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July 7, 2025 • 20 mins
Caroline Biesalski introduces Carl Barney, discussing the multifaceted concept of happiness and the experiments that shed light on its nature. Carl elaborates on his role as a happiness coach, offering a fresh perspective on redefining happiness in daily life. The conversation transitions to the pursuit of success, highlighting the essential role that friendships play in achieving genuine fulfillment. Carl shares details about his upcoming projects and presents a special offer for listeners to engage with his work. The episode concludes with practical takeaways, encouraging listeners to integrate happiness into their personal and professional journeys.
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Episode Transcript

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(00:00):
So it's not just about money and fame.
In fact, sometimes those things do not lead tohappiness.
But then you've got happiness.
What is happiness?
Is it an emotion?
Is it a feeling?
Is it a state of mind?
Well, we all know what happiness is, but how dowe really get to grips with it?
And I spend a whole chapter in my book talkingabout what is happiness because this was a

(00:24):
question that some of my friends say, we sortof know what happiness is, but what do you
think happiness is?
Welcome to Inspired Choice Today.
I'm your host, Caroline Biesalski, here tobring you authentic stories, surprising
lessons, and powerful takeaways to fuel yourjourney in business and life.
In each episode, I'll take you from oneinspiring guest to the next, blending their

(00:48):
experiences with my expertise to uncoverpractical strategies you can use right away.
Whether you're starting out or stepping up,stay tuned for insights and actionable tips
that make a difference, and stick around untilthe end for a special freebie just for our
listeners.
Hello, and welcome inspired podcast community.

(01:11):
This is your new episode.
My name is Caroline, and my today's guest isCarl Barnes, and I'm so happy that he's here
for our interview.
How are you doing today?
Life is good, Caroline.
I'm very well.
Thank you.
It is.
Thank you so much for being here, and I wouldlike to introduce you to the audience, of

(01:33):
course.
You are an educational entrepreneur andphilanthropist.
You unveil the happiness experiment.
It is the transformative guide, blendingtimeless wisdom with practical strategies for a
flourishing life.
You were inspired by Aristotle and Ayn Rand.
I don't know how you pronounce this name, but Iknow this author.

(01:56):
You got it right.
Ayn Rand.
Ayn.
Ayn Rand.
Yes?
Ayn.
Yeah.
Ayn.
As in mine.
Ayn.
Ayn?
Yes.
Mine.
Okay.
But I love the I I read the book.
Okay.
We can talk about this later, of course.
And you share the principles that have shapedyour success, inviting readers to embark on

(02:16):
their own journey to lasting happiness andfulfillment.
Welcome to the Inspired Choice Today podcast,Carl Barnes.
I'm inspired.
Me too.
My first question is, your book is called TheHappiness Experiment.
What was the single most eye-opening discoveryyou made about happiness through your own

(02:39):
journey?
Well, while this is about my own journey, it'sreally about the journey of 20 of my friends.
Not just my own journey, many, many books aboutthis is how I achieved increased happiness.
But this is a book about getting 20 people whowere in my will, and they had a bequest in my

(03:05):
will.
They were going to get a lot of money when Idied.
And because I almost died in a plane crash, Ithought, well, I'm not gonna wait until I die
because that's not much fun.
No fun at all.
So I thought, well, what if I brought itforward and gave them the bequest now, which is

(03:27):
what I did, but with the request that theycreate a happiness plan.
So they use the money for the best purposes forthemselves, and they spend it on themselves,
and they spend it on increasing theirhappiness.
And so they created a happiness plan, and theydid it.
And so the book is a recording of what theydid, how they developed their happiness plans,

(03:52):
and what they did and what happened in theirlives.
And so it's about real people doing realthings, pursuing happiness.
Wow.
You are a real person too, I think, because Iasked about your journey, and it is even more.
In the book, there are 20 people as far as Iunderstood, and then you talked about the

(04:15):
happiness plan they created.
And this is really amazing because we all knowhow to create plans for, I don't know,
accumulating money or something.
And you turned it into a happiness plan.
How inspiring is this?
Well, you know, it was inspiring because when Isat down with my friends and I said, look.

(04:40):
I'm not going to wait.
I want you to have this now.
I'm very grateful for your friendship.
I'm grateful for all the things that you'vedone for me, and I want to express this
gratitude by bringing your bequest, the moneythat you have in my will.

(05:00):
I'm gonna bring it to you now and make it ahappiness grant.
It's a grant for your happiness.
And I said, I want you to create a happinessplan.
What they said, Caroline, was happiness plan?
What's that?
I've never heard of that.
And so it's a shame because probably the mostimportant plan we have ever is the happiness

(05:21):
plan.
And so what I did, which was good, I gave themsome reading material, but then what I did, I
found them a coach, a happiness coach.
So the happiness coach helped them develop thehappiness plan, and then the coach followed up
with them and said, how's the plan comingalong?

(05:43):
And so they had a plan, they had a direction,and they had a coach that then helped them
along the way.
So everybody ought to have a happiness plan,don't you think?
Yes.
Absolutely.
So we all have our goals in mind, what we wantto achieve, and most of the time, these are
material things.
Right?
And you come up with a whole new perspective onlife, on happiness, and happiness plan, it

(06:10):
sounds contradictory to me.
Can you plan this?
But let me take a look at my next happyquestion maybe because, yeah, so many people
chase success thinking it will bring happiness.
How do you redefine happiness beyondachievements and external validation?

(06:32):
Well, the question of what is happiness, whatis success, you know, it's sort of obvious, but
very difficult also.
You know?
People sort of know what success is, and theysort of know what happiness is.
But when you delve into success, for instance,a lot of people say, well, I wanna be rich and
famous.

(06:53):
That's not what it's all about.
You can be successful in so many differentways.
You can be successful as a human being.
I feel good about myself.
I have self-esteem.
That's a tremendous success, and you can besuccessful in business when you're achieving
things.
You can be a successful coach.
You can be a successful mother or a successfulfather.

(07:16):
You can have successful friends, havesuccessful friendships.
So success is in a lot of places, in your home,in yourself.
So it's not just about money and fame.
In fact, sometimes those things do not lead tohappiness.
But then you've got happiness.
What is happiness?
Is it an emotion?
Is it a feeling?

(07:38):
Is it a state of mind?
Well, we all know what happiness is, but how dowe really get to grips with it?
And I spend a whole chapter in my book talkingabout what is happiness because this was a
question that some of my friends asked.
We sort of know what happiness is, but what doyou think happiness is?
Let's talk about it.
So there's a long explanation in my book abouthow it's a feeling, it's an emotion, it's an

(08:03):
idea, it's a mindset.
It's a lot of things, but basically, it's asuccessful state of life.
You're feeling good about things.
You have things working in your life, and thenwe're happier.
And this is the other thing, Caroline.
There is no limit to happiness.
It's an inspiration that can last your entirelife.

(08:28):
Wow.
An inspiration that can last your entire life?
Wow.
We have inspiration.
Yes.
Yeah.
That can last your entire life.
I want more.
I want more happiness.
I can be more?
There's more joy.
There's more differences.
There's lots of things in life.
So true.
I was thinking about the definition of successby Earl Nightingale.

(08:52):
I think it is success is the progressiverealization of a worthy ideal, and when
happiness is your worthy ideal, as you said,like being a successful human or, like, or
mother or father or entrepreneur, whatever wechoose.
Right?
Yes.
Exactly.
Success basically is what we choose, the goalswe choose, the life we choose, and then making

(09:20):
it work and making it successful.
And that's the other thing about success isthere's always more success.
You can't say, well, I'm done.
I'm successful now.
Okay.
It's over.
I don't want any more success.
You can never say, well, I'm happy enough.
I'm gonna do it.
You can say I'm successful, and I enjoy it, andI love it, but what's next?
There's more.
And I think that the word inspired is a reallyinspiring word.

(09:43):
You know?
Because I mean, if you think about it, that'ssort of like a beacon, something an ideal,
something splendid that you can look forwardto.
I love that.
I love your inspired name.

(10:04):
Oh, thank you so much.
It developed.
And, you know, in the first 300 episodes, I hadthe same five questions for all of my guests,
and it was like, what inspires you and whoinspires you?
Because I did not know the answers for myself,and I started the podcast to receive those
answers.
Now we are talking about happiness.

(10:27):
And, yeah, inspired.
Some people say it's the breath of God as well,breathing existence into us.
I like this very much as well.
And happiness is how we define happiness, whatmakes us happy, and to get to choose every
single day, of course.
And I have another question for you.
If someone listening today feels stuck orunfulfilled, what is one experiment they can

(10:53):
start right now to create a real shift in theirlife?
Well, that's a big question, big question.
I think first off it has to depend on theindividual.
There's not one answer for everyone, or maybethere is an answer for everyone, there's one

(11:16):
basic answer, and that is to think about,contemplate, reflect.
But you can't do that alone, Caroline, as youwell know, as a coach, people need someone to
talk to.
They need a friend, a family member, a coach, atherapist, and that's what I would think.

(11:39):
If somebody has that now if they don't havewell, hopefully, they have friends or family.
That would be good.
If they don't, it would be a good idea to startthere maybe, you know, creating friends and
because but talk.
Talk to a journal, talk to a coach, talk to atherapist, and do the reflection upon your own

(12:00):
life and then identify.
And this again, it does this is not a quickfix.
Not a quick fix.
Think deeply about what you love, what meanssomething to you, where your life has come
from, your current, things that you want, thethings that you love, the things that you care

(12:22):
about, the things that motivate, the thingsthat inspire you.
Think about those things and think about themdeeply, and then bring them together and put
them into a purpose.
You talk about purpose, and you also said startcreating friends.
What would you say is the first step to createfriends?

(12:47):
Well, that's interesting.
How do we develop friends?
And I think what we do is we meet people.
There's a spark.
There's a recognition.
There's a, oh, I like the way this persontalks.
I like the way this person and then take thatstep of engaging with them and then slowly

(13:08):
develop.
You know, I'd like to talk to you some more.
I remember I was in a courtroom with a judge,and the judge came into the courtroom and he
was very friendly.
And I said, gee, you know, you're a friendlyjudge, and he laughed.
And then we started to talk about books for allthings.
We started to talk about a book that he loved,and I said, well, I love that book too.

(13:31):
It was Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
And so we started talking philosophy.
And so I said, gee, I really enjoy speakingwith you, Judge, Your Honor.
I'd love to have dinner with you.
And he said, no.
No.
No.
I can't do that because I'm the judge.
But then finally, finally, we did get together.
We had dinner, and he's been friends now forover 10 years, and we're very close friends.

(13:54):
But it's that spark that something that you canshare right in the beginning, and then have the
have the ins I'm I'm gonna stop using the wordinspiration because that's your word, but then
you have the, the intention, to pursue it.
And I did with this particular man.
I admired him.
I thought he was a wonderful judge because, youknow, he was on my side.

(14:16):
That's beside the point, but I enjoyed talkingwith him, and I said, look.
I wanna get together with you.
So I followed up.
And, and then he finally agreed, and and we'vebecome very close friends.
Well, thank you so much for sharing.
So one thing stood out.
You said, set the intention to pursue this,let's say, relationship or friendship that

(14:40):
develops.
And I was thinking about one book when you saidhe talked about a book.
Maybe it was Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friendsand Influence People.
Right?
That's right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That would be a good book too.
Yeah.
That would be a good place to start.
And then you talked about intentions andsetting, I would say setting goals, but you

(15:02):
talked about purpose as well.
So, do you set goals for yourself orintentions, and what is one of your next
projects?
Did you say the next project?
Yes.
Oh, I've got some big projects.
Yes.
We have the intentions.
You know, the basic intention is to live.

(15:24):
Everybody has that on some level.
You know, some people just, you know, I'malive.
I'm okay.
And some people really want to pursue life andhave a completely full and enriching life.
So we have that basic intention, but then weconvert this into because by using our mind and
reflection, we then start to create goals,purposes from cognitively, from our mind, not

(15:51):
just from our body.
Our body wants to live.
This is a basic purpose, but then mentally, wecreate purposes and goals.
And my goal this year is, I'd like lots ofpeople to buy my book.
It's coming out in June.
It's ready for preorders.
It can be accessed through,happinessexperiment.org, if anybody wants to be

(16:16):
interested in the book.
So I want that to be successful as one goal.
Then there's somebody approached me aboutmaking a movie of the book, so that would be my
next goal.
And another goal, which is a whole subject foranother day, is I'm working on creating an
artificial intelligence university usinghistorical figures such as Aristotle and Newton

(16:42):
and Einstein as my professors, and they wouldbe delivering the courses.
This is so good.
So I'm your first student.
Okay?
When you launch your university, I want to be astudent by Albert Einstein or the other

(17:04):
Aristotle you mentioned, and all the people.
We cannot meet alive because they are dead, andyou can vivify them.
That's right.
You can recreate them as avatars, and you canmake them alive.
You can make them appear very human-like, andthey speak as they did when they were with very

(17:28):
strong voices.
They're very strong people.
And what you do is you train them on how toteach, and this is really good.
They have to be good teachers, but they knowall the books and all the things that they ever
wrote.
They know everything immediately because that'sall in the large language model, as they call

(17:51):
it.
It's all in their big library, and they canaccess everything and teach everything that
they know in an authentic way, in a thoughtfulway, not to this teacher at the student's level
and at the student's pace.
And they can be great professors.

(18:14):
And, you know, for lunch or dinner, they canmeet and have a mastermind, and they can
develop their ideas much further.
Yes.
Indeed.
Wow.
So great.
Thank you so much.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much for our interview.
Please reach out to Carl.
He's amazing.

(18:35):
He shares his wisdom.
Check out the website.
I put it in the show notes.
Of course, there's the book.
We can preorder.
I will preorder.
Of course, I'm so curious now about thehappiness experiment, the happiness plan, your
definitions.
Thank you so much.
And now it's time for your final thoughts tothe audience, please.

(18:57):
Well, thank you, Caroline.
It's been it's been fun to to discuss reallyimportant ideas, and, I've enjoyed it very
much.
And I, I I I what I say that to people isthere's always something more, there's always
something better.
And if you think and talk about it, journalabout it, talk with a coach, life can be more

(19:24):
successful, and we can increase happiness.
Yes.
Yes.
Let's do this.
Let's increase happiness in every singlesecond.
I'm inspired now.
I stay inspired.
Thank you so much.
Okay.
Thank you, Caroline.
And I see you in the next episode.

(19:45):
Thank you for listening to Inspired ChoiceToday.
I'm thrilled to have you on this journey ofgrowth and transformation.
Don't forget to hit follow or subscribe to stayconnected and never miss an episode.
And here's something special.
Grab your free 20-minute breakthrough sessionwith me.
It's designed to help you kick-start or levelup your business.

(20:09):
Just check out the show notes for more.
Until next time, keep making those inspiredchoices.
See you in the next episode.
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