Feed: Squidoo: Ted Leonsis - A Life List Is A Life - AggScore: 10.1

Ted Leonsis - A Life List Is A Life Plan for Happiness updated Thu Mar 15 2012 11:18 am EDT

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Ted Leonsis is author of the book, "The Business of Happiness". As you'll read below, he credits much of his success in life to the fact that he's happy; and he credits his happiness to a life list which he created after going through a harrowing near-death experience. If you haven't been sold on the power of having a life list before, you will be after reading Leonsis' story. Leonsis is a Renaissance man. First, he's a very successful entrepreneur; among other ventures, he founded and sold his first company for dollarsignr60 million before the age of 30. He joined America OnLine (AOL) after AOL bought his second company, and he was a top AOL executive for 13 years. Leonsis was largely responsible for the Internet giant's success. In addition, he's the owner of several Washington, DC professional sports teams: he owns the Washington Capitals (hockey), the Washington Mystics (women's basketball), and the Washington Wizards (men's basketball). In addition to everything else, Leonsis produces documentaries, including the award-winning "Nanking"--a film about the 1937 Nanking Massacre committed by the Japanese army in the former capital city of China--, which received numerous positive reviews and was accepted to the Sundance Film Festival. He went to Georgetown University, my alma mater, and he's an active philanthropist. Leonsis' parents were Greek immigrants to the United States. His father never finished high school, and he was a waiter at a restaurant. His mother, who never went to college, was a secretary. They never earned more than dollarsignr30,000 between them. Despite his humble origins, Leonsis was always told by his parents that he would be a great man one day, and he grew up with a sense of infinite possibilities. (Ted Leonsis photo is from here.)