My List

This week I picked up Ted Leonsis' book "The Business of Happiness."  I'd be half lying if I said I bought it for any other reason than he owns the Washington Capitals.  That's the main reason for sure.  Ever since I lived in D.C. and became aware of his existence I've thought he seemed like a pretty cool dude and the more I learned about him I learned that he didn't just stumble into lots of money, or inherit it, like so many others.  I was intrigued by how he ran the team and the remarkable difference between hockey in D.C. the last year I was there (the 2005-2006 season) and now.  Of course, anyone who signed and then re-signed Alexander Ovechkin to basically lock him in for life has got to know what's up.

I also bought the book because it relates to business, and as a business owner I try to read the odd book on running a successful business.  Since I wasn't a business major and never envisioned myself in this role I base a good majority of my decisions on instinct and so its nice to occasionally read something that either confirms or denies your gut feeling about what you are doing.  The "happiness" part of the book wasn't something I was seeking out, nor did I know it would be such a large component. 

But Leonsis makes some genuinely good points about happiness, even though its almost instinct in and of itself to just brush them all off since he did become a multi-millionaire at the age of 27.  On the other hand, he didn't truly begin his quest for happiness until he was 28, which is the age I'm about to become shortly.  Interestingly enough I've kind of been on a self-examination kick lately trying to locate the center of my happiness, as well.  With as much time as I (and we as a couple) devote to the business I had begun feeling a little like I was losing myself to it all, which is somewhere I knew I didn't want to end up.  I've been through that routine before, where you devote such time to something and narrow your focus so much that when you accomplish what you set out to do you look up and ask, "So, now what?" and aren't happy with what you've accomplished, where you ended up or who you've become in the process.  So, to prevent that from happening again I've been trying to set out some goals and look outside my work to find fulfilling activities and create somewhat of a timetable for getting them accomplished.  I've taken some of the first steps to getting there, but it wasn't until I started reading this book that I realized exactly HOW I should go about doing it and more importantly WHY.

Again, I kind of feel like I was led to the book more than anything.  My mind won't let me view it as just a happy accident that I came across this particular reading material at this particular point in my life.  Since reading is my main leisure activity outside watching hockey, and I began the year with a new dedication to reading as much as possible, I feel like God is leading me through the books he points my attention toward.  This has happened before, but not so much as it seems to be happening lately.

Anyway, Ted Leonsis had a brush with death when a plane he was on almost crashed.  It didn't, and everyone walked away fine, but he reevaluated his life and made a list of 101 things he needed to accomplish in his life in order to die happy.  He said he's a natural list maker--as am I--and that was just the way he set out to organize his life's goals.  Since that time he's accomplished most of them, and most of them are not things the average Joe could dream of accomplishing.  But that shouldn't deter the average Joe from making a similar list he claims.  Because the process of reaching those goals and the things he had to do in order to achieve them have brought success and happiness into his life beyond what happiness simply checking things off the list would have brought alone. 

I made a list.  I kept it within reason of things I could conceivably do and some of them have been in the back of my mind for a long time, others are more recent desires.  Some are simple, some harder.  Some are short-term and some are long-term.  Most revolve around things I want to do or places I want to go or see.  Some are silly or stupid and some are serious.  I divided it into categories similar to his.  Just by making the list I already see how the path to these goals will bring fulfillment to my life, even if I only accomplish half of them.  I'm sure that the process of accomplishing some of these will turn into future blog posts.  Here's my list, in no particular order of importance:

Personal:

1. Get an article published in a scholarly journal
2. Buy a house on at least 10 acres of land
3. Own goats
4. Make hot sauce
5. Become a master meat smoker
6. Pose for a personal “boudoir” photo shoot
7. Try out for Jeopardy
8. Adopt a shelter dog, and continue to adopt "senior" dogs
9. Get another tattoo
10.  Take a cooking class
11.  Go on a trip/vacation by myself
12.  Be able to comfortably run a mile in 7 minutes or less
13.  Finish my Rat Rod
14.  Read the whole Bible
15.  Take dance lessons
16.  Have a pet fox
17. Train one of my dogs to run an agility course
18.  Get my carry permit
19.  Write a book
20.  Have a “tacky room”
21.  Either build or completely renovate/redecorate the home we live in
22.  Design a new setting for my engagement ring

Family:

23. Have a child
24. Complete a family tree
25. Be able to take care of my parents/in-laws if they ever need it
26. Teach my child the fun of cardboard boxes and a little creativity
27. Make the majority of my own baby food
28. Be able to pay for my child’s college
29. Treat my parents to something nice for one of their anniversaries
30. Plan a getaway entirely around something Kirby would want to do
31. Teach my baby sign language
32. Teach my child a second language early
33.  Take my parents on a vacation I paid for
34.  Be predominantly a stay at home mom

Learn:

35. How to garden and can vegetables
36. How to brew beer
37. How to make cheese and soap from goat’s milk
38. How to weld
39. How to paint cars
40. Another language
41. How to roast coffee
42. How to grow avocados
43. Yoga
44.  How to ice skate
45.  How to play hockey
46.  How to bake
47.  How to make my grandmother’s blackberry cobbler
48.  How to drive a motorcycle
49.  How to upholster car interiors
50.  How to really drive a stick
51.  How to tow a trailer

Travel/Do:

52. Drag race
53. Travel to Alaska
54. Travel to Canada
55. Vacation in the Maldives
56. Travel to Western Europe
57. Visit Seattle
58. Visit Miami
59. Visit Austin, TX
60. Vacation in Napa
61.  New Year’s Eve in Key West
62.  Fourth of July in Boston
63.  Visit New Orleans
64.  Dog sled ride
65.  Ride/drive a snowmobile
66.  Snow ski
67.  Visit Philadelphia
68.  Visit Tybee Island
69.  Visit Yellowstone
70.  Vacation in Coastal Maine again
71.  Ride the Zamboni at a hockey game
72.  See the Grand Canyon
73.  See Stonehenge
74.  Go on an overnight hike with back country camping
75.  Road trip the Louis and Clark Trail
76.  Rent a box for a hockey game
77.  Take a cruise
78.  See a performance on Broadway
79.  Go to a Stanley Cup Finals Game
80.  Go to a Winter Classic Game
81.  Go to a Redskins game in Landover
82.  Go to a Super Bowl Game
83.  Go to an NHL All Star Game

Material:

84. Own a 70+ inch TV
85. Own a hot tub
86. Own a pair of Loubitans
87. Own a pair of Manolos
88. Own a Birkin
89. Own a boat
90. Own our own full-season tickets to the Preds

Community:

91. Volunteer on another political campaign
92. Join the Junior League
93. Mentor at least one young woman/girl who is not related to me
94. Fund a scholarship at Belmont for a Political Science student
95. Anonymously help someone in need
96. Find one charity I really care about and can be regularly involved in

Business:

97. Get completely out of debt
98. Get the shop/a car published in a national non-car related publication
99. Have a car featured at SEMA
100. Gross revenue of $1 million annually
101. AGI of $200,000