Content warning: This episode includes an honest discussion of depression and suicidal thoughts. Please listen with care. If you or someone you know needs support, Lifeline is available 24/7 on 13 11 14.
He's called Dr Happy. And he's lived with depression for most of his adult life.
In this genuinely profound conversation, Jules sits down with Dr Tim Sharp, clinical and coaching psychologist, founder of The Happiness Institute, best selling author and one of Australia's leading voices in positive psychology. But as Jules discovers, the power of Tim's story isn't the title. It's everything sitting behind it.
Tim built an entire career around happiness while privately battling severe depression and suicidal thoughts, and spending years believing he wasn't good enough, smart enough or worthy enough. His honesty about that gap between the public persona and the private reality is what makes this episode land so deeply.
Together, Jules and Tim unpack what happiness actually is, and why most of us have been chasing the wrong version of it. Tim explains why you're not supposed to feel good all the time, why negative emotions aren't the enemy, and why the pressure to be happy every minute of every day is quietly making us miserable. He shares the simple daily practices that genuinely move the needle, the beauty of finding joy in the mundane school run and the everyday moments, and a powerful approach to sitting with difficult feelings instead of running from them.
His final pearl of wisdom is simple, and Jules says she's printing it out for every wall in her house. Love yourself. Love others. Love the world.
This is one of those conversations that might just change what you're really searching for. Pour yourself a cup of tea, and settle in.
Connect with Dr Tim Sharp (Dr Happy):
Website: https://drhappy.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehappinessinstitute/
If this episode raised anything for you:
Lifeline — 13 11 14 (24/7) — https://www.lifeline.org.au
Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636 — https://www.beyondblue.org.au
00:00 — Introducing Dr Tim Sharp, Australia's Dr Happy
02:27 — Setting the Intention: If This Helps Just One Person
03:20 — What Is Happiness, Really? Why We've Got It Wrong
04:32 — Positive and Negative Emotions: Why None of Them Are Bad
08:47 — The Three to One Ratio, and Why It's Not About the Numbers
09:46 — The Power of Gratitude: Noticing What We Overlook
10:45 — Finding Joy in the Mundane: The School Run and the Everyday
13:14 — Why Do We Feel We Need to Be Excited All the Time?
14:33 — Learning to Sit With Your Own Thoughts
15:22 — Lost and Found: The Story Behind Tim's Latest Book
17:46 — The Beauty of Getting Lost, and Why Failure Is Part of the Path
21:52 — Don't Think About White Polar Bears: Why Fighting Thoughts Fails
24:34 — The RAIN Method: A Practical Way to Handle Hard Emotions
29:21 — The Hardest Part: Tim on Living With Depression
32:04 — The Turning Point That Changed Everything
35:22 — Why We Hit Our Forties and Realise We Need to Reassess
38:07 — Chasing Success, Nice Things, and What Actually Fulfils Us
40:27 — Fifty Years of Research, One Answer: Other People Matter
42:30 — A Practical Happiness Check-In You Can Do Today
43:17 — Are You Choosing Happiness? The Daily Question That Matters
47:20 — Dr Tim's Pearl of Wisdom: Love Yourself, Love Others, Love the World
47:46 — Wrapping Up Tea with Jules
Connect with Jules
Credits
Produced by ME Entertainment
Producers: @lisajohnston_, @julessebastian, @Eggoau
Sound Engineer, Video, Editor & Music: Mathew Eggleston – @Eggoau
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