Here is my look back on 2024.
Quick Stats
- 7 Speaking Engagements: Keynotes, Virtual Talks, and Workshops
- 1 Podcast Guest Appearance and 0 Guest Posts/Articles
- 10 Books Read
- ? of products on The SUPER Market (I wasn’t tracking release dates this year)
What went well
At a high level it was a pretty good year.
One of my goals this year was to slow down and reduce how much pressure I was putting on myself. I think I did a pretty good job of saying no to new projects. I didn’t push myself to learn at an aggressive pace. I only occasionally stayed up too late.
Business was steady without many notable highs or regrettable lows.
I worked out, regularly, for the entire year. I mean this literally: January through December, nearly every week, every month. This might be the first time ever that has happened.
In a year where so much of my focus was on pulling back and focusing on clarity and order, this was exactly what I needed in terms of the number of clients, speaking engagements, and
What didn’t go well
I definitely didn’t publish as much as I would’ve liked to. I partially chalk this up to my systems not being adequately set up for scale. I routinely have too many ideas and in the absence of a good system, they bottleneck and nothing gets out.
The other reason I didn’t publish, specifically related to podcasting, was that I was in the midst of rebooting the concepts and platforms for my shows. I have been podcasting for a lot of years, and this year I took — more time than I wanted to — planning out my next steps on the podcasts.
On a personal note, continuing the trend of 2023, we dealt with more loss in 2024.
- I lost my father-in-law in March.
- We lost our family dog in February.
I also regret each time I raised my voice at my kids. These were the moments where I was too tired, stressed, or otherwise mentally preoccupied to manage my own emotional reactions to things.
Before having kids, we all have an idea in our minds of the perfect parents we will be. We imagine being perfectly in control of every situation and stoic in our own emotional regulation. But that’s not true, and those moments where we are not our best are both heartbreaking and a sobering reminder of how much work we must continue to do on ourselves. Anyone who tells you gentle parenting is easy, is probably lying.
Our household income took a few sizable hits throughout the year from lost revenue or unanticipated expenses. Luckily, it’s nothing we can’t manage, but it still stings.
What I plan to do next (Action Steps)
This coming year will be very different from 2024, you know…apart from the fact that all of our best laid plans will seem profoundly unimportant as our country devolves into a literal fascist hellscape.
For 2025, I will have systems in place that I could only dream of in 2024. I can publish at scale, capture and analyze data effectively, and collaborate with my team with ease. All of the work I did this year, will pay off in the next.
I’m going to increase my reading once again, maintain my commitment to my health, and publish a lot more content. I’m going to take on more clients, reach out to my network more often, and deepen my practice of mindfulness to be more conscious of my choices.
My Three Words for 2024: A Review
Prime
Prime was mostly about getting into the best shape of my life. It was also about having the most success in my career, and overall being the best version of me.
I feel very good about how I’ve lived this word this year.
I am definitely in better shape and adhere to a better routine of fitness than I ever have. I generally feel that for a 44-year old, I’m in about the best shape I could hope for given my lifestyle.
Regarding my career, while this wasn’t the most financially successful year I’ve ever had, the measure of success I’m most proud of is the stability. I have several streams of revenue either actively contributing or set in motion to contribute in the near future. I have a team that I trust and who allow me to do the things I do well, and who I trust to do what they do well. I’ve been able to step away from work to go on vacation with my family and the company didn’t skip a beat without me.
Put it all together and this was definitely my Prime, but I hope it’s not my Peak.
Slow
I am so proud of how I handled this word this year. I slowed down dramatically. I took my foot off the gas in a way that I haven’t in almost a decade. It was necessary.
I read much less, didn’t sweat it when I missed a blog post, and gave myself permission to rest more often.
I stared at this word every day and that is one of the reasons I was able to maintain my pace all year and lean into this next word so heavily.
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Woven
Every year when I do My Three Words, one word usually sticks out as the one that I’m most invested in. This year, it was Woven.
Woven was about solving a problem I’ve had for a long time: I had too many projects, all scattered about, and seemingly disconnected.
- There wasn’t an obvious thread tying together each of my companies, content, and products.
- My offers weren’t always easy to understand.
- My skill tree grew disorganized.
I knew it was all connected and I vaguely understood how, but it wasn’t evident to everyone outside my head. It is hard to scale one project when you’re not being clear. That difficulty scales exponentially with multiple projects.
I took a lot of time this year working to weave everything that I do into a coherent structure with a coherent narrative, messaging, and brand.
- I got clear on who my audiences were/are.
- I got clear on the throughline for all of my content and projects.
- I built systems to streamline everything.
Now that everything is woven, I am ready to hit the ground running in 2025.
See you in 2025!
