Subject: Celebrating the Journey: Step Seven: Choose Your Big Ten

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Welcome to Celebrating the Journey!
Friday, April 18, 2003
Issue #110

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and
celebrate the journey!
Fitzhugh Mullan and Barbara Hoffman

1. Welcome Notes
2. Step Seven: The Big Ten
3. Coaching: How to Choose Your Top Ten
Goals
4. Quotes for the Journey
5. Opportunities for the Journey
6. Celebrating Out Loud
7. Humor: Good Advice for Life

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1. Welcome Notes

Welcome to our new subscribers. There are a bunch
of you this week, and we’re delighted to have you
with us. Thank you to all who forward CTJ to your
family, friends and coworkers. the bigger our family,
the bigger the celebration! Want to spread the word?
Just hit your forward key.

Today is the second anniversary of the passing of my
dad. I spent some time this morning honoring him
and all that he gave to me. Was he perfect?
Absolutely not. He and I differed often on how we
viewed life and how to live it.

And he also gave me, either directly or indirectly,
many of the important lessons which are the
foundation on which I base my life today. I miss his
presence on the planet. I invite you to spend a bit of
time today with the memory of someone who has
impacted your life. By remembering and honoring
our teachers, we become better teachers ourselves.

Today’s Opportunities section identifies several
websites you can visit to donate, for free, funds to
organizations that support the people, animals, and
wilderness of our planet. I am making a special
request to forward this issue of CTJ to your friends,
because of the importance of people knowing about
these sites. Although I usually ask that you forward
the entire issue, in this case please feel free to copy the
Opportunities section, without attribution, and send it
along to as many folks as you can.

Service celebrates both those who receive and those
who give. Give your family, friends and coworkers
the opportunity to celebrate in this way. Pass it along!

This is the last in a series of eight issues on The
Seven Steps to Successful Goal Setting. You can read
the previous seven, and all past issues of CTJ, at
https://www.tothesummit.com/archive.

And above all, remember to celebrate each step of
this journey we call life.

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2. Step 7: The Big Ten

You now have a list of wonderful goals. They are
aligned with your values, they support the vision you
have of your life, they honor each of the roles you
play in your life, you’ve SMARTENed them up, and
they draw you toward them.

Which 10 of those goals, when reached, will give you
the best year you’ve ever had?

Why limit ourselves to ten?

Because we want to create a game we can win!

There simply isn’t time to focus on all of our goals. By
doing so, we decrease our overall effectiveness and
lose focus of our intentions for the year. Without
limiting the number of goals, we end up giving up on
many of them because we don’t have time for them
all. We create an impossible task and then feel guilty
because we didn’t fulfill it.

By choosing the Top Ten goals for the year to come,
we create a game that is very winnable. It doesn’t
mean we eliminate the rest of the goals. We can
certainly work on the rest of our goals and achieve
them. It just means we have a pecking order, and the
Top Ten are where our main focus is. The rest is all
delicious gravy.

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3. Coaching: How To Choose Your Top Ten Goals

I can hear your thoughts: I’ve looked at my goals
every which way, aligned them with my values,
made them smarter, gotten really curious about
them, eliminated any that didn’t really excite me. And
now you want me to pick out 10? But they’re all great
goals. How do I choose my Top Ten?

It’s simpler than you think.

Ask yourself, “What’s going to make the most
difference in my life this year? Which goals, when
achieved, will make this my best year yet?”

Return to your list of goals and circle or highlight the
ones that are “musts” for your list of ten. The obvious
ones. Count them up and see how many you have
room for and then circle the remaining chosen ones.

Write down your first-draft list of ten so you can look
at them together. Visualize yourself in a year’s time
having achieved these goals. How will you feel? Will
you be excited and inspired and thrilled with what
you’ve achieved? If not, revisit your list and recreate
your Big Ten.

Don’t sell yourself short. If the final ten doesn’t feel
right, revisit it. Create different lists of ten until it
truly is your Big Ten.

And finally, consider whether meeting each of your
Big Ten goals is possible. Can you do it? Are there
any conflicting goals on your list? Stay open to any
lingering doubts and address them. How can you
solve any problems? If you can’t see how a goal can
be reached, replace it with another from your list.

Don’t forget that the goals that didn’t make the cut
this year can be part of your Big Ten for next year.
These are the goals that will make the coming year
your best year yet. Each year you can create a new
Big Ten. Thus each successive year becomes your best
year yet. What a great way to live!

This is the last in the series on Seven Steps to
Successful Goal Setting. You now have the list of Big
Ten goals that will allow you to create this year as
you want it to be.

And the list itself can’t do that. Now it’s up to you to
take the actions to reach your Big Ten. It is our actions
that create our life. Actions happen one step at a time.
It isn’t about reaching your goal today. It’s about
taking one step at a time, each day. And that’s
another CTJ!

Keep your Big Ten where you see it every day. And
every day take an action that moves you toward
them. Let your goals lead you forward toward
having the life you REALLY want.

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4. Quotes

The problem in my life and other people’s lives is not
the absence of knowing what to do, but the absence
of doing it.
Peter Drucker

Things which matter most must never be at the
mercy of things which matter least.
Goethe

All greatness is achieved while performing outside
your comfort zone.
Greg Arnold

If it is important enough to you, you will find a way.
If it is not, you will find an excuse.
Ralph Marston

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5. Celebrating Out Loud

The more you praise and celebrate your life,
the more there is in life to celebrate.
Oprah Winfrey

I celebrate the freedom of Pfc. Jessica Lynch and the
seven most recently freed POWs. May all who are
deployed in this war return home safe and sound and
whole.

Celebrate the events, miracles, blessings,
achievements, gifts of your life with us at
mailto:celebrations@tothesummit.com.

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6. Opportunities for the Journey

The World Wide Web gives us wonderful
opportunities to be of service to those who need our
help, at a cost of only a minute or two of our time.
The corporate sponsors of the sites below donate
money to provide the services. We only need to click
on a link. Supporting others on their journey is an
important part of our celebrating our own. Being of
service celebrates the giver and the receiver both.

I’d love to have you forward this issue of CTJ along
to your family, friends and coworkers. At the very
least, please copy this section and send it to as many
folks as you can. It celebrates us all and the planet on
which we live.

Most of these sites will provide you with an email
reminder to visit them on a daily basis. Take a few
minutes each day to support the people, critters and
wilderness areas of our planet.

The Breast Cancer Site funds mammograms for
women who are unable to afford them. That site, in
particular, is having trouble getting enough people to
click on it daily to meet their goal of donating at least
one free mammogram a day to underprivileged
women. Please visit
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com.

The Ecology Fund site at
http://www.ecologyfund.com donates funds to
preserve land and endangered species all over the
planet.

http://www.therainforestsite.com donates funds to
preserve the rapidly dwindling rain forests that
remain on the planet.

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com donates funds
to rescue and support abused, neglected, and
abandoned animals and find them new homes.

24,000 people die from starvation every day.
http://www.thehungersite.com donates funds to
provide food for those who cannot provide it for
themselves.

200,000 children die every week from preventable
causes. http://www.thechildhealthsite.com donates
funds to provide the intervention necessary to keep
these kids alive.

http://www.greatergood.com lets you shop at online
stores like amazon.com, Coldwater Creek, Sears
Home Center, ebay and many others and donate up
to 15% of every purchase to the cause you select, at
no extra cost to you. This is a great way to do your
online shopping.

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7. Humor: Good Advice for Life

My good friend Denise Landau sent these to me.
Some of the greatest wisdom comes with a giggle
attached. Thanks, Denise!

1. It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going
to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to
do it.

2. Always remember you’re unique. Just like
everyone else.

3. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

4. It is far more impressive when others discover
your good qualities without your help.

5. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a
mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize
them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.

6. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a
lot of that comes from bad judgment.

7. The best way to double your money is to fold it in
half and put it back in your pocket.

8. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much
when your mouth is moving.

9. Experience is something you don’t get until just
after you need it.

10. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for
you.

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Give yourself the gift of your Top Ten this week, and
as always, Celebrate Life!

Namaste, Margo

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Hiring a Life Coach is a great way to be supported in
making this year the best year of your life. Margo has
a few slots open for motivated clients who are
committed to taking the actions to create the life you
dream of living. To schedule a consultation, send an
e-mail to mailto:margo@tothesummit.com. Visit our
website at https://www.tothesummit.com for
additional resources and tools.

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My purpose in publishing Celebrating the Journey is
to provide you with resources, motivation,
inspiration and energy for YOUR journey of creating
success and freedom in all areas of your life. CTJ will
use stories from my life and others, coaching tips and
resources, quotes and humor to deliver a learning
experience that can enhance your life. I am always
looking for comments, ideas and ways to improve
CTJ. I welcome your e-mails at
mailto:margo@tothesummit.com.

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Copyright © 2003, all rights reserved, by Margo
Chisholm

I invite you to share Celebrating the Journey with
your mailing list, friends, and associates. We ask only
that the entire e-mail with copyright and credits be
included. The author of this article is Margo
Chisholm. You may contact her at (831) 661-0776 or at
mailto:margo@tothesummit.com.

—
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the
master calls a butterfly.” Richard Bach

Margo Chisholm
The Freedom Coach
Want more freedom in your life?
Visit https://www.tothesummit.com to schedule your free
coaching session. Or call 831-661-0776.

Celebrating The Journey is a free, mostly
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