One of the biggest lessons I learned the EO MIT Entrepreneurial Masters Program was from one of the last instructors/teachers/presenters, Barrett Ersek. It was the core lesson of his presentation, but a gem he quickly talked about. Everyday I am trying to find something for which I am grateful.
I noted this lesson to a fellow Contegian who asked me today what it was. The answer is “home delivery newspapers”. Why?
Oddly, it came from a minor inconvenience. I dropped off the children at grandma’s this morning. For one reason or another, no one heard us ring the door bell or knock on the door for ten minutes. Yes, this went on for TEN MINUTES. My 5-yo son Gabe decided he had waited long enough. So, he grabbed the newspaper waiting on the porch and began to smack the door while yelling “Let me in! I can’t take this any more. We are burning up.”
So why am I grateful? Because that simple newspaper in the hands of my son made me laugh with full abandonment. It took me out of the thoughts of a stressful day ahead.
I was on retreat a few weeks back. As part of the retreat, I had to set some lifetime goals, also known as a bucket list. The best way to keep me honest and to the list is too publish them. Sorry for those marked confidential – need to keep some mystery.
- CONFIDENTIAL.
Run an ultra marathon. (Completed May 18, 2013)Run Leadville Trail 100. (Completed August 19, 2018)- Walk my daughter down the aisle at her wedding.
- Take a Mediterranean cruise with Courtney.
- Earn a Masters’ degree.
- Drive across the country with the family in RV for the summer.
- Own a house with a pool.
- CONFIDENTIAL.
- Do yoga 3-4 times per week consistently.
- Visit India for a yoga enlightenment journey.
- Run for public office.
- Learn to dance in a manner that doesn’t cause embarrassment.
- See Jimmy Buffett in concert in Key West.
- Go to Burning Man.
- Go to Mardi Gras.
- Live in Sydney for the winter.
- Start an incubator in Saint Louis.
- Get my pilot’s license.
- Put my children through college.
- Become a yoga teacher.
- Fly on a private jet across an ocean to another country.
Buy a new house. (Completed January 6, 2012)- Own a house/villa in Italy.
Fix my relationship with my grandmother. (Completed before she left us in January 2014)- Stay in an Ice Hotel.
- Learn to play an instrument, any instrument.
- Ice skating on Christmas Eve in Times Square.
Take a pub trip through Ireland with buddies. (Completed August 2012)Learn to surf. (Completed March 2016)- Own a Ferrari/Maserati sports car.
- Do a stand up routine at amateur night.
Have dinner with Steve Jobs or Steve Wozniak. (Good bye, Steve Jobs. Completed dinner with Steve Wozniak January 28, 2014.)- Fly in a fighter jet.
- Attend the Oscars and walk the red carpet.
- Do the polar bear plunge.
- Have dinner with Dave Chappell.
- Attend TED.
- Write an autobiography for my children and grandchildren.
- Write a book with every lesson I have learned to pass along to my children. (IN PROGRESS)
- Create a charitable family foundation.
- Scuba dive in Australia.
- Ride a gondola in Venice.
- Go on an African safari.
- Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary.
- Spend 2+ weeks in Fiji with Courtney.
Oktoberfest in Munich. (Completed October 2013)- See the Northern Lights in Scandanavia.
- Spend a summer in France touring the hillsides visiting wineries with Courtney and the children.
- Be a good father.
- Learn to speak Italian.
- Take my children and grandchildren on a cruise.
See Bill Clinton speak. (Completed December 12, 2012)
UPDATED : August 27, 2019.
UPDATED : January 29, 2014.
UPDATED : December 18, 2012.