All of Us that said, you know, the average low income kid is raising
00:00:39.840 a family that is rejected 600,000 times from zero to 18 years old, more negative affirming
00:00:47.380 than positive affirming.
00:00:48.580 Then it was middle class was 100,000 more negative than positive and an upper class was 100,000
00:00:53.840 more positive than negative, right?
00:00:55.800 So you have to reaffirm yourself to beliefs of power of positive thinking and you read
00:00:59.960 these types of books to kind of elevate yourself and read the right affirmations.
00:01:03.420 How does one go if you're raised in an environment that there's so much negativity around, ah, that'll
00:01:09.920 never happen to us.
00:01:11.320 Oh, we don't have a chance there.
00:01:12.740 And you want to make it out of that environment.
00:01:15.320 How does one do it?
00:01:16.360 Yeah.
00:01:16.600 So, I mean, that obviously I'm not a psychologist, so I wouldn't say that I'm the right person
00:01:22.500 to really answer this question, you would probably talk to someone like Dr. Arthur
00:01:26.660 Brooks, by the way, you should, he's amazing.
00:01:28.740 Yeah, I read his book, The Road to Freedom.
00:01:30.680 The Road to Freedom.
00:01:31.380 I don't know if you've read it or not.
00:01:32.560 I haven't.
00:01:32.880 I skimmed both of the books.
00:01:34.300 I couldn't put it down, Road to Freedom.
00:01:36.200 When he came out, I told everybody in my office, you guys got to read it.
00:01:39.460 Phenomenal book.
00:01:40.080 Right.
00:01:40.220 Please continue.
00:01:40.680 So, I mean, I think there's, people respond differently to that type of negative, like
00:01:47.140 you were talking about negative background, where you're never going to be able to achieve
00:01:51.780 something, or like it's a very, what's the term for it, where you basically, it's like
00:01:59.500 you're defeated, you know, where you're just constantly defeated, and it's almost like
00:02:04.200 this self-fulfilling prophecy, right?
00:02:06.640 Um, I think that it depends on, you know, you have to kind of like train yourself to
00:02:13.840 like realize that you actually can do things, and it's, I don't know if it's an affirmation
00:02:20.080 you do every day, um, exercise is something that also helps with that, I think positive
00:02:24.720 thinking, where it helps you kind of just get out of that negative thinking, where it's
00:02:27.960 not going to work out, but you also have to realize that worshiping things like power
00:02:33.380 or money, or fame, I mean, these things are also trying to fulfill a void, that happiness
00:02:38.860 void, right?
00:02:40.040 So, like, there's plenty of people that are very successful, very wealthy, very powerful
00:02:44.160 that are not happy.
00:02:45.180 You're right.
00:02:45.560 Why is that, right?
00:02:46.820 Because it doesn't bring happiness.
00:02:48.740 It doesn't bring happiness.
00:02:49.980 And I think that's, that most of us out there that do know people like this, or we see like,
00:02:54.740 look at Hollywood actors, I mean, their marriages are constantly breaking apart, right?
00:02:58.520 I mean, they're, they're wealthy, they're famous, they have, by anyone's standards would
00:03:02.200 think, oh, they have everything, but there's always this treadmill of, it's not good enough,
00:03:05.680 it's not good enough, I need more, I need more.
00:03:07.300 And it's a very, it's a slippery slope to get on that, you know, that, that treadmill
00:03:12.460 of, let's say you start to get some success, but then you're comparing yourself to everyone
00:03:16.940 else, then you need more.
00:03:18.120 And so you're not happy because you're not getting those things.
00:03:21.000 And I think that's what comes back to, you know, those macronutrients of happiness
00:03:25.740 that Dr. Arthur Brooks talk about, where it's, it's the, it's the enjoyment in the
00:03:29.720 relationships, it's the sense of purpose.
00:03:31.980 Like, what is it, what, you have to have that sense of purpose.
00:03:35.300 Are you, are you a mother?
00:03:37.380 Are you someone like me, who I love help, helping and educating people to live healthier?
00:03:43.240 I feel like that's a purpose, my sense of purpose.
00:03:46.020 And you have to have satisfaction, right?
00:03:48.460 Satisfaction of doing something, accomplishing it.
00:03:50.340 Whether it's a 10 minute workout in the morning, you know, whether it's reading a book,
00:03:54.500 you know, finishing reading it, whatever it is, you have to, you have to have the
00:03:58.780 satisfaction of doing that challenging thing.
00:04:01.120 And all these things help you maintain happiness and have happiness.
00:04:04.820 And I think that's.
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00:04:53.300 Yeah, you know, in 2008, when the market crash happened, the next year in 08, 09, I don't know what the study was.
00:05:00.900 There was more books.
00:05:02.340 They measured what word it was.
00:05:03.780 There was more books, 2,000 plus copies, I believe, where the word happy or happiness was in it.
00:05:09.740 Because everybody wanted to find out how to be happy.
00:05:12.260 So think about this run that we have, man, I just want to be happy.
00:05:15.000 And then you realize, you know, even happiness is temporary.
00:05:19.320 It's fulfillment.
00:05:20.460 It's what am I doing that there's a deeper purpose to what I'm doing.
00:05:24.720 The deeper part, you know, you go through the survival phase.
00:05:27.380 I'm just trying to pay my bills.
00:05:28.560 Then maybe you get some status or look at me.
00:05:30.280 I'm a doctor.
00:05:30.860 I'm a professor.
00:05:31.540 I'm a entrepreneur.
00:05:33.200 I'm making six figures.
00:05:34.200 I got an MBA.
00:05:34.960 I got a master's.
00:05:35.720 I'm, you know, and I got 100,000 followers on Twitter.
00:05:39.140 I'm somebody.
00:05:39.820 Then you go to, you know what?
00:05:41.280 I want to be free.
00:05:42.000 Then you're free.
00:05:42.420 You have some money in the bank.
00:05:43.420 Then you're like, now what do I want to do?
00:05:44.940 And then eventually it comes back to what you were talking about, the purpose.
00:05:47.320 And you feel it when somebody is in pursuit of something bigger than just money.
00:05:52.060 And somehow, somewhere, when you're in the pursuit of purpose, money shows up.
00:05:55.720 I don't know why.
00:05:56.440 Money tends to show.
00:05:57.420 You know what?
00:05:58.240 You know what was something that I did?
00:05:59.800 And it's funny because after I talked to Dr. Brooks about this, I realized it's something
00:06:03.620 that, like, the Tibetan monks and people like Buddhists do.
00:06:06.620 I was dwelling on my mortality, my mortality.
00:06:10.300 Like, I know it sounds morbid, but I think it's actually a good practice and experiment
00:06:16.600 for people to try because when you think about life being, you know, it's finite, right?
00:06:24.180 You are going to die someday.
00:06:26.300 And when you are in that phase of, you know, the end of your life, what is it that's going
00:06:32.700 to be important to you at that moment?
00:06:35.080 Is it going to be another 100,000 followers?
00:06:38.060 Can't take those with you.
00:06:39.140 Is it going to be another, you know, million dollars?
00:06:42.020 Can't take that with you.
00:06:43.320 Is it going to be another podcast?
00:06:45.460 No.
00:06:46.220 What is it going to be that's meaningful to you?
00:06:48.600 And for me, it was the time I was with my family, the experiences that, you know, there
00:06:57.820 you can't put any value to them.
00:07:00.600 And it's something that if you, again, if you, it's called mortality dwelling.
00:07:04.980 But I mean, if you think about it, because for me, I, as a high achiever, being, being
00:07:09.240 a parent, I mean, my productivity went down and I struggled with that for a while.
00:07:13.680 And it wasn't until I really started thinking about what was the most important to me.
00:07:18.620 And again, I think people can really tap into that by thinking about their death.
00:07:23.980 And when you think about it, you'll find what's important to you.
00:07:27.480 And it's, it's not going to be the money.
00:07:29.920 It's not going to be the, the fame.
00:07:31.900 It's not going to be the followers.
00:07:33.700 It's going to be the memories and the experience and the experiences and those treasure moments
00:07:39.520 with your people that you love, your family, your kids, your friends, your parents.
00:07:45.480 Those are the moments that are so precious.
00:07:48.480 And, you know, that also brings me back to like a lot of people, like they're searching
00:07:53.060 for this higher power, right?
00:07:54.340 Like there's like God or something, you know, spiritual, right?
00:07:59.180 And, you know, for me, I was raised Catholic.
00:08:01.860 So I had a baseline to go back to.
00:08:04.240 And, you know, as I got older, I kind of drifted and became a little bit too analytical.
00:08:08.160 And, and it wasn't until I became a mother that I found God again.
00:08:15.380 Why?
00:08:16.540 Because the love I experienced becoming a mother and the love I had for my son, not that
00:08:23.600 I didn't love my husband as much because I definitely love my husband too, but there's
00:08:27.700 something about having a child that this, your overwhelming sense of love.
00:08:34.020 And I, and I would go on these long runs and think about it and think about my, think about
00:08:39.020 my mortality and never seeing my son again after I die.
00:08:42.200 And I think it just can't be possible.
00:08:44.880 You can't experience the bonding and the closeness and the love that you do as a parent.
00:08:51.480 And then it just go away.
00:08:53.920 And, and for me, I found God again.
00:08:56.880 And, and, you know, for other people, it might be something that's very traumatic.
00:09:00.000 Sometimes there's, you, you get to your lowest point and that's how you, you basically can
00:09:04.620 find God or whatever your spirituality is.
00:09:08.120 But, but for me, it was becoming a mom and the love that I had for my son and thinking that
00:09:14.600 it can't just be gone.
00:09:17.360 Like it's too powerful.
00:09:19.000 It's too powerful.
00:09:20.200 So I'm all getting at, you know, happiness.
00:09:22.800 And I think part of that component is, is finding, you know, finding your spirituality,
00:09:28.680 you know, whatever your, your religion is.
00:09:31.360 Some people find that through meditation and eventually find God.
00:09:34.580 But, you know, I think it's all part of, of happiness and people do sort of seek that out.
00:09:40.180 Did that also get you closer to mom and dad?
00:09:43.440 Everyone.
00:09:43.960 Um, it, it, it got, it got me closer to everyone that I love, everyone that I love.
00:09:49.940 And, and it also helped me prioritize those relationships because it's so easy for people
00:09:56.860 that are high achievers to get caught up in the, you know, productivity loop.
00:10:01.660 I have to, I have to work.
00:10:03.600 I have to do a podcast.
00:10:04.400 I have to go give a presentation.
00:10:06.020 I have to do this work and get that satisfaction of like achieving and accomplishing those things.
00:10:10.880 And there's a little bit of ego there and you have to separate that.
00:10:13.500 And I realized that, no, I'm going to take time to do the family vacation.
00:10:17.360 I'm going to take time to spend, you know, a few hours with friends that I care about.
00:10:23.780 I mean, you have to put in that work and that effort, but it's so rewarding.
00:10:27.200 And this is the year, like, as I was doing a podcast prep for Arthur, Dr. Arthur books,
00:10:32.860 I know I've, I've come to some of this realization on my own, but reading some of his books, like
00:10:37.080 skimming some of his books and his material, everything was like, it was like this moment
00:10:41.120 where it was like, this is so true.
00:10:44.960 And I really need to focus on it.
00:10:47.580 You know, you need to make the effort to really be happiness.
00:10:50.900 Doesn't just come to you.
00:10:51.880 I think a lot of people are sort of, it's like they have this misconception that happiness
00:10:55.740 is something that you just experience.
00:10:57.360 It just happens to you.
00:10:58.780 No, it's just like, it's just like a good diet.
00:11:01.440 You have to like give yourself the right components.
00:11:03.700 You have to work at it.
00:11:05.480 You know, it's work.
00:11:06.500 Have you read Outwitting the Devil?
00:11:08.140 No, I need, I need your book list.
00:11:10.060 It sounds like there's.
00:11:10.840 Yeah, no, no.
00:11:11.820 But the more you're talking, it's just, it's prompting books in my mind.
00:11:15.480 Outwitting the Devil is a book Napoleon wrote in the late thirties, early forties.
00:11:20.200 And they kind of, he said, 1938, there you go.
00:11:22.980 And it was set aside.
00:11:24.380 And then eventually it came out.
00:11:26.160 I read this book at a P.F. Chang's in Woodland Hills, California.
00:11:32.040 And I sat there, my sister recommended.
00:11:33.700 I'm like, oh my God, what a powerful book.
00:11:37.040 How so many different institutions when we're kids use the concept of fear to scare the crap
00:11:42.920 out of us.
00:11:43.760 And we're raised in such a confined, you know, no, I can't do, no, no, I can't.
00:11:48.300 And then you finally realize, no, no, that's a business model.
00:11:50.740 And you have to kind of let it go.
00:11:51.900 Anyways, I just think you would enjoy this book as well, Outwitting the Devil.
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