I just finished reading The Business of Happiness by Ted Leonsis. I recommend it! Check out the website to get some background on the author and book.
To summarize, Ted grew up in Brooklyn the son of immigrant parents. Through hard work and fortunate timing he was very successful at a young age. But he wasn’t happy. A near death experience opened his eyes to his second chance at life and he decided to dedicate himself to being happy.
Ted’s theory is to not confuse being successful with being happy. He was successful, but not happy. Ted theorizes that successful people are not happy because they are successful, they are successful because they are happy.
Ted is an interesting guy. He’s done a lot! His insights into his time as Chairman at AOL gave me new found respect for that company. His story shows that hard work does pay off, but that there’s more to life than just achieving financial and professional goals.
After his near death experience, Ted creates a “list”. 101 and things he wanted to do before he dies. He admits many items did not generate happiness (own a Ferrari), but that he created the list at 28 and he’s been faithful on following through. The fact that he did follow through on his list when given an opportunity to achieve one of his goals fortuitously protected a large portion of his wealth during the dot com bust.
The book is broken in two parts. The first part is mostly autobiographical. An interesting read. The second half the author breaks down the six things he believes creates happiness.
This was a good and quick read. I recommend it!
