Wins, Losses and Lessons in 2023: Turtle-Speed

This year is going to go down as one of the most unique of my life.

There were just a lot of things that happened that have never or rarely ever happened to me.

Here's a few examples:

• First year since I was 15 I didn't get a paycheck from an employer
• Built my first online course (and then 3 more)
• Learned 4 new skills
• Paid $14,000 for coaching programs
• Had a kid go to elementary school 

I mean that's just getting things started.

But when it comes to building the 4 types of wealth (social, time, financial, health), a lot of things happened.

So here's a win, loss and lesson for each type of wealth I had in 2023:

The Wins

• Time: Deep work is the greatest productivity hack there is. Taking 2-4 hour blocks of time that are completely undistracted and uninterrupted to just do ONE THING gets you into an incredible state of flow. I can't recommend it enough.
• Social: I don't need a lot of friends. I just need a few good ones. As an extrovert, this has been a newer concept in my life. But there's four people that I have regular, intentional conversations about life and wealth. We also have a lot of fun! Quality over quantity in this area wins all day, every day.
• Financial: I did not earn a paycheck from an employer in 2023. I made a few bucks consulting on the side and at the end of the year when I finally launched my products (call it $4000). Despite that and having a $4500/month gap in our expenses and income right now while I build the business, our net worth is up. Assets for the win! 
• Health: I did an experiment utilizing an alter ego I called HotShot who loved running 5Ks and waking up at 5am for 12 weeks. I ran more this year than in my entire life (outside of sports) and lost 20lbs. Also, I got booked for a TED Talk (March '24) to speak about this. Crazy win!

Overall, some pretty huge and unique wins like I said!

 The Losses

• Time: Starting a business is hard. I consistently underestimated how much time it would take to accomplish certain things. This led me to miss certain goal projections I had made. I also had to spend time fixing stupid mistakes. A classic "three steps forward, two steps back" scenario.
• Social: I had to let a long-time friend go. I wish them well and have no hard feelings. But they were in a different place of life than I am now and despite our history together, they were going down a road I wasn't interested in anymore. It's for the best, but its tough.
• Financial: Net worth is up but cash is down. This isn't unexpected though the hit was worse than I anticipated with inflation ripping through the economy. Monthly expenses are up about 20% overall. Our higher burn rate forced me to accelerate some personal timelines and caused a lot of stress.
• Health: I was stuck in my chair A LOT this year building products. This caused a 20lb weight gain, bad eating habits (worse than usual anyway) and a lot of mental fog. While I course corrected later on, I definitely made things harder on myself by not maintaining my exercise and diet better.

Fortunately, none of these losses were of anything that can't be fixed or for the better. 

I've definitely had years where that wasn't the case so I'll take this any day.

The Lessons

• Time: I could die tomorrow. So while I like to think and plan for the future, living in the moment and enjoying the journey needs to be my priority.
• Social: Building strong relationships are worth more money than fast cash. Remember that when working with people and businesses.
• Financial: The easiest way to save money is to practice gratitude. 
• Health: New levels = new devils. What I do at 36 will have a drastic impact on my quality of life at 46. Pay more attention to what I eat since its having more of an impact on my body than ever before.

There you have it. My 2023 recap. So why title it "turtle-speed"? 

Because when I look back at this year, I'm surprised at how much I did accomplish but it felt like forever getting here.

We made the gains, but it was a slow, daily slog sometimes. Didn't feel like we had a lot of "bunny mode" moments where things happened fast.

Hopefully, we'll get a few more of those in 2024 because they're fun.

I hope your 2023 held more good than bad and that you enter the new year with hope and happiness.

God bless and see you next year!