New Year’s Day hits different for me, not just in 2022. Mainly because it hits me on a different day altogether.
For many years now, I’ve followed the school year that my kids follow as my yearly markers. So September 1st is when I officially start my year, affectionately known as my NOW Year (an acronym for Need to Do, Ought to Do, and Want to do). But that doesn’t mean I don’t acknowledge – and even appreciate – what January 1st is and has to offer. Even The NOW Year wall calendar starts in January.
I also understand that I’m an outlier when it comes to when I make the start of my year, so I still lean in and share how my calendar year went in posts like this.
In terms of how I’m structuring this annual review, I decided that I’ll highlight 6 things from each season: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. That’ll give me a set of constraints, which is a good thing to have when you’re writing a summary of any sort. I’ll be looking back through my journal entries to make sense of this review as well. I’m an avid journaled (as you may know) and that chronicle will make this process far easier and faster to do.
I also am working on a “Year in Preview” piece that I’ll be publishing on January 1st, so if that’s something you’re interested in checking out then follow me on Twitter so that you can read it when I release it. (Members of TimeCrafting Trust Premium will get a sneak peek at it one day earlier, so if you’re a TimeCrafting Trust member of any sort, then watch for that in the community.)
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get started.
Winter 2022
I started off 2022 the same way that I’m ending it: feeling grateful. I recognize that I’m a lucky person and that has been something that didn’t just happen – it’s been cultivated over the years.
January was also a month where we moved things around in my business. We initially moved to Teachable with Circle as a community element for our courses and membership, but as 2022 comes to a close we’ve left Teachable and are focused entirely on Circle. Our courses live there and anyone who has bought a course from me is also part of TimeCrafting Trust in Circle as well.
The Cincinnati Bengals finally won a playoff game after a long drought. Then they went beyond that and went all the way to the Super Bowl. As a fan of the team since 1981, January was a fun month for me.
There was a recurring theme over the course of the past few years and 2022 saw me do something about it. I spent the better part of the year writing the first draft of my next book, which I’m self-publishing. There’s a lot more to this that I’m going to share in 2023 but I’ll say that I’m excited about the project. It’s been a challenging one – and it’s far from over – but I know it’s going to be a rewarding experience overall.
I cancelled The BIG Ready in February 2022 after running it for two years in two very different ways. I don’t know if I’ll bring it back but I do know that not doing it in 2022 was a good call.
February was also a month where I started taking finances more seriously than I had in ages. Still am. It’s paying off, too. (Pun not intended).
Spring ’22
In March I interviewed Austin Kleon for my podcast again. As I went through my journal I saw that I’d highlighted a quote from him: Validation is for parking. I took notice of that going forward and have been less interested invalidation and more interested in creation and community. It’s also paying off.
It wasn’t until March that I’d made my first YouTube video of 2022. That’ll change in 2023. Not just when I start, but how often I make them.
The book came up again in April. The tentative title. It wound up not being the actual title. I may use that tentative title elsewhere, but not in the title for a book.
New computer in April 2022. Mac Studio. I’m set on that front for a few years.
Saw my first concert in years in May. James Taylor put on a great show. And through him I learned that the secret o’ life is enjoying the passage of time.
In May I saw the George Carlin documentary and parts of it have been on my mind ever since. It’s THAT good.
Summer 2022
I took a personal retreat at the end of June and it was incredibly worthwhile. Plenty of breakthrough just being on my own in a shipping container tiny home for a few days. A process that I have integrated into The READY Retreat, albeit in a much shorter timeframe.
Right after my retreat, I attended the final World Domination Summit. This event ran for 10 years and is the brainchild of Chris Guillebeau. I enjoyed it but also recognized that I’m different than I was when the event debuted nearly 13 years ago (it was paused from 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) so it didn’t land as much with me. But it was great to see friends in person again. Really great.
The book-writing process was in full effect in July 2022. Plenty of words were written.
We had a work retreat at the tail end of July here and it went well. Plans have changed since then, but it was good for me to connect with Elizabeth (my Operations Assistant) to forge some form of plan forward. Having defaults is better than having nothing at all.
A lot of August was a professional write off for two reasons: Family vacation and (finally) getting COVID-19. One of those things was amazing and the other annoying. I’ll let you guess which was which.
I took part in Ship 30 in August. I’m glad I did. I’ll probably do it again in the calendar year of 2023, but in my 2024 NOW Year.
Autumn ’22
I created The TimeCrafting Starter Kit in September. It’s a free guide that’ll help you get the basics of TimeCrafting down. If you haven’t already got it, you can get it here.
I hit the ground running in September in a big way because I didn’t just make the aforementioned kit but I also put together The Procrastination Course.
More work stuff in October 2022, all related to the book and website stuff. And all being unveiled in 2023.
The Astros won the World Series for real this time. And as much as I publicly distanced myself from them after the scandal, I’ve always had a soft spot for them. Seeing them win in legitimate fashion was fun.
After years of meeting online, several of us who mastermind together met up in Tempe, Arizona to retreat together. There’s just something about face-to-face energy that invigorates and inspires. I’m glad I went. (I did the same in March with another group I meet with – this one weekly – and it was a phenomenal experience.)
I’ve been pining for a Qui-Gon Jinn lightsaber for a couple of years now and my hope was that I’d be able to get in when I was at Disneyland in August. But it hadn’t been released yet. But it did get released in December. A good friend of mine picked it up for me and it arrived the same day that I’m writing this piece. It’s a fitting way to end the calendar year… feeling grateful for what I have. And I’m not just talking about a lightsaber. I’m talking about my family, my friends, my work, my life.
Thanks for being part of that.
And thanks for taking time to read this. I encourage you to take time to write your own annual review. There are plenty of ways to do it, but don’t let the friction of finding one keep you from doing it. Just start thinking and writing. That’s how you go from friction to flow.
Take a moment and start right now. Something small. Something simple. You’ll be glad you did.
