What Does 2023 Have In Store?
2022 was a pretty crazy year. From some amazing travels to Atlanta, Colorado, and Italy to getting pretty dang sick at the end of the year, there were a good amount of ups and downs but all in all a great year to look back at and learn from.
As normal as it is to set new goals for a new year, I find it equally as important to look back at the year you had and what you can learn from it as well as what you can change/apply in the year moving forward. From what I’ve seen from friends and family (and myself over the years), there is so much focus put on the new goals that we easily forget what we set the year previously and if we even made steps toward it in any regard.
So let’s start with my reflection from 2022…
Reflecting On 2022
Towards the end of the year, I made some big changes in what I focus on, what I do, and a bit of what I believe. I believe that all these changes were a case of being honest with myself, what my current situation is, and if what I was doing was actually beneficial or just a cover up to make it feel like I was making progress without actually doing so.
There were three main reflection pieces that, when looking back, will have some true impact on how I live my life moving forward. These might not be things you believe in or find to be important but that’s why I strongly suggest taking time to reflect on the past year because if you just keep “restarting”, you might not understand what the year before was trying to teach.
1. Understanding I need to take care of myself
Going back to my high school days, I was pretty healthy. I played two sports (November through July) and always played pick-up basketball/other games during my time off (of course some of this was offset by my extracurricular activities at times…).
Coming out of high school, I just believed that since I was in shape my whole life that there wouldn’t be much of a change throughout my late teens and twenties. Boy was I wrong…
As I mentioned at the start, I found myself pretty sick for a bit of time toward the end of the year. Looking back, it was pretty easy to see that although I thought I was eating healthy, working out, etc. enough to keep my health in a positive light. In reality, I was working myself down daily (towards goals that are important to me but not so important I lose my health), ordering out food way too often, and not taking the time to step away to work out or even take a stroll around the neighborhood.
This led directly to realizing that I shouldn’t ignore the signs that my health is taking a negative turn because it won’t go away or turn positive with no change on my end.
I was seeing signs of lack of sleep, losing weight, and energy levels being extremely low throughout the day and my “solution” for this originally was that I’d just continue to work hard to make money to then eventually get healthy.
Pretty lame and self-destroying approach.
The saying “better now than later” is so simple but also so true when it comes to your health. It’s better to eat healthy, work out, and sleep more now than wait to focus on that till later. It’s better to understand what helps your health now, compared to understanding your problems later.
The list could go on.
Again, for me throughout 2022, I was still putting later in front of now. I’m not saying you have to track everything you eat, workout for two hours a day, or hire a personal trainer but if you want “later” to be filled with experiences and passions, you can’t continue to put “later” in front of “now” when it comes to your health.
2. Add more fun into the year
Being driven is a good thing my opinion. Now that could be in many different forms, driven to create something significant, driven to be a great family person, the list can really go on.
Now taking that drive to a higher level can be a bit dangerous and I’ve certainly fallen into that trap.
In my early twenties, the only thing that mattered to me was “success”. That meant being debt-free, building side hustles to the point that I could step out of corporate, and travel anywhere I want. Now all of those are still things that I want to accomplish for the most part (I love my job and company I’m at, so my plan is to be there for as long as I can be no matter what financial success I find elsewhere).
The dangerous part for me came when I was only focusing on those things and when I see only, I mean ONLY.
I did not put any focus on having fun, hanging with friends, or taking any trips that weren’t business related. After a few years of this, I started to realize how much I was starving myself of any fun and laughs.
Now I still believe that there are times to put your head down and be serious but one of my bigger goals moving forward is to make time for fun. Whether that’s going to ball games with the family, going out with friends for a few drinks, or just taking more bike rides because I want to.
You hear it all over but life is short. There has to be time for fun and laughs because otherwise, what your goals are and the success you may or may not accomplish isn’t really worth it.
3. It’s okay to not have everything figured out
We live in the highlight era. You see people on great trips, looking their best, and living their dream life and what comes with that is the pressure to live up to everyone else’s highlights.
I know for me early on it seemed like I needed everything figured out and that if I didn’t, I was just being lazy or lying to myself that my life was already good enough.
News flash to me, it’s okay to not have every detail figured out. I don’t need to know what I want to do forever, I don’t need to know where I’m going to live or what my later years will look like.
On the opposite, it’s not a bad thing to have a lot (or all) of these things figured out. But if I’ve learned something over the past few years is that a lot can change in what you want out of life.
Give yourself the grace you need to go through the “I’m not sure” phase of life, understand that you are not alone in this space (no matter your age), and have faith that things will line up alright (but you still need to put some work in, just waiting for handouts likely won’t turn out amazing).
What 2023 Has To Offer & How I’m Approaching It
Now quickly addressing what 2023 has in store. For me, this year has three main areas of focus (okay 4 but that last one isn’t super important and may still happen…).
1. Give myself the opportunity to explore
This is the one I’m most excited about. As you’re currently on my website (or somehow viewing this blog), this was one of the early projects I dove into. My old website was pretty crappy…
I’m working to dive more into photography this year as that has also become one of my favorite hobbies and a great way to express myself as well as capture memories in time, learn more about video editing, continue to be consistent with my podcast, and many others.
The point that I want to make (and am focusing on) is that I’m giving myself the space to just test things, try them out, and put no pressure on what the outcome will be of them.
For what I did previously outside of work, the focus was solely on the outcome and this led to a bad relationship with what I was doing and bad mental thoughts about how I performed (because I wasn’t seeing the results that were expected).
If you have extra time or just want to explore different areas, do it. Quit making excuses that it has to provide in some sort and just have some fun (going back to an earlier point).
2. Financially getting in a better spot
This one is pretty simple. I just want to have better finances and an understanding of my finances.
Now I’m sure this is on many folks’ lists (and likely is each year) but for me, it’s first about learning more and then it’s about correcting/improving my finances.
I’ve never been in a terrible position but I’ve also never taken the time to dive deeper into this world to see how I can improve or why people recommend certain things.
If you’re looking to do the same, just remember that any progress forward is good here. It can be extremely overwhelming (especially if your finances are not in a great position) but you won’t regret taking just a little bit of time and focus on where you’re at (and going) financially.
3. Taking a few trips
Again, another one that is likely on a lot of people’s lists. I’ve been fortunate to be on some amazing trips the past few years (although Covid put a stop to that for all of us for some time).
This year it’s more about who I’m going with, not just the location.
Later in August, I’m taking a trip out to Colorado and the surrounding states with my pops to go fly fishing. We’re going to hit a few different rivers and just have a good time. No pressure, no schedule, just hanging with my dad and creating memories that can last a lifetime.
The other one that is a lot less planned out is either a trip out to California (since I’ve never been there before) or New Year (since I haven’t been there in a while). This is one I’ll have to catch you back up on later in the year…
4. Not buying a dog (until next year)
This is TBD…
Aside from the jokes, I hope you’re having a great start to 2023. The older I get, the more I appreciate the years as they come and go, not just for the time I have but for what I learn throughout them.
I also hope that you just enjoy it. You could be striving hard towards some goals or just figuring out a few things but no matter where you’re at, you can find some enjoyment if you look hard enough.
