Ted's Take

The Blogging Site of Ted Leonsis

My 101 List - The Story

Every person has events take place when they are younger that shape and guide how they lead the rest of their life. For me, one such event took place in the early 1980s, just after I sold my first company. Without going into all the details, suffice it to say that I had a close brush with my own mortality, and it made me rethink my priorities and how I planned to lead my life going forward. At the time, I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant to live life on offense, but I decided that a good place to start was by giving myself a scorecard – a tool that I could use to make sure that I accomplish everything I want to with my life. I spent the next few days writing down all of my personal and professional goals and there are 101 items on the list. So far I’ve managed to check off 74 of them, and I fully intend to do the rest, although going into outer space may be a bit of a reach.Over the years, I’ve encouraged many people, friends and strangers alike, to create their own lists, to chart out their own goals and dreams and to always live their lives on offense.

I Family Matters
1 Fall in love and get married
2 Have a healthy son
3 Have a healthy daughter
4 Take care of mother/father
5 Take care of in-laws
6 Take care of extended family
7 Have grandchildren
8 Have great-grandchildren
9 Leave trusts for family members
10 Leave all financial matters in great shape for family members upon passing on
11 Have children become individuals and self-actualized staying loving within the family
II Financial Matters
12 Pay off college debts
13 Net worth of ten million dollars, after taxes
14 Net worth of one hundred million dollars, after taxes
15 Net worth of one billion dollars, after taxes
16 Zero personal debt for family
17 Make ten million dollars on an outside investment
18 Become a partner in a venture capital fund
19 Create one billion dollars in value with an outside investment
20 Start a company and sell it
21 Conduct an IPO on a company I founded
22 Create world’s largest media company
III Possessions
23 Own a beach home that stays in family
24 Own a jet
25 Own a yacht
26 Own a convertible Porsche or Mercedes Benz
27 Own a mountain home that stays in the family
28 Own a great piece of art
29 Own a great personal collection of watches
30 Own a Ferrari
31 Restore an antique auto
32 Own a restaurant or club
33 Support someone who makes a great breakthrough in science or art
IV Charities
34 Change someone’s life via a charity
35 Give one million dollars to Georgetown University/sit on BOD
36 Major impact on a children’s charity
37 Start a family charity foundation
38 Give away one hundred million dollars in lifetime
39 Have a building/perpetual memorial named after the family checkmark.gif
V Sports
40 Own a sports franchise (basketball, hockey or football)
41 Win a world championship
42 Go to a Superbowl with Dolphins or Redskins
43 Go to a Final Four with Georgetown
44 Go to a World Series with Yankees
45 Meet Mickey Mantle
46 Catch a foul ball
47 Go to an NBA All-Star Game
48 Go to an NBA Draft
49 Go to an NHL All-Star Game
50 Go to a Capitals Stanley Cup
51 Go to Olympics
52 Play Augusta
53 Play Pebble Beach
54 Play Cypress Point
55 Play St. Andrews
56 Go to Ryder Cup
57 Go to US Open Golf Tourney
58 Go to World Cup
59 Get a hole-in-one
60 Play in a celebrity golf tournament
61 Go to a US Open Tennis Final
62 Go to baseball All-Star Game
63 Go to a Fantasy Camp
64 Shoot baskets at Madison Square Garden or Boston Garden
65 Go one-on-one with Michael Jordan
VI Travel
66 Go to Greece
67 Go to Italy
68 Go to Israel/Jerusalem
69 Go to Hawaii
70 Go on safari to Africa
71 Go to London
72 Go to Paris
73 Go to Australia
74 Sail thru Caribbean
75 Sail thru Mediterranean
76 Go to China
77 Go to Brazil
78 Go to Alaska
79 Go to Egypt
80 Go to Bali
81 Go to Tahiti
VII Stuff
82 Be on cover of a magazine
83 Produce a TV show
84 Go into outerspace
85 Write a book
86 Invent a boardgame
87 Make a movie
88 Win a Grammy/Oscar/Tony/Emmy Award
89 Swim with dolphins
90 Swim with Great White sharks
91 Get an honorary degree
92 Hold elective office
93 Go to White House/Meet President
94 Advise a foreign government
95 Live overseas for one year
96 Go to Oscar ceremonies
97 Go to MTV Awards Show
98 See the Rolling Stones
99 See the Who
100 Take a year sabbatical
101 Sail around the world with family
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60 Responses to “My 101 List - The Story”

  1. Your speech Friday at the Press Club was terrific. I will add to my list: to work for any of your charities! Pat Sherr

  2. Steve Whelan says:

    Have now heard you twice on CSPAN. Great to see a fine Jesuit education in fruition. I also was fortunate in having an SJ mentor at Marquette. My first appreciation of Catholic Social Teaching (CST).
    Hope all of us can deliver as effectively as you are. An MFO inspiration.

  3. Ben says:

    Ted,

    What a phenomenal list! You have many inspiring goals that others can look up to!

    If you have a second, I posted a link to Ted’s Take on the home page of my web site which focuses on team owners in the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL.

    Good luck with the busy off-season!

    All the best,

    Ben, Sports Owners Hub

  4. celeb guy says:

    Sweetpost,thanksfor sharing cant wait to see morefrom you guys.

  5. Vern Sahlyeh says:

    Well at least we have one thing in common… neither of us have played St. Andrews!

  6. timmy says:

    if you ever get to australia, go to melbourne. the best time to go is in september during aussie rules football finals (there playoffs). you should go to the grand final there at the MCG in melbourne which is on the last saturday in september (or go to the australia embassy which counts somewhat as australia because its australia sovereign). been to australia and its a great place to go (was in sydney in 1989).

  7. Good info. I’ve gotta say that it’s been very fascinating seeing investing recommendations change in the last 2 years. What do you think?

  8. I saw your spirit its was very colorful. Im 25 and my spirit looks like yours. Thank for your presence and be blessed and overflows.

  9. Stu says:

    Ted,

    You have get tick “Go To Australia” off your list. Sure it’ a long way to go but trust me you will see stuff there that you cannot see anywhere else in the world.

    Yes I’m a biased Aussie but for a man that has ticked so many boxes it seems an awful shame you haven’t ticked that one yet.

    Bring The Wizards on a pres-season tour - you’ll win thousands of new fans and help promote the game in the process!

  10. Lindsay says:

    thanks, I needed that. Great advice you have shared — today I started living life on offense.

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