Here is the news release about my new project, a book that I have been researching and working on for a long time called The Business of Happiness.
REGNERY ANNOUNCES PLANS TO PUBLISH TED LEONSIS’S The Business of Happiness
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Regnery Publishing announced today it has signed a major publishing contract with Washington Capitals owner and AOL vice chairman emeritus Ted Leonsis. His new book, The Business of Happiness, will be released in early 2010.
Ted Leonsis is a serial entrepreneur and visionary who was a driving force behind the rise of America Online as a global brand. Today, he’s still creating new companies, is a successful sports team owner, an award-winning documentary filmmaker…and a very happy man. But he wasn’t always happy, and he’s not happy now just because he’s successful.
More than a quarter century ago, at the age of 25, Ted Leonsis was already a highly successful entrepreneur, but reflecting on his life after surviving a plane crash, he realized that he wasn’t truly happy. Walking away from that plane crash, Leonsis was determined to discover the secret to happiness. Using the same analytical skills that had brought him great business success, he began to study happiness in fellow business executives, successful entertainers, and professional athletes, as well as typical Americans.
The Business of Happiness is the result of Leonsis’s findings. Leonsis reveals the six approaches to life that happy people share, and how these six key tenets lead to greater business success. Most surprisingly, Leonsis explains that it’s not success that makes us happy, but happiness that makes us successful.
Leonsis was represented by Folio Literary Management.
####
I was ably represented by terrific agents at Folio Literary Management. They received many offers from NY-based publishing houses but we chose Regnery of Washington DC because the editors and President of the firm really believed in what I am trying to accomplish with the publishing of this book. They have great resources to apply to this project and they cared deeply about the message. And, best of all, they are all fans of the Washington Capitals.
I look forward to completing this book and working with John Buckley, a great friend of mine and a great writer, who is also DC-based.
More on this project as it develops. And if you wouldn’t mind, click on the Happiness Survey widget link on my blog and take this last minute survey. I really appreciate your help. Thank you.
Tags: "The Business of Happiness", Folio, Happiness, John Buckley, Regnery Publishing, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take
Congrats, Uncle Ted!
Thanks for keeping it local, big guy! Now lets’s go Caps!
With apologies to Charles Schultz . . .
Happiness is a warm cup of coffee, the Edmonton Oilers winning, my wife’s face, my children running, music and words hitting the brain just right, a new and better hockey stat, a good work out, and me getting difficult stuff done right.
Good luck with your book, Mr. Leonsis.
sounds interesting…best of luck with the project…i am sure it will make for an interesting/happy read.
If you are a multi-millionaire and aren’t happy, you have issues.
hey bj…lighten up….and change your initials
That’s awesome that you did it with caps fans as oppossed to some NY smucks!
Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which Others do for us which makes us happy; It is that which we think and feel and do, first for The other fellow and then for ourselves.
Ted - Thanks for your continuing promotion and guidance in what really matters in life - being happier. We look forward to promoting your book on happier.com when it is released.
Keep up the good work!
My cousin, Ted Leonsis, is the happiest person I know. He has always been a happy person - long before he became a wealthy individual. I have known him my whole life, and as long as I can remember, he was always graced with an abundance of joy, an excellent sense of humor, and a real zest for living. His happiness is very contagious. In the good old days, we used to call that “a contact high.” I can personally vouch for the fact that everything he says about his personality and attitude toward life is absolutely true. Hanging around Ted is dangerous if you would prefer to be depressed - because his happiness is contagious. I have never met anyone who he could not make laugh or at least bring a smile to their face. When we were kids, and Ted would come back to Lowell to visit the family with my aunt and uncle, they would stay at my grandmother’s house on the north common in the housing project. I’d walk over there real early in the morning, excited just to see him and be with him, because he was so much fun to be with. When I got there, our “yiayia” (grandmother) would be overjoyed to have the both of us there with her, and as soon as Ted woke up, he always had a smile on his face and was happy to see that I was there to enjoy his company. We have shared countless happy and profound occasions together throughout life - from family gatherings and our high school graduation ceremony to seeing the Kinks the first time they came to Lowell and walking up the steps of the ancient acropolis together in Athens, Greece. He’s not just my cousin. He’s one of my best friends. Being with Ted is a gas!
Ted has not always been economically wealthy - but he was always rich in spirit from day one. Maybe it’s his name - “God’s Gift” - or maybe it’s those scintillating hazel eyes of his (My mother always said he has the most beautiful eyes in the world.) Whatever it is, it is undeniably charismatic and magical. Ted can magically transform the mood of a room in mere moments. The Greeks call it “kefi.” Also, being a true, second decanate Capricorn, he was destined to rise to positions of administrative authority and responsibility. He’s a tough, dedicated, natural-born leader - a true leader; one who roles up his sleeves and gets down on the playing field with his team. He loves contact. … He is also the hardest worker that I have ever met in my life, and he knows how to “work smart”- not just “work hard.” He deserves everything he has achieved because he earned it all the hard way. He’s also not afraid to take educated risks. As Publius Terentius Afer said in the second century, BC: “Fortune favors the bold.” It takes true courage to go out on a limb, risking everything for a dream, and very few people have that quality - favoring freedom over security. I am absolutely confident in my assertion that my cousin Ted exemplifies this quality in every way, especially coming from a kid who had health problems that would have made any kid either introverted or cautious. … Not Ted. He’s been a real trouper from day one.
When Ted sent me a free copy of this latest book of his, I immediately began to read it. It certainly has a lot of interesting stories in it about his professional life in the trenches of the computer world and how he managed to navigate his way through the evolution of the cybernetic highways of technology. He was one of the individuals who helped pave those highways. So, if you want to learn about the history and development of the world wide web and the online internet that links it all together, this book will do that for you. If you want to learn more about Ted himself, because you are a fan of his or of any of his sports teams, this book will do that for you as well. But really, you should read this book for the reason that Ted wrote it: to increase your own happiness by learning from his examples and advice. His guidance is profoundly helpful in this respect alone. He really does know what he’s talking about. It’s all common sense, of course, but he backs it up with the social science research to validate his conclusions. As a social science (Sociology) major myself, I can vouch for the veracity of his assertions. He does know what he’s talking about, and reading this book could really help you become a happier person if you apply the principles he puts forth. Even if you don’t do any of the things he suggests, just reading the book itself will make you happy because it’s really fun to read. It’s a great book.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about, from page 24: “The next day, Allen Ginsburg and William Burroughs came to my apartment. You can’t imagine what a thrill it was - and what an opportunity for a college student writing about a Beat writer. Having two living legends sitting in my apartment, offering up their memories of their friend Jack Kerouac, was a lucky break of the first order, though maybe not entirely lucky, since I did have a connection. Just as having Paul Tsongas get elected to the Congress was a way for a poor kid from Lowell to land one of the coveted congressional internships sought after by seemingly better connected Georgetown kids, my Uncle Bill’s connection to Jack Kerouac had led Burroughs and Ginsburg to my apartment. But soon I had a problem. I had to get to class, and they seemed perfectly comfortable staying there talking to me the whole day. So I cleared my throat, and interrupting Allen Ginsberg midway through a long remembrance, I said, “Excuse me, and I really hate to break this up, but I have to go to class.” … “What class?” … “English class, ” I said. … “Can we come?” Burroughs asked.” … ” …
Here’s another great example, from page 89, of a human being having the right values: “One day, Bob and I were sitting on a deck having a conversation about whether it was better for a company to be loved or needed. A veteran of MTV, Viacom, and Warner Brothers, Bob knew as much about branding and media companies as anyone around. I argued that the best brands were loved, and cited Disney, Nike, and Coke as examples of loved brands with staying power. Bob argued that in fact it was good to be needed, and that companies that provided a needed service to consumers - cable companies, for example, which provided connectivity - also had a superior amount of information on their customers. Bob argued that AOL was increasingly a utility for people, and that was okay; to be needed was a good thing. I disagreed; I believed AOL was at that time loved, and that it really was better off than if it were simply needed. No one loves the power company, even if they need electricity.” … BRAVO, pehthee-moo!
My cousin Ted makes the case that happy individuals (managers and supervisors) make for happy crews, happy crews make for happy departments, happy departments make for happy companies, happy companies make for a happy business environment, and happy business environments make for happy geographical regions - and hence, a happy country. I can personally vouch for the fact that after working in the accounts payable department of a social research company in Rockville, Maryland named Westat, that this theory is true. I have never worked with a happier and more loving bunch of people in my life. What they say about number-crunchers and accountants is not true! These people know how to have a good time. They never take themselves seriously. They take the work seriously - and when the work is done, it’s time “to party like a rock star,” as our great manager, Mike Lagarde used to say. Mike is a happy guy. Ted is a happy guy. Read this book and get happy! … YOWZA! - George Koumantzelis / The Aeolian Kid
Ted,
Just finished your book and really enjoyed it–will make it required reading for my son in the insurance business. I have always been an entreprenuer and therefor I have always looked inside myself for happiness rather than to a company or community (although I am in many communities which make me happy)
Where you set about listing your goals at an earlier age, I found it imperative to list my priorities.
They are listed as such:
1. God
2. Family
3. Community
4. Business
5. Personal interests
By always keeping God first I could never be very unhappy. He is love and by His nature , can never leave us or stop loving us. We can lose everything else in life–and thank God I haven’t–but He will always be there for you. I am sure the Jesuits would vouch for this also. Have a great day and best of luck on your new ventures.