The Happiness Experiment with Carl Barney

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing marketing. Today, we'll be breaking down the happiness experiment. And to drop these value bombs, I brought to Carl Barney and the EO Fire Studios. Carl is an educational entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author of the happiness experiment, committed to promoting rational, life-serving ideas. His leadership and business strategies are influenced by Aristotle and Ayn Rand's objectivism, which Carl regards as the philosophy for success and happiness. Now, we'll talk about defining happiness beyond money, pre-quests, and gratitude.

0:40grants. We'll also talk about how happiness can be engineered like a business plan and one action that you can take today to start increasing your happiness, Fire Nation, and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Carl and our sponsors. Fire Nation, this is your year to get unstuck and to grow a successful business. Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and now featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOFire. Again, request life-changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOFire.

1:17Carl, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Well, there's two aspects to this and they were personal. I believed that making money, becoming rich was not really very respectable. It wasn't really the way you should do, you can gauge your life. And I changed my mind about that. And I became aware that making money and being profitable, honestly, making money was a really good thing. Not only that, I would go so far as to say that it's a very high virtue to create wealth for yourself, wealth for working with your employees, and wealth for your environment, your community.

2:08But I would go further than that, that money is a big part of success. It's an important part of success, but it is not success itself. Success is defined much more broadly than making money and having profit. It's having a loving family. It's great relationships with friends and family. It's having a beautiful home. It's character issues. All the things that you value, if you're pursuing them and achieving your values, that's success. It's not just limited. It's very embracive. And Fire Nation, this is why I brought Carl on the mic because today we're talking about the happiness experiment and it's going to be a fantastic conversation from beginning to end because Carl, you've created vast wealth.

2:53And now most people, they would equate that to happiness. But I would love to know how you define happiness beyond money. Well, happiness is a successful state of life. The greatest philosopher, Aristotle, great, great philosopher, obviously a Greek. He said that happiness is the meaning and purpose of life. People struggle. What is the meaning, what is my purpose? Well, happiness is the meaning and purpose of life. Now, 2000 years later, Thomas Jefferson and the founders put happiness on the same pedestal with life and liberty. That's how important they thought it was. So happiness is very broad, successful state of life, really basically achieving your values, the things that you love, the things that are important for you.

3:50Knowing what they are and then pursuing them. That's what's important. Well, I love that you use that word pursue because that's what I went to when you were talking about Thomas Jefferson is that they didn't say, hey, we're going to give you happiness because that's something that you really can't just give to somebody. But they gave us the opportunity to pursue happiness, the pursuit of happiness. And that is such a special thing, such a special opportunity. And that kind of leads me to my next point, which is about pre-quests and gratitude grants. What are these two things? Can you give some examples and explanations of them?

4:26First off, I almost died in a plane crash. The plane took off and after a few minutes, there was a massive explosion on the plane. I thought the whole back end of the plane had blown off and it was plunging to the ground. And I knew I was going to die. And candidly, you're going to have to read my book to see if I did live or die. That got my attention, and I started thinking about the people in my will, and I had 20 people in my will. There was employees, former employees, a legal professional, two professors who had taught me and tutored me that I'm very grateful for, a housekeeper, driver, advisors, all of those people that had helped me in my life, and I was feeling grateful for them.

5:07I was feeling gratitude, and I wanted to put them in my will to say thank you. But then I thought about gratitude. Where does it come from? What is it? It's a great feeling. Gratitude is wonderful. And we do gratitude journals and all those things. But I couldn't figure out where gratitude comes from. And then I realized that it comes from generosity. Generosity leads to gratitude. Obvious once you realize it. And it's not about giving somebody money. It can be love. It can be advice. It can be help. All of those things that our supporters and our friends and loved ones do for us that help us to become successful and wealthy.

5:43So I thought about the people in my will. The next step was my sister's husband was dying. And she lives in England, so I flew to England, and I wanted to help her in some way. So I sat down with her and her husband, and also my older brother and his wife. I sat down in England, and I said, you know, you're in my will, Janet, for X amount of dollars. It was a lot of money. It blew her away. And she said, oh, that's amazing. That's wonderful. I said, but look, you can really use the money now. So rather than doing this as a bequest, I'm going to make it a prequest. And she said, a prequest? What's a prequest?

6:19I said, well, that means that I'm going to bring this bequest forward and make the bequest now, pay it to you now. She said, all that money now? And I said, yes. And she was overjoyed, burst into tears being a girl. And so she took that money and they fulfilled their last wishes. And that was really good. I saw a very good ending. But at the same time, it's interesting. I turned to my older brother and I said, look, Barry, you're in my will. And I'm going to do the same thing with you and bring forward your bequest. And he was really very happy about that. But his wife, oh, my God, his wife went ballistic.

7:02She said, this is too much money. It's wrong. I don't want anything to do with it. And she stormed out of the room. So that really taught me a lesson that it's not easy to, you know, make prequests, to give people a lot of money while you're still alive. You look them in the face and say, look, this money is yours right now. And it's a challenge. That really does bring up a lot of interesting things for me too, Carl, because, you know, in some ways I can, maybe if I do a stretch, I can understand where she's coming from. And again, it's a stretch for me because I would probably be much more on the happy side of things if that ever happened to me.

7:39But at the same time, you know, if I try to take her perspective, it's almost like, well, you know, here she is and maybe, you know, her husband. And they have been working so hard their whole life to like, you know, get by and to make a life for themselves. Then all of a sudden somebody just comes and kind of just drops a pile of money on the doorstep and says, well, hey, like, you know, everything that you've done was kind of not in a way for naught. but it's just like, I am just going to prequest all this money upon you. And maybe, you know, mentally, it was just hard for her to grasp how that was going to change her life.

8:11And I think you know this, Carl, and I'm curious about this. People resist change. They struggle with change. Have you seen that? Oh, absolutely. In fact, there are 20 people in my will, three people said, no, I can't accept it. It's not right. I don't earn or deserved it. And I had to struggle with this beforehand, before I ever started making prequest, I thought through, why are these people in my will? Why is this person or that person in my will for this much money? And I figured out, I said, well, they've really been helpful to me. They've done wonderful things in different ways. It could be love, it could be advice, it could be knowledge, or somehow they helped me.

8:51And I realized that. And then I realized when I sat down with them, I had to tell them exactly why I was doing it. And I spent the time reflecting upon our relationship, how they'd helped me, how we'd come a long way. We'd work together. They did things. And there was employees and, and, you know, we get a lot of help from our employees. And so I've had some great employees who I just wanted to tell thank you to. But I went through this process with them and I said, because I'm so grateful to you, I want to tell you thank you. So you're in my will. And then I tell them that much money they could accept that.

9:22They said, well, you know, everybody dies and everybody has a will. So, you know, we'll wait. That's fine. But I said, look, there's a problem. And they said, a problem? I said, yeah, I'm planning to live to be 120. Right. Oh, yeah, that is a problem. And by the way, Fire Nation, I'm looking at Carl right now. This guy could live to 120. I'm just going to put it out there. Did you put that in writing for me? Yes. Okay, great. I said, you know, the other thing, I'd be dead. I wouldn't be able to see you enjoying the money. And they said, yeah, that's right. Especially if you're going to live to 120.

9:50So I wanted to use the money for good purposes, for my own happiness and the happiness of those I cared about. So I said, look, I've got the money now and I want to bring it forward and pay it to you now. And many of them are excited and overjoyed. And I said, but one thing I want to be sure of that this money does not confuse or create a problem for you, because sometimes a big chunk of money can really be harmful. And I said, I want it to be sure that it's there. So I want you to give me a plan on what you plan to do with it. And they said, well, what kind of plan? I said, well, a happiness plan.

10:27They said, what's a happiness plan? I said, well, I'll hire a happiness coach for you who will help you develop a happiness plan. And they did. And I said, once it's done, I'll send you all the money right away. No strings. Now, see, I love this because, you know, we've all heard the story of, you know, what is it like seven out of 10 or nine out of 10? And sometimes in some cases, 10 out of 10 lottery winners are actually in a worse situation a year later than they were before they won the lottery because they don't know how to handle this, you know, sudden influx of wealth. And they, you know, make bad decisions and they buy the wrong things.

11:06And all of a sudden they look up and they're like, wow, like I actually had some money in the bank a year ago before the lottery, maybe a few thousand dollars. Now I'm like tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts and I don't have any more money coming in, no way to make money because I'm still the same person I was a year ago before the lottery, but without all this stuff. So it's really interesting. And I love that concept of creating that plan because Fire Nation, man, without a plan, where are we? What are we doing? And we have a lot more to talk about around this topic when we get back from thanking our sponsors.

11:37You've got AI helping you write emails and name your dog. Shouldn't you be using AI to help you invest too? Seriously, I know investing can seem a bit overwhelming. I've been studying it since a young age, and I still have questions 30 years later, but it's an incredibly important part of my overall long-term wealth strategy. Is it part of yours? Public.com is the investing platform for those who take it seriously. With Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and more. You can also access industry-leading yields, like the 4.1 % APY you can earn on your cash with no fees or minimums.

12:10But what sets Public apart? AI isn't just a feature. It's woven into the entire experience from portfolio insights to earnings call recaps. Public gives you smarter context at every touch point. Plus, you can earn up to$10 ,000 when you transfer your existing investment portfolio over to public. Go to public.com slash fire to fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by public investing. Full disclosures in podcast description. When I first launched Entrepreneurs on Fire in September of 2012, I had a feeling it was going to be big, but I didn't know how big. Fast forward to May 2014, not even two years later, and Kate and I were traveling Europe on our first ever completely unplugged vacation.

12:51No emails, no interviews, everything for the business was handled ahead of time. From the beginning, location independence has been a high priority of ours. We love to travel and we love the freedom of being able to pack a bag and hit the road on our own terms. While we were away, we thought it'd be great to make some extra money to host our place on Airbnb. We figured since we were going to be staying in homes throughout Europe, why not also host ours in the States? If you're like us and value location independence, think about it. While you're away, your home could be working for you rather than sitting empty.

13:23It's a great way to make some extra cash to put towards your next home project, bucket list goal, or future vacation. Your home might be worth more than you think. find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. So Carl, we're back and you had them sit down and you gave them, you know, access to a happiness coach to create this happiness plan. A lot of people want to know, I mean, can happiness really be engineered like a business plan? How'd that work out? Oh, absolutely. In fact, you can't really succeed in business without some kind of a plan. It can be the back of a napkin even, you know, because that's where many famous as businesses start, but we plan all the time in business.

14:01And that's what makes us successful. In fact, when I was in business, I thought that planning was the most important thing I did. Now, this is good planning, you know, planning can be a bit crazy. You can go off, but good planning, there's some wonderful books on planning, but it's really important. And it's the same thing with a life. It doesn't have to be a really complicated plan, but you've got to sit down with somebody, talk to somebody, a coach, a therapist, a spouse, a friend, talk with somebody and say, look, I've been thinking about happiness. And, you know, candidly, buy my book because there's a happiness plan workbook in there which goes step by step through this.

14:34But it starts with discussion, talking, thinking about those things that you really care about, the things that make you happy, you know, and your dreams and your purpose and the things that you get very excited about. Know what they are and then plan to pursue them little by little and little by little is enough. You can create happiness habits, which is a part of the book. And definitely, in fact, when you say, can you, it's not only can you, you have to, if you really want to increase your happiness. Now you make me happy already, you know, but if you want, there's always more happiness. There's always higher levels of happiness.

15:12And if you want that, and I do, and I think most people do, then simple plans or more complicated plans, that's the way to go. Now, I do love how you were sharing step-by-step, point by point because it is that pursuit, Fire Nation. It's the pursuit of happiness is what we're after through this happiness planning. Of course, we want to get there, but I mean, man, we're going to look back and say the journey was awesome. Like waking up every day knowing I was one step closer to fulfilling this aspect of my happiness plan, that aspect of my happiness plan, and continuing to move forward. And especially if you have a life partner, doing that with your family, with your spouse, with your significant other, that can be really significant.

15:54But I want to know how, Carl, how can entrepreneurs, because that's our listener base, how can they use happiness planning to improve both our business and our personal outcomes? Well, you know, in one sense, the meaning and purpose of a business is to make yourself and your family and friends and your employees happier. It's all about happiness. That's the meaning and purpose and, you know, making happy customers. You know, if you've got, if you've got happy customers and they just love your product and they love your service and your employees, if they're happier. And I, and I used to focus a lot.

16:37I would, I would work on helping my employees to become happier and identify what it is that makes them satisfied and fulfilled at work. And I spent time on that because I knew if they were happier and, and upbeat and positive, they would take care of the customers. And so in a sense, it's all about a happiness plan. And, you know, when you start a business, you know, you say, well, I want to make a lot of money or I want to earn rich or I want to do this or I got this great idea or I want to, you know, something I want to produce. You know, these are good things. But I think ultimately what you're saying is I'm going to create this wonderful business, this thing.

17:19and it is a happiness vehicle for yourself and those that you care about. This is powerful, Fire Nation. And Carl, what I want to ask you right now is one action, one specific action that our listeners can take today because I love people taking action today, right now, after they're listening to this interview to start increasing their happiness. The first thing I would give you some advice, your life is important. Feel reverence for your own life. If one of the greatest, the highest, the best for yourself here, now for your very own. And imagine a heaven. Imagine a heaven, your life really working, whatever it is.

18:02And then don't just dream of it. Make it happen and start with your dreams. Create a dreams list. Something you could do. You had all the time, all the money, all the ability. What would you want to do? and just write up a half a dozen or a dozen or more dreams list. And then one of these days, those dreams will start coming true, and they've been coming true for me. Carl, you wrote a fantastic book. It's called The Happiness Experiment. Take a minute, share with Fire Nation why this book will be impactful for their life. It discusses one of the most important things, which is not fully understand, which is happiness.

18:45Happiness is really important. And it provides stories of people that created plans and then pursued those plans and become happier. So you see real life with people really working their plan and becoming happier. And so it's a tool that you can use. And if you take it step by step and create happiness habits based on a happiness plan, your life for yourself and for those you care about will become happier. Carl, where can our listeners go to get this book? Well, it's in Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, but of course, everything is at Amazon. So all of those places, it's available. Many local bookstores will be covering it.

19:36It's coming out officially on July 8th, but it's available for pre-order now. And I wish that whoever, you know, the book, I wish you increasing happiness. And the book, I hope will, I know it can, and I hope it will increase your happiness. Carl, I love that phrase, increasing happiness. To me, that's so meaningful because that's what we are in pursuit of. Not just flat happiness, but how about increasing happiness? You know, that's how we're going to get to 120 years old is if we're still increasing our happiness day by day, year by year. So Fire Nation, my call to action to you, get this book, read this book, implement this book, and then write Carl if you think he's deserved it, which he has, a five-star review.

20:25Those are very meaningful. Let your voice be heard. Write him a review wherever you bought the book, Amazon, Books A Million, Barnes & Noble, doesn't matter. Write him a review. let him know what you think about the book, what you got out of it. He'll appreciate it. I can tell you as a fellow author, it's very meaningful. Carl, you're amazing. Give Fire Nation one final call to action. What is the one thing you want our listeners to walk away with from our conversation today? Envision. We talk about visions, you know, in a business, you have a vision for a business and that's great, having a vision, but you can have a vision for your own life.

21:03And the vision is made up of your dreams list. That's part of your vision. You're envisioning something ideal in the future. But it doesn't matter. The dreams, it doesn't matter whether they're real. One of these days, you'll achieve those dreams. And purpose is part of your vision. And so know what you're doing in life and why you're doing it. Spend the time thinking about that if necessary. if you if you don't know spend the time what drives you what's your meaning for your life and and and finally that there's talking about heaven I could I could why I read that from a book by and ran we the living imagine the heaven I thought yeah I'm gonna imagine the heaven and I I know what would be in my heaven a beautiful home with artwork have friends are in my home employees are in my home.

21:55I have all these things in my home. I created this heaven and now I'm living in my heaven. So this vision, dreams, purpose, heaven. So that's the place to start. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with CB and JLD today. So keep up that heat. And for links to everything that we talked about, visit eofire.com, type Carl in the search bar. The show notes page will pop right up. And of course, check out the happiness experiment. And Carl, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side.

22:34Thanks so much, John. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Carl for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world? If yes, we are now accepting applications for Entrepreneurs on Fire. To learn more about becoming a guest, visit eofire.com slash guest. And I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side. Fire Nation, this is your year to get unstuck and to grow a successful business. Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and now featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump at thrivetimeshow.com slash eofire.

23:13Again, request life-changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire.