Bigger Than Me
This Monday feels a little different. After 13 days in the hospital, I’m getting prepared to go home in the next couple days. I’m walking laps around this hospital. I’m drinking from a straw. I’m eating soft foods. My swallowing is getting stronger every day. After everything my body has been through, I continue to be amazed by what it is capable of. I still have a long road ahead, and I’m healing.
And while I’ve been doing the work of healing, something pretty incredible has been happening outside these hospital walls. The 10-Year Letter is growing. Workshops and keynotes are being booked. Book clubs are reaching out. Companies and organizations want to bring this experience to their people. Market Centers and regions are exploring ways to bring it to their communities. Books are finding their way into more hands. New opportunities seem to be showing up every day. And as all of this grows, one question comes up pretty often: “Will Craig be there?”
It’s a fair question. My name and my voice have been closely connected to this work. I wrote the book. I’ve led workshops, stood on stages, and spent years coaching, teaching, and labbing this process. Ryan Allen is the Co-Creator of The 10-Year Letter Workshop and has led more of these workshops than I have. From the beginning, we’ve believed this work could reach millions of people, and that requires a message and process that can be carried by incredible people everywhere.
Over the last couple weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to experience that firsthand. While I’ve been here healing, other people have been leading. Decisions are being made. Opportunities are moving forward. The team is moving. The mission is moving. And I’m learning something too. Trust more. Let go more. Let other people lead.
Ryan has been beside me in this work from the beginning. We’ve spent years labbing the workshop, challenging it, simplifying it, and watching what happens when people slow down long enough to get clear about the life they actually want. She knows this work inside and out, believes in it deeply, and most importantly, she lives it. I trust her completely to lead it.
And then there’s Jen Davis. Jen came into my life years ago as a coaching client and became so much more. She was part of the original 10-Year Letter group in 2021 and wrote her letter then. I’ve watched her lead businesses, develop leaders, serve as Vice President of KW MAPS Coaching, serve through her church, make hard decisions, and continue becoming an incredible leader and human. A few weeks ago, I called Jen and told her I needed her help. Her answer was simple: “I’m all in.” That’s Jen. She’ll now be leading 10-Year Letter keynotes and workshops alongside Ryan, and I couldn’t be more excited for people to experience both of them.
Their experience is impressive, and what matters most to me is who they are. I trust how they lead, how much they care about people, and how deeply they believe in this work. They’ve written their 10-Year Letters, and more importantly, they are living them. I trust them with something that means the world to me.
The mission is to get this work into the hands of millions of people. Life first. Goals second. Get clear about the life you actually want, then build the goals that help you live it. When you know the life you’re building toward, the goals have meaning.
So when you bring The 10-Year Letter into your company, organization, Market Center, region, or community, you’re bringing in The 10-Year Letter and its proven process. There’s a reason the subtitle of the book is The Proven Process to Author Your Future and Wake Up Excited to Live It. The power is in the process, and that process can be carried by incredible people. You may experience it through Ryan, Jen, one of the other facilitators being professionally trained right now, or eventually through me again when I’m ready.
This is how a message becomes a movement. And there is something pretty amazing about lying in this hospital and watching something I love continue to grow through the people around me. Maybe that’s part of what I’m supposed to learn in this next chapter. Build great people. Trust them. Let go. Allow something you love to become bigger than you.
My physical voice has changed. The message continues to grow louder. And so does the mission. Write a future you’re excited to live.
Ready to write yours? Experience The 10-Year Letter Workshop and write a future you’re excited to live.
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