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 |  |
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| 2 | Have a healthy son | |
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| 3 | Have a healthy daughter | |
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| 4 | Take care of mother/father | |
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| 5 | Take care of in-laws | |
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| 6 | Take care of extended family | |
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| 7 | Have grandchildren | ||
| 8 | Have great-grandchildren | ||
| 9 | Leave trusts for family members | |
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| 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 | |
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| 13 | Net worth of ten million dollars, after taxes | |
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| 14 | Net worth of one hundred million dollars, after taxes | |
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| 15 | Net worth of one billion dollars, after taxes | ||
| 16 | Zero personal debt for family | |
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| 17 | Make ten million dollars on an outside investment | |
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| 18 | Become a partner in a venture capital fund | |
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| 19 | Create one billion dollars in value with an outside investment | |
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| 20 | Start a company and sell it | |
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| 21 | Conduct an IPO on a company I founded | |
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| 22 | Create world’s largest media company | |
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| III | Possessions | ||
| 23 | Own a beach home that stays in family | |
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| 24 | Own a jet | |
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| 25 | Own a yacht | |
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| 26 | Own a convertible Porsche or Mercedes Benz | |
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| 27 | Own a mountain home that stays in the family | ||
| 28 | Own a great piece of art | |
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| 29 | Own a great personal collection of watches | |
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| 30 | Own a Ferrari | |
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| 31 | Restore an antique auto | |
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| 32 | Own a restaurant or club | |
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| 33 | Support someone who makes a great breakthrough in science or art | ||
| IV | Charities | ||
| 34 | Change someone’s life via a charity | |
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| 35 | Give one million dollars to Georgetown University/sit on BOD | |
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| 36 | Major impact on a children’s charity | |
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| 37 | Start a family charity foundation | |
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| 38 | Give away one hundred million dollars in lifetime | ||
| 39 | Have a building/perpetual memorial named after the family | |
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| V | Sports | ||
| 40 | Own a sports franchise (basketball, hockey or football) | |
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| 41 | Win a world championship | ||
| 42 | Go to a Superbowl with Dolphins or Redskins | |
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| 43 | Go to a Final Four with Georgetown | |
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| 44 | Go to a World Series with Yankees | |
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| 45 | Meet Mickey Mantle | |
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| 46 | Catch a foul ball | |
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| 47 | Go to an NBA All-Star Game | |
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| 48 | Go to an NBA Draft | |
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| 49 | Go to an NHL All-Star Game | |
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| 50 | Go to a Capitals Stanley Cup | |
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| 51 | Go to Olympics | |
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| 52 | Play Augusta | |
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| 53 | Play Pebble Beach | |
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| 54 | Play Cypress Point | |
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| 55 | Play St. Andrews | ||
| 56 | Go to Ryder Cup | |
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| 57 | Go to US Open Golf Tourney | |
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| 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 | |
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| 62 | Go to baseball All-Star Game | |
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| 63 | Go to a Fantasy Camp | ||
| 64 | Shoot baskets at Madison Square Garden or Boston Garden | |
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| 65 | Go one-on-one with Michael Jordan | |
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| VI | Travel | ||
| 66 | Go to Greece | |
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| 67 | Go to Italy | |
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| 68 | Go to Israel/Jerusalem | |
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| 69 | Go to Hawaii | |
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| 70 | Go on safari to Africa | ||
| 71 | Go to London | |
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| 72 | Go to Paris | |
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| 73 | Go to Australia | ||
| 74 | Sail thru Caribbean | |
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| 75 | Sail thru Mediterranean | |
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| 76 | Go to China | |
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| 77 | Go to Brazil | |
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| 78 | Go to Alaska | ||
| 79 | Go to Egypt | |
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| 80 | Go to Bali | ||
| 81 | Go to Tahiti | ||
| VII | Stuff | ||
| 82 | Be on cover of a magazine | |
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| 83 | Produce a TV show | |
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| 84 | Go into outerspace | ||
| 85 | Write a book | |
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| 86 | Invent a boardgame | |
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| 87 | Make a movie | |
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| 88 | Win a Grammy/Oscar/Tony/Emmy Award | |
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| 89 | Swim with dolphins | |
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| 90 | Swim with Great White sharks | ||
| 91 | Get an honorary degree | |
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| 92 | Hold elective office | |
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| 93 | Go to White House/Meet President | |
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| 94 | Advise a foreign government | |
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| 95 | Live overseas for one year | ||
| 96 | Go to Oscar ceremonies | ||
| 97 | Go to MTV Awards Show | |
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| 98 | See the Rolling Stones | |
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| 99 | See the Who | |
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| 100 | Take a year sabbatical | ||
| 101 | Sail around the world with family | ||
Your speech Friday at the Press Club was terrific. I will add to my list: to work for any of your charities! Pat Sherr
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.
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
Sweetpost,thanksfor sharing cant wait to see morefrom you guys.
Well at least we have one thing in common… neither of us have played St. Andrews!
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).
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?
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.
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!
thanks, I needed that. Great advice you have shared — today I started living life on offense.