My 2023 goals.

Alright, I've been putting this off for far too long now.

I planned to write this sometime in December to start the year knowing my goals. But I got busy with various things and started another 30 days project that ended on December 31st.

But, really, I didn't make time for it.

I didn't make time for it because I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted out of this year.

Last year I had a lot of goals for each of my five categories: Health, Relationships, Work, Wealth, and Experiences, and I accomplished some of them while completely ignoring the other half.

This doesn't really bother me, though, as I do think it's good to aim for more than I might be able to accomplish, as I'll still end up further along than where I would have been if I had planned more conservatively. But what does bother me is some of the goals have been on my list for a couple of years now, and I have nothing to show for them.

So should they be goals for me or not? Do they actually matter to me or do I just think I should want them? Or am I too intimidated by them to try and accomplish them?

Part of, or maybe the whole problem of, having too many goals means I can choose to work on the ones I know I'm more likely to achieve. This way, I can feel like I'm successful at some things while simultaneously justifying why I'm ignoring others. This means that while I end the year accomplishing some things, they may not be the things that would make a difference in my life.

So for this year, I aim to accomplish less and achieve more.

And like last year's article, this one is for me too. I don't expect you to read this, but if you're interested, let's get started.

Format.

I'm using the same category framework I followed in last year's review to track and understand how I spend my time across these five categories: Health, Relationships, Work, Wealth, and Experiences. These articles will look the same every year unless I have a reason to change them.

Additionally, I will define two new Themes for the year to build on the two from last year.

Themes.

Last year my themes were Intensity and Inevitability.

Now, as I'm thinking about this year and doing less, if I can still maintain an intensity with my work, then maybe some of my secondary goals will inevitably be accomplished as a result of my focusing on my more ambitious goal(s).

The point is not to give myself any excuses this time next year.

Which makes my 2023 themes, Speed and Consistency.

Speed.

A bad habit of mine is overthinking my ideas.

I spend a lot of time thinking about whether something is a good idea, how I'd do it, or what it would be like to achieve the outcome I want.

Rather than getting started and learning along the way, I think about doing the work.

Now, obviously, planning isn't all bad, and there are plenty of benefits to thinking about what could happen and what to avoid. But there's a point when I need to decide a move on.

So, the risk for me focusing on speed means I could get involved in too many things because it's easier to say yes than think about everything else I've already committed to. But, that said, I'd rather quickly decide to do something and then quickly get out of it if it's not what I thought it would be than miss an opportunity because I didn't decide fast enough.

But speed, to me, isn't only about what to work on. It's also about taking action quickly.

If I need to do something, I should do it immediately or as soon as possible, so I'm always making progress.

Focusing on speed is about becoming someone with momentum and being known for taking action.

Consistency.

Then, the other side of Speed, is Consistency.

I can't build momentum if I jump from one thing to another. This has also been a challenge of mine for as long as I can remember. And I think it stems from when I grew up where you couldn't just be good at one thing, you had to be good at a lot of things. And if you still weren't trying to do even more, then you weren't doing enough.

And, while it's good to sample a lot of things when you're growing up because odds are you don't know what you actually like, but at a certain point, you have to commit to something. Otherwise, you'll get caught chasing something new every chance you — I — get, and you'll never do something long enough to get truly great at it.

Tragically, for a while I thought I was great at getting pretty good at almost everything. But that was a cute lie I'm unwilling to accept any longer.

So, this year I'm committing to focusing on what's important to me and making sure it's something I want and can do every day for as long as I can imagine.

Goals.

I believe this year will be a standout year with the most change I've experienced since graduating from college.

So, as I commit to this year, I'm rethinking how I approach my goals.

I'm going to have one overall goal for the year, which I will track incessantly. Then, while I'll track my other goals, I won't be as concerned about my progress as I don't want them to distract me from the one thing I'm focusing on.

As long as I'm being consistent with them, that's good.

My one goal will be a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. And my other goals will be FUN goals: Flexible, Uplifting, and Numberless.

My one SMART goal is related to Work and Wealth, while every other goal is a FUN goal.

Health.

I haven't had much success number-chasing my fitness goals.

When I do achieve numbered fitness goals I unfortunately get a bit complacent and regress. Instead, I'd rather be more consistent and steadily increase my output than worry about how much I weigh or my body fat percentage.

As long as I look and feel like an athlete, I'm good.

• Workout consistently, don't go more than one day without doing something

• Increase my output and don't get complacent

• Eat more whole foods

Relationships.

My relationship goals all center around time. I want to be more intentional about spending time with the people I care about. Which means it's not just more time. Rather, it's that the time we spend together is meaningful.

• Fiancé — Recognize the changing needs of the relationship and how I show up

• Family — Show up and be present, create memorable moments

• Friends — Initiate plans, don't wait for invitations

Work.

Aside from having too many work-related goals last year, they were also at odds with each other.

Some were focused on creating my own businesses, while others were about how I was perceived at my job. 

But, the thing is, I don't see myself as an employee. Instead, I see myself as an entrepreneur. The problem with this, obviously, is I spend most of my time working a job for someone else. So, my reality and how I think of myself are incongruent. There's a tension there that won't go away until I do something about it, which is why I only have one work-related goal this year.

• Become economically independent

How I can create this reality is with my Wealth goal.

Wealth.

My Work and Wealth goals are inextricable, and my Wealth goal is the one SMART goal I'm tracking this year.

• Specific — Replace my salaried income

• Measurable — Generate $10,000 per month from sales of digital products

• Achievable — Sell 11 $30 products per day

• Relevant — Attract an audience interested in branding and product design, and content production

• Time-Bound — Have one $10,000 month in 2023

This is it. This is my goal for the year. Whatever I do needs to have this in mind. Every decision I make will either get me closer or further to achieving this. It's that simple, and I need to check in on this every day.

Experiences.

Rather than focus on big moments, I want everything to feel special. What can I do to make even the most mundane things feel beautifully thought through?

• Find or create magic in every moment

Easy vs. Simple.

Breaking down my goal of making $10,000 per month from selling digital products is incredibly straightforward. Create something I can sell for $30 and then get 11 people to buy it every day. Simple. But simple doesn't mean easy. Creating content and getting the right type of attention is hard.

But I'm confident I can do this as I have the foundational skills to get started. I've created and sold digital products before. I've created content and am comfortable on camera. I can do all these things and know I'm good at them. I've done it before. To do more, I need to increase my speed and consistency when creating content and be relentless in promoting it.

So, is it easy? No. But it's what I want to do, and I'm committed to figuring out how to make it happen.

I'm looking forward to checking in at the end of the year.

If you're interested in following my progress, follow me on @wesjonesco on Instagram.

Looking back on 2022.

I’ve kind of been putting this off — which is unlike me.

I think though, it’s because I was hoping I’d have something more concrete figured out by the end of 2022 and I don’t feel like I do. A lot of good things happened this year, but I still feel like I’m not fully on the path I want to be on.

Something I’ve been thinking about this year is the tension between wanting to be on one path and the reality of being on another. The hard part I think is when the two paths look quite similar from the outside. Objectively, I should be happy with where I’m at because I get to do things closely related to what I want. But I’m not. And, I think it makes it worse.

Because the life I want to be living is so close to what I’m currently doing it’s tough to figure out why I can’t make the transition and fully commit to the path I want to be on. It’s so close yet I seemingly can’t figure out how to make it real. The truth is, I know I’m the one getting in my own way and to make any progress I have to overcome whatever mental block I’m fighting against.

Also, this point is all about work. Everything else has been mostly great this year and I think it’s because I was intentional about what I was going to do and then I went and did it.

Format.

I’m using the same framework I set up last year. I did this so I could revisit it each year and compare what I thought I’d do to what actually happened.

The five categories are: Health, Relationships, Work, Wealth, and Experiences. 

While I can easily fit most everything into these categories, if something doesn’t I’ll put it in whatever one makes the most sense.

Then, again like last year, I have a Stop, Start, Continue section quickly covering what’s been good in 2022 and what I want to change heading into 2023.

Next year I should print these out along with my 2023 goals so they’re more present and I can make sure I’m doing the things I said I wanted to. This year I opened my 2022 goals article a couple of times but only when I’d forgotten what I wrote down. I’ll be better off in 2023 if I’m reviewing my goals most consistently.

Life.

Overall, I improved in some areas while I mostly stayed the same in others.

Health.

I started the year off strong with an eight week kettlebell program. I’d never really used kettlebells but I was intrigued by the functional nature of them and figured it would be a good tool to get fit in the way I want to be.

My goal last year was to gain 15 pounds of muscle. Which I did not do. But I did get leaner in the first half of the year as well as got stronger.

The problem, though, is I wasn’t consistent enough. The kettlebell program took a lot of time per day and once it was over I stopped allocating so much time to it. That said, I didn’t stop working out entirely and I was pretty consistent with a mix of cardio and strength training the rest of the year.

Not being consistent with a training style or upping my intensity appropriately meant I’m ending the year pretty much where I started. I’m probably a bit better than I was but not materially like I’d hoped.

I also didn’t prioritize stretching at all like I wanted and that may be one of the reasons I didn’t see the gains I wanted to.

Relationships.

Relationships are everything and I’m more grateful for them this year than I’ve ever been. It’s probably because of the stage of life I’m in but I think having a solid group of people I can rely on and who can rely on me will mean more to me than trying to fit into a group I don't belong to.

Fiancé.

My girlfriend and I got engaged on November 11, 2022 — 11.11.22.

While I always knew she was the one, I’d been seriously thinking about proposing for 10 months or so and started planning for it around June. With so many variables I had to account for I’m glad how easily everything came together and the day was as special as it should be.

While we’ve been bringing our lives together over the past few years I’m most excited for this next stage of commitment and building the life we want together.

Family.

I can’t quantify it but one of my goals for this year was to spend more meaningful time together with my family and I feel like I’ve done that. And while I’ve done a lot with my fiancé’s family prior to getting engaged, I also feel like I’ve become closer with them.

Friends.

This year I didn’t expand my friend group like I thought I would but I feel it’s stronger than it’s been before. I think this is because I let go of some friends where the relationship was no longer there, I didn’t try and force anything with people I tangentially knew, and I deepened the relationship I have with some people.

Something I’ve been thinking about with this is the nature and seasons of life. There will be times when I and other people fit in with each other and other times when we fall out of touch. This isn’t good or bad, it’s just the way things go and we should be happy with the time we had and be welcoming if we come back into each other’s orbits at a later time. I think mostly both sides have to be invested in the relationship and if one isn’t then it’s ok to let it fade. It’s not worth forcing anything that doesn’t feel natural.

Work.

This year again proved something to me I’ve known for a long time.

I don’t control my life if I’m an employee.

Employer.

This year I wanted to be promoted but given the economy, pullback from clients, and internal restructuring the company significantly paused providing any progression opportunities. Now, I understand a macro economic slow down can affect such things and if I was doing something else I’d feel it too, but it’s a different game if I were in control of my opportunities versus waiting for a company to say I’m worthy. This is especially true when I’m not confident my boss has the ability to advocate for me within the system to help provide opportunities to me.

Something I’ve been told before and again the other day is, if there’s not someone ahead of me who I want to learn from and emulate, and if I don’t see a path forward then I’m in the wrong place and need to change my circumstance so I can have those growth opportunities.

And, while I’m not getting these things with my employer, that’s why I have things like Liip and the other projects I’ve started.

Liip.

This was our first full year with Liip and the first time getting into retail. While we were exclusively online in 2021 and did well, starting to sell wholesale in 2022 changed everything. Lip balm is clearly an impulse type purchase and being able to work with buyers who can help us merchandise the product at their point of sale puts us right where we need to be.

This year we found success working with specialty grocery stores. While initially we thought we wanted to go to more boutique outdoor stores, what we missed with that was the idea of foot traffic and the frequency people return to them. People may go to a boutique a couple of times a year whereas they’re going to the grocery store once a week at least.

What helped most was leveraging our connections so we were getting in touch with the right people at each of these stores. Then, once we were in a few we were able to use them as credibility to reach out to more. We also decided to focus on Michigan instead of the whole country. We figure if we can capture this market then it will be natural to expand beyond. And, given it’s just the two of us right now, Michigan is something we can handle as that’s where we live.

Projects.

One of my goals for this year was to write more. I said I wanted to have 20 articles published on this site as well as articles on Liip. I accomplished those but after I reached the targets I set I mostly stopped. The thing is, I like writing, but it’s not easy for me. I don’t get energized by it. I wish I did, because I love the outcome but it’s hard to get motivated when there are other things I’m naturally better at.

Something I did to end the year was to create 30 Instagram Reels in 30 Days. I did this because I’ve always loved creating videos and photos but I haven’t been doing it much at all the last couple of years. I loved it and I’m going to keep doing it. So when I say I want to create content, maybe video and photo is what I need to be my primary focus and then writing is something that supports it. To me it’s all kind of the same things, it’s just picking whatever medium I’m most passionate about and likely to keep creating with.

Wealth.

With the market down this year I don’t know that I reached any of my dollar amount goals.

But that said, I simplified my investing strategy and have been dollar cost averaging all year long, so eventually when the market rebounds I should be in a good position having lowered my cost basis.

I also didn’t reach my goal of making an extra $100 a day from other projects. Liip got close but all of that money stays in the business so it really doesn’t mean anything for me personally right now. The reason I didn’t achieve this was because I was still searching for the thing that would make it possible to do. I kept trying different things instead of committing to one and seeing what I could do with it.

Increasing my wealth is going to be one of my primary goals for 2023.

Experiences.

We didn’t fly much this year other than one trip to Florida and another to Colorado. But because we weren’t gone a lot we were able to spend a lot of time in northern Michigan. This is something we missed out on during the pandemic and fully took advantage of again this year.

Traveling is fun but my feelings toward it and my expectations have definitely changed though I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for just yet.

Stop, start, continue.

Things I want to stop doing, start doing, and what I want to continue doing in 2023.

Stop.

What am I doing now that I no longer want to do?

• Health - Stop over indulging on sweets

• Relationships - Expecting new connections to come to me

• Work - Jumping from one idea to another

• Wealth - Not allowing myself to enjoy experiences because I don’t think I have enough money

• Experiences - Saying yes to things I don’t want to do

Start.

What am I not doing that I want to start doing?

• Health - Getting body scans

• Relationships - Being an initiator of plans

• Work - Commit to a select few projects with one underlying theme

• Wealth - Generating more short term income

• Experiences - Having more micro experiences

Continue.

What am I doing now that I want to keep doing?

• Health - Consistently workout

• Relationships - Making time for meaningful interactions

• Work - Challenging myself to become a creator

• Wealth - Investing aggressively

• Experiences - Exploring what travel and experiences means to me

Alright, that’s it.

And like I said, I need to print this out and revisit it more often throughout next year so I can keep myself accountable and adjust depending on whatever happens.

If you’ve read all of this let me know on Twitter, @wesjonesco, I’d love to know what you thought and what kept you reading.

Planning for 2022.

I’m pretty good at following through on the goals I set for myself.

Mostly because I’ve thought about it enough to be fairly certain I’ll achieve it by the time I set one.

This is good and bad. Good because I can build momentum as accomplishments build on each other. And bad because it probably means I’m not pushing myself if I’m always achieving what I set out to do. It means I’m playing it safe and not setting ambitious enough goals that challenge me to keep improving.

This is why I’m doing things a bit differently this year.

I usually keep my goals to myself as they’re for me, and I don’t really care what anyone else thinks. I’m not really motivated by a desire to live up to anyone else’s expectations. Rather, I’m only looking to impress myself.

This year I’m stating my goals publicly.

Having more visibility on what I’m planning to do will help me make sure I’m only working on things that matter. When it’s just me, I tend to focus on busy work or things I know I can complete instead of what’s important. And, when I’m the only one who knows what my goals are, I’m free to bend the rules and let things take longer than they should.

I don’t want to be like that anymore.

By doing this, my theory is that I’ll be more conscious of how I’m spending my time. Not that I’m looking for outside accountability, but more that I don’t want to let myself down by not following through on what I said I’d do. Now, with whatever I’m doing, I’ll always have to ask myself, is this helping me achieve my goals, or am I distracting myself from them?

I didn’t set goals like this last year and if you read my article, Looking back on 2021, you can see how I missed the mark on a few things I was working toward.

And like that article, this one is for me too. I don’t expect you to read this, but if you’re interested, let’s get started.

Format.

As I’m going to do this every year, I’ll use the same category framework I followed in last year’s review. Doing it this way helps me better track and understand how I’m spending my time across the five categories: Health, Relationships, Work, Wealth, and Experiences.

Additionally, I will define a Theme for the year as I think it will help set the tone for how I approach everything I want to accomplish.

Themes.

My two themes this year are Intensity and Inevitability.

Intensity.

I’ve been thinking about the idea of intensity after hearing Sam Parr and Shaan Puri talk about it on their podcast. They talked about how upping your level of intensity when you work out can remove the need to be more disciplined in other areas. Specifically, you could increase your intensity while working out and achieve even better results instead of restricting your diet.

They also applied the same idea to business as they talked about how it’s so much easier to do more with something you already have going on than trying to start something completely new.

For me, increasing intensity goes hand in hand with how I want to be more aware of what I’m working on and how I’m spending my time. Instead of making incremental progress on many things, I want to have a few projects I make significant progress on. It’s also a way to make sure I’m fully present with whatever I’m doing rather than be doing one thing but have my mind somewhere else.

Inevitability.

Another thing I’m thinking about as I head into next year is how to make achieving my goals inevitable.

One of the challenges with setting goals, especially when thinking about a whole year or more, is they tend to be quite large. This doesn’t make them bad. It just means they’re harder to approach.

When I have big goals like this, I’ll often get caught up trying to perfect the process or spend too much time thinking about how great the outcome will be. Either way, when I do this, I’m not doing any of the actual work it’d take to achieve those goals. I fall into this trap because it’s easier to focus on things I can control instead of what I can’t.

So, when it comes to making outcomes inevitable, I think it’s about figuring out how to balance those two things. First, knowing where I’m headed, and second, having the proper process to keep me on track but not distract me.

To do that, I need to constantly be questioning whether or not the work I’m doing is helping me move forward or if it’s just keeping me busy.

Again, having this mindset should help me focus on a few important things rather than many.

Goals.

Since this is the first time I set goals this way, I’m approaching next year as a foundational year.

It’s foundational in that what I do this year will set me up for the year after. And, I expect next year will set up the following year, and each year after that. The point is, instead of having goals that are a ways off, constraining them to one year will introduce a sense of urgency to achieve them.

I’ve also made each goal quantifiable so I can clearly track my progress. But, as you’ll see, some are finite while others are more open-ended. This is important to make sure I don’t get overwhelmed and burned out from trying to do too much. To help with that, I tried to be realistic and set goals that support and build on one another. This way, I’m not having to switch between things all of the time.

That said, there’s still probably too much here, but I’d rather that than too little.

Health.

My health goals are not things I’ll be able to do quickly. This is why I only have two of them. They both will take planning and discipline to see through, and I think doing them will benefit me in other areas in ways I don’t realize now.

• Add 15 pounds of muscle; Currently 125 lean muscle mass

• Full sit down Pigeon Stretch on both sides

Relationships.

My relationship goals all center around time. I want to be more intentional about the time I spend with the people I care about. This means it’s not just more time, rather, it’s that the time we spend together is meaningful.

Girlfriend.

• Review our individual goals together and set goals for us as a couple

• 12 Monthly check-ins to review our progress and see how we can support each other

• 1 date night per month minimum

Family.

• Take my dad out 4 times

• Take my mom out 4 times

Friends.

• Explore two local communities or groups

Work.

Last year, I realized I look up to the people I do because they create and share content all of the time. In the last few years, I’ve experimented with writing, making videos, and being more prolific on social media but never did it long enough to gain any traction. This year, my work goals focus on implementing all of those skills I’ve been building up so I can be more like the people I admire.

wesjones.co

• Publish 10 Articles

• Create 3 Paid Information Products from Articles

• Create 8 Vlogs (Can include videos for Liip and Superperfect)

• Acquire 4 consulting clients from DTC Articles

Liip.

• Open 20 retail accounts

• Create 3 brand storytelling pieces for the website

• Interviewed by 2 publications

• Write 6 Articles for the Liip Blog

• Start Liip Team with 5 influencers

• Create Affiliate program

Superperfect.

• Launch website

• Create 1 About Video

• Publish 10 Articles

• Create 2 Paid Information Products

• Post on Instagram 150 times

Employer.

• Promoted to Sr. Content Strategist

Wealth.

Last year I set the goal to reach $100 a day in passive income but didn’t get close to it. It was one of those things that sounded easy enough, but without an actionable plan, I couldn’t make it happen. Now, I think I can make this one inevitable with the work goals above.

• Achieve $100/day Passive Income between WJCO and Superperfect by the end of 2022

• Simplify my Investing strategy to a “Set & Forget ETF strategy” to focus on wealth creation

Experiences.

I often travel for reasons other than my own. Honestly, I’ve never taken a trip for myself. It’s always with or for someone else. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t feel like I deserve it or what, but it’s something I want to try.

• Take one personal trip for more than four days

Getting started.

When I step back and look at my goals for next year, I simultaneously think it’s a lot and also not very much.

I know I have the foundational skills to do all of these things. Now it’s simply a matter of following through. This doesn’t mean it won’t be hard, though. I expect I’ll have to make a lot of tradeoffs throughout the year if I want to achieve all of this.

So, instead of trying to take on everything at once, I’m going to map my goals out against the full year. This way, things can build on one another and create momentum to carry everything forward. To stay on track, I’ll be conducting quarterly and monthly reviews along with weekly and daily reflections.

As I said before, the point for next year isn’t to do many things. Instead, it’s to do a few things really well.

I’m excited to get started.

Also, I don’t believe in resolutions and waiting for a new year to set goals. It’s just the easiest way to time block things consistently.

If you’re interested in following my progress, you can find me @wesjonesco on Twitter and Instagram.

Looking back on 2021.

Since 2014 I’ve tried to figure out what this site should be.

For a long time, I wanted it to be the home of an advertising agency that traded under my name, wesjones.co.

But as much as I thought that’s what I wanted, I finally realized it’s not.

This site is mine.

And while the articles I write are meant for other people like you to learn from, this one is for me too.

Actually, there will be two articles every year going forward that will be for me. One, this one, will be a look back on the year and another that looks forward. I’m using it as a way of public reflection, review, and planning to help keep me accountable. I don’t expect you to read it, but it’s here if you’re interested.

While it will certainly be easier to focus on the positive moments of the past year, I will try to include the things that didn’t go so well. It’s only fair, and no one benefits from hearing how good they are, especially me.

Let’s start here.

The first time I wanted to write an article like this was in the lead-up to 2020.

I, along with many others, thought 2020 was going to be the year everything came together. Everything we’d been working toward in the previous decade would finally be realized, and the future would be secure. Well, we all know what happened.

2020 feels like a lost year, and while it wasn’t the year I wanted, I think it was the year I needed.

I needed it because it made me question what I was doing, why I was doing it, and whether or not I actually cared about those things or if I was doing them because I felt others expected me to.

2020 gave me permission to change what I didn’t like.

Instead of thinking I still had to do it all, it allowed me to say I don’t want to do this anymore. This doesn’t align with my values. And, I’m not going to put energy into things that aren’t helping me get where I want to go.

And that’s why I’m writing this on this site now. Because I can. Because this is what I care about. Because this is what I want to be doing and what I think will help me focus my life in the direction I want to be going.

Until recently, I would have told you I was wasting time jumping from one thing to another. Now I think every experience I’ve had has been me collecting the elements necessary to build the foundation I’ll work from for the rest of my life. I’m genuinely excited in a way I haven’t been in a long time.

Format.

Earlier this year, I began grouping things into these five categories: Health, Relationships, Work, Wealth, and Experiences. So this article will use those as the framework. Of course, some things don’t necessarily fit, but I’ve found these cover it for the most part. And, when something could work in multiple categories, I simply include it in the most relevant one.

Then, following the categories, I have a Stop, Start, Continue section. This will be different from the next article about my 2022 goals, as it’s still more of a reflection on this year. For me, it’s a good way to question whether or not the things I’m doing are helping or distracting me.

Either way, it’ll be a nice bridge between the two articles.

Life.

Mostly everything. Rather than combine things across categories, I’m going to look at them individually.

Health.

This might be because I’m getting older, but I stopped running long distances and pushing my body to the point I could get injured.

I realized if, and when I got hurt, I couldn’t work out and maintain the gains I’d achieved. I was in this never-ending cycle of building up my tolerance and endurance, only to get hurt and have to start all over again. In the end, I wasn’t making any progress at all.

Now, I’m focused on being an everyday athlete. Someone who can show up every day and perform.

This doesn’t mean I put in half the effort. Instead, I’m learning how to push myself right to the limit and still be able to recover and come back stronger tomorrow.

What changed was realizing I’m not trying to impress anyone with outsized effort in the short term. Rather I’m looking to impress myself over the long term. I want to be fit and flexible forever. What I don’t want is to become someone who’s unable to do the things they want to because they didn’t take care of themselves when they could.

To help with that, I prioritized building out my team of doctors, so I have people to go to if I have questions. And, it helps to know what my baselines are, so we have a history to work from if we ever need to.

I also started experimenting with adding vitamins and supplements into my daily routine. After a month of research, I settled on Athletic Greens – Get 5 Travel Packs and a year supply of Vitamin D when you use that link. It’s definitely expensive but it seems to have the most benefits for what you’re getting as it’s a multivitamin, probiotic, prebiotic, and has adaptogens in it. That along with the simplicity of only having to take one thing each day makes it so easy.

And, for a while, I was pairing AG with a collagen supplement but haven’t kept up with that one as much for a couple of reasons. I stopped mostly because it tasted like horse hoof and I wasn’t sure it was doing anything after talking to a doctor about it.

One thing I don’t talk about unless someone asks is I stopped drinking in 2020 and passed the year mark this summer. It’s been an interesting experience but, honestly, way easier than I would have thought. Not being able to go out as much earlier this year definitely helped. But even as I’ve been able to go out more recently, it hasn’t been much of an issue with anyone I hang out with.

Finally, doing these things resulted in dropping 15 pounds this year. That wasn’t my goal, and I probably didn’t need it to happen, but it’s a nice way of validating the things I’m doing have positive outcomes. And, I simply feel better knowing I’m not carrying around any extra weight, even if it wasn’t something that was bothering me.

Relationships.

This one is somewhat tough as I can only write based on my perspective, but I have to try anyway.

Girlfriend.

We’ve been living together for over a year now, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s so fun having my best friend there to do things with all of the time. And I love how we’ve both been bringing our lives together as we build out our home. Having shared goals and the same taste for design is so important too.

That said, one thing that’s been a challenge for me is making sure I have time that’s entirely focused on her. I’ve always been someone who gets immersed in whatever I’m interested in at the moment and can let whatever else be secondary. Amazingly, she recognizes that and gives me the time I need to follow these interests. Still, I know making more time for her is something I can be better at.

Family.

I don’t know. Family is always complicated. It seems everyone is great one-on-one, but then there’s always something when we’re all together. I don’t know if that will ever change, but I can keep working on how I approach and react to it.

Friends.

It’s tough when all but one of my good friends are each a plane ride away. It shouldn’t be hard to keep in touch, but it is. Everyone has their own things going on, and unless there’s a reason to sync up, we can go months between catching up. This, too, may just be what it is, but I can probably be better at being present with the friends I have and put myself in situations where I could make new friends nearby, so it doesn’t always feel so long in between.

Overall I think improving my relationships comes down to time spent nurturing and caring for them. I don’t think that means spending all of my time on them, rather it means spending quality time on them so the experiences and memories are long and lasting.

Work.

The biggest thing I learned in 2020 was that I didn’t want to keep pursuing Project Management as my career. The more I looked at the people above me, like my boss, I realized I did not want to have their job.

So, it took about a year, but thankfully I was able to transition from being a Project Manager to a Content Strategist while staying at the same company. I wrote about how to do it in my article, How to change careers without starting over. It’s been so great, as I’m actually excited about work again.

Then, for personal work, I stopped taking on freelance projects and instead worked on my own projects.

My idea was to experiment with different ideas by doing limited challenges. I figured I could do anything for a set number of days, and then at the end, I’d decide whether I wanted to keep doing it or not. Or if there was something else or another way I’d like to try it.

I did a 100 Days of Meditation project, which changed the way I think about meditating. I wrote about the 100 Logos in 100 Days design challenge in my article, So you want an iconic logo like Apple or Nike? I did an energy audit and time tracking experiment to understand why I felt like I was so busy but wasn’t getting anything done. And, I completed the Ship 30 for 30 writing challenge on Twitter, which led to me publishing four articles on this site that I’m proud of and excited to keep adding to.

I kind of mentioned this earlier, but doing all of this felt a bit directionless as I worked on all of these disparate things. Looking back now, though, I think I was confirming whether or not I liked these things before deciding what I’d focus on going forward.

That said, the experiments were a great way to try things out without fully committing to something for the long term. 100 days was probably too much, but 30 seemed just right. And I realize you can always stack 30-day experiments on top of one another to build up momentum.

Finally, my girlfriend and I launched Liip, our all-natural lip balm brand. This is something we’d been working on since January 1, 2020, but never had the right opportunity to launch it. Then this fall, everything lined up, and we went live on September 1, 2021. We both would have been happy with 20 orders in the first week. Incredibly though, we had over 100 orders in the first week and sold out of our initial inventory of 250 sticks three weeks later.

Now, things have slowed down a bit after the launch, which has been good as we’re looking for ways to keep marketing and growing the brand beyond the people we know personally.

I think something great for us too is that neither relies on Liip for our income. All of the money goes back into the business. It’s something we’re doing for fun and as a way to learn how to launch and manage brands so we can keep doing it in the future with more things.

Wealth.

As I said in the Work section, I purposefully stopped taking on freelancing work to focus on projects of my own. I got so much out of doing my projects, but I did miss the extra income I used to make from freelancing on top of my day job.

I’m ok with it because I believe putting in time on these projects now will have a bigger payoff in the future than the extra money I could have made in the short term. This is because freelance work only pays when you’re doing it. While other projects like Liip don’t require trading time for money and will eventually be able to operate without my direct involvement.

I also brought all of my bank and investment accounts under one view this year.

I used to intentionally keep them separate so I’d never know how much I had. Obviously, this could have been bad if I didn’t know how to manage my accounts, but I always knew I had more than I thought because of how I automated money away from my main account.

It was an easy way to save without having to think about or see the money. I just “never had it.”

Now, though, it was time to get a full picture as I’m looking further ahead at larger moves I’ll want to make in the mid-future after buying my first property last year.

One thing I struggled with when consolidating all of my accounts, though, was understanding what my actual monthly expenses were. Based on what I was doing in the past, I figured I could keep being extremely aggressive with my saving and investing rate. But I didn’t realize I’d have to factor in all of the new expenses of owning a condo and living with someone. I’d never had to think or plan for it and was surprised when I thought I’d have enough money each month but always had to transfer some from one of my other accounts to make up the difference.

This isn’t an ad, but I’m so happy I found Truebill last month. It helped me get a complete picture of my monthly expenses broken down by category and made it easy to understand where I’m spending my money. It’s my favorite app, hands down, and I recommend it to everyone.

Experiences.

I didn’t do much in terms of fun or experiences this year. Mainly because we couldn’t. But not having the option was nice as it allowed me to focus on everything else.

That said, I did travel again. Once to Chicago to meet some of my girlfriend’s friends and Colorado with some of my friends.

Then, this is one of those things where I wasn’t sure exactly where to put it, but I think reading books should go here as education ultimately is an experience.

I used to love having an identity as someone who read a lot of books. But, this year, I stopped that. I decided I’d reread some books as I’d always read one and then never pick it up again. And, what’s the point of reading if I don’t take anything away from it.

My thinking is, reading fewer books multiple times means there’s a better chance at learning and applying what’s in them. This makes it incredibly important to only read good books, and I need to get better about not wasting time on books that aren’t good or aren’t teaching me what I want to learn right then.

Anyway, this is what I read this year:

How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis.

Great book. Conversational and practical and one I expect I’ll reread many times.

Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger by Janet Lowe.

Fine, but long and nothing to really take away from it. I should have put this one down.

Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach

I got this after transitioning into Content Strategy. Pragmatic and foundational, I’m about halfway through and expect to reference this all of the time.

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.

I read this years ago but wanted to go back to it for the philosophy and framework of only working on what matters. Such a good book.

Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks.

I got this after seeing it referenced on Twitter a handful of times. This is another one I’m about halfway through and will finish at some point. The thing about books with exercises is you have to do them if you want to learn anything.

Atomic Habits by James Clear.

Reread the first half of this one as a refresher on how small changes can lead to outsized returns. There’s a reason this is the definitive book on habits. I might get this one as an ebook, too — I’ll say why in a minute.

Safe Haven: Investing for Financial Storms by Mark Spitznagel.

I really wanted to like this one, but it was terrible. I should have stopped after 20 pages but instead wasted so much time thinking it would get better.

Doing Content Right by Steph Smith.

I just started this one and will definitely be finishing it before the end of the year. I got this one when it launched last year but hadn’t made the time to go through it yet, even though I knew it would be great.

I used to be against ebooks because they weren’t “real books,” but I’m reading Doing Content Right on my phone, and I think it’s changing the way I’ll read books going forward. I read everything else online now, and it would be nice to have my highlights tracked digitally and accessible anywhere. Plus, the fact I can read wherever instead of 30 minutes before bed will mean I can get through so much more.

Overall I don’t feel anything truly remarkable was achieved this year. But when I look closer, I can see how I put many things in motion for each category this year that I’ll continue to build on. I also think I’m now not as easily enticed by new opportunities and will instead stay focused on what I’m already doing. It’s counterintuitive, but by committing to doing less, I think I’ll actually be able to achieve more going forward.

Stop, start, continue.

As I’ll be writing a follow-up to this article on my plans for 2022, I thought the best way to approach this would be to keep it short. I’ll write one thing for each category under Stop, Start, Continue. This way, I can give a bit of direction without being too prescriptive, as this should still be focused on what’s happened this year.

Stop.

What am I doing now that I no longer want to do?

• Health - I want to stop eating so many processed foods

• Relationships - I want to stop reacting negatively to situations I don’t control

• Work - I want to stop thinking I have to do everything myself

• Wealth - I want to stop feeling like I don’t deserve what I have

• Experiences - I want to stop saying yes to things I don’t want to do

Start.

What am I not doing that I want to start doing?

• Health - I want to start learning the science of fitness and flexibility

• Relationships - I want to start being more thoughtful about the time I put toward my relationships

• Work - I want to start creating a financially successful business

• Wealth - I want to start diversifying my income streams, so I’m not reliant on one thing

• Experiences - I want to start taking meaningful trips

Continue.

What am I doing now that I want to keep doing?

• Health - I want to continue working out every day

• Relationships - I want to continue strengthening my relationship with my girlfriend

• Work - I want to continue writing and publishing content

• Wealth - I want to continue aggressively investing and managing my finances

• Experiences - I want to continue learning and educating myself

Alright, that’s it.

A part of me is nervous about publishing this, as it’s a bit of a peek into my personal life and how I think. But that’s the point. Making it public is a way to keep me honest.

I’ll follow up with my 2022 Goals soon.

If you’ve read all of this, let me know on Twitter, @wesjonesco, I’d love to know what you thought and what kept you reading till the very end.