Welcome to another year in review! I was reviewing my past reviews and realized I haven’t written a review since 2019 😳 I did an audio review in 2021 and totally ghosted the 2020 review. I’m excited to write again this year — I know when I write, I better understand the experience.
The W.R.A.P. Method for Annual Reviews
W.R.A.P. originally started as a weekly review method, but I’ve expanded it to look back and answer questions about any stretch of time, including the annual review. Here are the four questions I ask myself…
[Wins] What went well? What am I proud of in 2022?
[Results] What were the results of my goals and intentions in 2022?
[Alignment] Are my actions and habits aligning with the person I want to be?
[Pivot] Based on my 2022 review, what do I want to pivot—or plan—in 2023?
Wins
- Our third son, Locke Matthew, was born in April. He’s been happy and healthy!
- First year profitability for my new creator agency, The Whatever Co.
- Closer relationship and better communication with my wife, Morgan
- Received my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- Grew my personal revenue by 40%
- Hosted a backcountry retreat for 12 men
- Kept going to therapy
Overview
Most of my wins are reflective, meaning that I didn’t really have goals for most of these at the beginning of 2022 (more on that next). The only things I knew about were (Locke and Jiu-Jitsu) were less about goals than showing up and doing my best. But as we’ve talked about in many productivity and habit videos, success is just as much about your willingness to show up and do the work as it is a particular strategy or achievement. Again, more on that in Results.
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t real wins. A healthy baby—and family—is a huge win and blessing. A profitable first year while supporting the equivalent of four full time employees is a win. I loved going back in the woods with a group of guys and fly fishing for two days. Starting and sticking with therapy has been a tremendous win — my wife recently commented on the change in my presence and demeanor. Heck, THAT is a win.
2022 was a good year with a lot of wins and happy moments. But it was also one of the most challenging years of my life. On to the results…
Results
- Met my not-very-clear goal of “making it” through the year
- Lack of clear goals and intention made for a very hectic year
- Though profitable, I failed to lead Whatever Co as a proactive, intentional CEO
- Fell off YouTube almost entirely — only 13 videos this year
- Fell off with meditation and prayer
Overview
Simply put, my strategy and goals were lacking in 2022. The whole year was a blur, just trying to stay a step ahead or more often, hustling to catch up. A lot of it was tied to work and the pressure of providing for my family while doing work I was excited and passionate about.
There are probably more reliable, safer, calmer ways to make money—narrator voice: there were safer ways to make money—but I’ve never truly doubted that I made the right decision. It’s just a matter of time before the higher impact results come to life. 2023 is shaping up to be a very good year, in no small part to lessons learned and difficult challenges overcome in 2022!
The result in 2022 I’m most disappointed in is how I fell off YouTube. I haven’t given up on it as an important channel for creative expression, but the time simply didn’t exist. Between the new baby, new business, and prioritizing mental + physical health… YouTube almost always lost. I hope in 2023 that I’m able to hire more support and have a bit more family stability, i.e. sleep to be able to start working on videos again. I miss them.
Now it’s time to get even deeper… are my daily actions aligned with my life’s purpose? Ok maybe not that deep, but not that far off 👇
Alignment
Am I in alignment with the who I want to be and the life I want to live?
To be honest, I did not ask myself this question enough in 2022. I was afraid of the answer… because it was “no.”
On the surface, I could show you “yes.” I was running my own business, raising a family, exercising, eating well — all things I enjoy and value (remember that for a minute).
But inside I was scared, anxious, and full of doubt.
- Scared that I had made poor decisions that put my family at risk
- Anxious that we would run out of money and need to sell the house
- Full of doubt that I was a person who could pull all this off
In 2022, my mindset and attitude was NOT aligned with who I want to be or the life I want to live. Remember all those things I enjoy and value? My family, exercise, working for myself? I can enjoy and appreciate each one internally regardless of external outcomes. But this year, I did not.
Getting back into prayer, meditation, and being aware of my thoughts has helped tremendously with my mindset and attitude. Weekly therapy is the foundation of this change, and I’m grateful for the time, money, and space to do the inner work.
Each day, I walk around and say “thank you” for everything I see and do. This morning gratitude practice has led to a profound shift in my mindset and attitude. Some examples…
The life I want to live is the life I am living right now
On December 6, 2022 I had an unexpected breakthrough in therapy. I was doing a gratitude exercise and listed the things above. Then my therapist asked me what I wanted to be different in the future. What was the life I was working so hard for? And I said…
“Well, I want to do work I find interesting, spend lots of time with my family, train jiu-jitsu and CrossFit, be outside, and have enough money to be comfortable.”
She checked her notes and asked “how different is that than what you’re doing now?”
Her comment was so clear and my mind so blocked that I just started laughing hysterically at the truth of it. Right now, today, and for months if not years, I was living the life I wanted to live. I had done it, I am doing it. And for that wonderful moment I accepted where I was instead of being frustrated about where I was not.
I’ve hung on to that moment for dear life ever since
I know. It’s only been two weeks since then. But the days have been wonderful. My wife has commented “you seem different lately, in a good way.” I could talk about it for hours (ask my therapist) but the simplest way to explain the difference is I’ve become more comfortable with where I am instead of being frustrated about where (or who) I am not.
Pivot/Plan
Knowing what I know about 2022 — what’s on deck for 2023? At the moment, what feels right to me is to keep doing more of what I’ve been doing mentally and emotionally the past couple months. I can see I’ve been getting in my own way for years. Doubts, anxieties, fears, and limiting beliefs all haunted my life and work. In many ways, they still do. But I’m getting better at recognizing when they pop up so I’m able to process faster. The pivot has already begun.
For plans and goals, I’m taking it slower this year. One of the downsides of being a productivity-focused creator is the pressure I put on myself to have everything figured out by the first Monday in January. Part of the reality of 2022 is that I’ll be selling until January 31st.
The only goal I have today is the next client, the next lead. But that’s salesman thinking, not CEO strategy. Again, see Results above. I failed at that in 2022. I won’t in 2023. Other pivots, plans, and goals include…
2023 Professional Goals
- Build Whatever Co to 1MM ARR by the end of the year
- Hire and train myself out of the editorial process
- Become a CEO, not an operator or even a manager
- 25 YouTube videos (2/month) and 100 YouTube Shorts (2/week)
- Double my personal revenue
- Write 100 Twitter threads and 200 LinkedIn posts (cross-posting is ok)
2023 Personal Goals
- Throw an amazing 40th birthday party
- Spend a month in the mountains (non-consecutive weeks) and at least one week in Colorado
- Take a weekend trip with my wife
- Host a men’s weekend in the woods
- One day a week with no phone and no work
- 150 BJJ or CrossFit workouts
- 3 camping weekends, 1 full camping week
Most important: be grateful for where I am and who I am at this moment
Looking back, I’ve been in this position for 10 years, if not longer. I wouldn’t say I’ve been ungrateful, but unsatisfied? Absolutely. I was already ready for the next thing and didn’t appreciate where I was, what I had, and who I was. I resented myself and others. I was full of self-criticism.
If you know me, even a little, I may not have seemed that way. And I wasn’t that way all the time. But I was enough of the time, and all those feelings were never far from the surface. The darkness was never far away. There’s a passage about this in Brandon Sanderson’s Rhythm of War that has stuck with me. It’s reminded me of where I was and may find myself again:
Life will get better. Then it will get worse again. Then better. This is life, and I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. — Wit
This concludes part one of my 2022 Annual Review. Part two and three contains my best work from the year and top recommendations. I’ll have both of those ready for you next Saturday, on Christmas Eve!