166: The Everyday Joy of 'I Get To' - Featured Interview with guest expert Ted Larkins • My Quest for the Best with Bill Ringle

Ted Larkins, author of Get To Be Happy and owner of The Get To Principle, LLC

Ted Larkins talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about adopting a “get to” mindset and becoming more peaceful, productive, and satisfied in your everyday life.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

Interview Insights

Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:

The significance of the Dalai Lama’s advice that the purpose of life is to find happiness.
What happens when you start thinking in terms of “I get to” instead of “I have to.”
What an Indian man who lived in a 10 x 10 home with his wife and four children taught Ted about happiness.
What happened when a successful Tampa real estate agent started applying the “Get To” principles.
What matters to celebrities like Jon Bon Jovi when it comes to happiness.
Ted’s 15 minute daily morning practice that strengthens his mindset and creates a blueprint for success.

Read the Show Notes from this Episode

1:49 How Ted’s parents passed onto him the ethic of “getting out and doing things.”
2:58 [Paraphrasing the Dalai Lama] – “The purpose of life, I believe, is to find happiness.”
3:28 “When you choose to be happy, it’s really powerful.”
4:25 The benefits of smiling more often.
5:30 The “30-second rule” of changing your mindset.
5:49 [The Get To Mantra] – “You say, ‘I get to do this,’ you smile, and then you do what you’re going to do.’”
7:08 The essential difference in mindset between “I have to” and “I get to.”
10:15 Why the kind of happiness Ted refers to isn’t a “Polyanna” kind of happiness.
13:08 How Ted’s experiences traveling through India helped him shape his worldview.
14:59 “When I deliberate about saying ‘I get to do this,’ the more in control I am of my life.”
15:49 “We all have our level of frustration and things like that, but we do have the choice.”
17:28 Ted recounts his work with Bon Jovi and how it was like to get through the trust barrier.
18:49 “We’re born and then we die, and in between, we get to do this thing called life.”
20:09 The point of the mindful movement.
21:43 [Ted describes his 3-month executive coaching process.] – “It helps take people from this mundane [mindset] or just going through the motions and brings them up to really experiencing life.”
22:30 Case study of a Florida businessman who just wasn’t getting the most out of life.
23:45 [On writing Get To Be Happy] – “I had the best time.”
25:24 “I learned that just being focused and dedicated to something for 30 minutes a day, you can get a lot done.”
28:15 Ted’s daily exercise for staying happy and productive.

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Expert Bio

Ted Larkins is an author, speaker, accomplished business executive, and coach on happiness. Through his book and keynote talks, he shares the powerful Get To Principle, the ability to say “I Get To” as opposed to “I have to”. Ted also co-developed a leading entertainment licensing company in Tokyo, representing major movie studios that included Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Fox. He’s worked on projects with Jon Bon Jovi, Jack Nicklaus, Mariah Carey, and many other artists. He is the former Senior Vice President of the North American division of CPLG, one of the world’s leading entertainment, sport, and brand licensing agencies. He is on the Licensing Industry Merchandise Association (LIMA), co-chairing the charity committee and sitting on the executive committee. He is a guest lecturer for the UCLA Entertainment Studies and Performing Arts program.
Over a year and a half period, during his daily 4-hour train commute to work in Hollywood, he wrote the book, “Get To Be Happy: Stories and Secrets On Loving the Sh*t Out of Life. Ted lives with his wife of 22 years and their two children in Southern California.