JVR TenThings™

"Things are never so bad that you cannot come up with a list of ten things that aren't."

JVR TenThings™ is a collection of lists, pure and simple. Joe Russo long ago developed a personal practice, based on something he'd seen on an Oprah television show, of building lists of TenThings that are true. For example, a list of TenThings that Joe believed were his core values, or a list of TenThings that he wanted people to believe about him. JVR, standing in for Joseph V Russo.

Subsequently, Joe built this practice of list-making into his work as a psychotherapist and as a business coach. For example, when dealing with depression, Joe will work with his clients to develop a list of TenThings that are decidedly positive and true, things which can be referred to whenever we allow life to get us down.  For business clients, the work is around those TenThings which the business leader wishes to make true in his commercial endeavors.

Oddly enough, when you think about it, the Internet is alive with lists of TenThings: ten things to resolve to do in the new year; ten things to focus upon to make your personal life more meaningful; TenThings you can do to make your writing more compelling; and so on and so forth. You see them all the time. It makes one wonder what is so magical about TenThings, versus some other number!

There is nothing magical about the number 10, however. Joe selected it because, often times, five is too few, and moving beyond 10 can make the list harder to recall. Moreover, one of Joe's requirements is that he have, at the ready, his list of TenThings wherever he finds himself.  For this, he has compiled what Thomas Jefferson called his "Commonplace Book." A commonplace book is

nothing more or less than a notebook - be it a Moleskin, or a spiral bound student notebook, or a Filofax, or (in Joe's case), a FranklinCovey™ day planner. It goes wherever Joe goes.

My blog is about my lists of TenThings. I will talk about each of those lists in separate posts. And I encourage feedback and observations! Contact me at josephvrusso@gmail.com