You know that feeling you get when you wake up, sit there staring at the ceiling feeling lost? You know you don't like what you do but you take a deep breath anyway and simply motor on. You have no idea how to make money with what you do love and so you end up living a life staring at a screen and taking orders? Terrified at the thought, I ran the opposite way and as fast as possible!

So what did I do?

With a first class honours in Mechanical Engineering that I decided to cast to the wind after many years of hard graft, I got involved running events in Dublin, Ireland that you could say went pretty well. I booked acts, themed events, holidays and got hungry for the happiness I brought to peoples lives as I filled out venues across the city.

I'm the power ranger, not the dick...

I got to book acts like Charli XCX and other acts who blew up and now blast across the radio at me all the time.

It was all going pretty well, I was loving what I was doing and wanted to take it a step further and make real change. I wanted to see would it be possible to get people together and instead of just having a good time, I could try make an effective difference. Always having a fasciation in entrepreneurship and innovation, I started a Summit to gather youth who wanted to make change and make something happen. Thus the Student Summit was born. We had high rollers to inspire, startups queuing to get involved and students signing up in their droves.... then the media got wind..

Then the press started rolling in!

Hozier's manager Caroline Downey came along to inspire some folks

You get the picture

Yearning to explore the world, I booked a flight to Asia and went off the beaten track in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. This was an eye opening trip filled with all the usual splendour but inspired me to chase after a life of travel and inspiring happiness in peoples live. But I struggled.

Coming back happier than ever, I wanted to make a beeline for events once more. But I was broke after my trip, I had spent every cent and lived up every moment not sparing a thought for my return. I poured pints and washed glasses in a friends bar, did all the side earners I could so pay for rent and basic food. It wasn't long before getting into the swing of things.

A new project awaited...

Approached by an operator setting up a new nightclub, I jumped straight on board. Dublin's newest underground music and arts venue from a renovated old shirt factory/pre-theatre space to be created into a cutting edge nich with quirky design. Going with a Berlin vibe and catering to the dance niches of Ireland, it took off like a storm and not long before I put my feet in a second venue in Cork, the south of Ireland. I was back on my feet, bringing punters through the door but in truth I was back to where I started, I wasn't really making change.....

Enter morning raves

If I were to tell you that you should get up at 5:30am and get dressed to make your way to a 6am rave, you'd probably tell me I was mad.... and you would be right!

If I were to tell you that this rave had no alcohol or drugs, you'd probably envision an empty dance floor...

But it worked! We were Morning Gloryville Dublin and we were raving our way into the day with up to 400 people at a time. Jumping up and down in all sorts of costumes to banging techno and dance beats while hoopers and performers graced the stage grooving to festival DJ's. The only thing people are taking here is coffee and smoothies. Nothing else. Throw in free massage for everyone aswell as some free Yoga and people were skipping off to work buzzing for the day.

Don't believe me? Here's what it looks like...

Again the media rolled in with chat show interviews, radio interviews, pictures in the paper and media outlets online all over us. Everyone wanted a piece and it was going just swell!

A happiness movement had begun with people who wanted something different. An event where you can party your ass off without having to drink cans of booze or drop dangerous pills. A place where people were free to shake that ass and in essence, just not give a shit. We started doing festivals, pop ups, promotions and some guerrilla style flash-happiness-mobs. Here we are spreading happiness on the streets of Dublin.

Working with my business partner, we looked to the future....

What were people looking for and what was the key to inspiring happiness?

We noticed that in recent years we have more technology in our lives than every before but somehow, rates of depression were the highest they had ever been. There was something wrong and we aimed to tackle it. Thus, Unplug was born.

UnPlug?

Simple language that explains how to have a healthy relationship with technology! We got a team of psycologists, CBT specialists and tech experts together to make a program that works. We did our homework, day and night to really see what was going on. We reached out to everyone in the space across the globe to make sure what we had was fool proof. We began running retreats for people who wanted a sustainable healthy relationship with their tech. These people were on their digital devices first thing in the morning, last thing at night and seemed to be captives to the digital distraction devices in their pockets.

So we did a press release and within 2 hours I had, five radio interviews, an appearance on a chat show offered, six articles in major papers across the country and more! It just blew up...again. We hit the nail on the head. Fast forward 2 months and I'm standing on a stage in New Delhi about to walk out to an audience to give a TEDx talk to over 500 Indians.

I had done it! I had found happiness, I was inspiring others and I was travelling the world. I'm now 9 months travelling and have visited Australia, Philippines, India, Nepal, Thailand, Philippines, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and a few more in between. Here I got to meet people, study their use of technology in places as addicted and hooked to the cloud as Korea, travel to some of the most amazing places in the world and inspire audiences along the way.

Some of my experiences

Wandering the Great Wall of China

Fourteen days trekking to 5416m in the Himalayas

Contributing to those who needed it along the way

Showing up to a few events to inspire and spread good vibes

Crashing a wedding in Bangkok

Seeing some of the most stunning places on earth

Teaching monks to kick flip

Getting lost in Tibet

Crashing a high school reunion

I even spent some time living as a Buddhist monk learning Kung Fu and Tai Chi

What made it possible?

1. Always reach a little bit further than you can

2. Try to do something of real value for people

3. Do what you say you will

By sticking to what I loved doing and never looking back, the rules above made me who I am. I always step out of my comfort zone and do the things I never truly understand. The rest I let myself figure out along the way. Once, I put my mind to it. I fulfil it. A compulsive habit that worked in my favour and it can work for you too.