The Annual Reset
Why I'm not waiting in 2024
The week between Christmas and New Year’s, my family and I took a drive from our home in Wisconsin, up to Canada to pickup a new addition to our family.
It turned out to be this guy. A Samoyed whose name is Teddy.
The purple marking is washable marker that was used by the breeder to identify the puppies. No, he didn’t get into anything he wasn’t supposed to. At least not yet!
When you drive for a total of 17 hours, you find yourself doing a lot of thinking.
Some of it was, why the heck are we doing this with a 5 and 7 year old? What’s going to go wrong? Driving that far with kids of this age is almost a guarantee for problems of some sort.
It turned out the trip went great and the kids were very well behaved.
Our stops in Chicago and Detroit went well. My son was able to get a LEGO at the LEGO store and my daughter a doll at American Girl.
We ate our our favorite restaurant and I think the best steakhouse in the country, Bavette’s in Chicago. The kids’ highlight was clearly dessert. You can see why!
If you had told me beforehand that the trip would have went this smoothly, I would have said you’re nuts. I never would have believed you.
It was a truly memorable family experience that we will forever remember.
The timing of this trip came at the perfect time. Driving for 17 hours at the end of the year really puts things in a different perspective.
I found myself reviewing and recapping 2023 in my mind. I was remembering the good days and the bad. Yes, there were some bad days but when I thought about it, there were way more good days.
This really instilled that we all have good days and bad days. The bad ones tend to stick in our mind more even though there are usually far less of them. I came away reminding myself to take the good with the bad. Both days do come to an end and to really be thankful for the next.
There were struggles but that happens every year. We always have struggles and challenges no matter what we do, or which stages of life we’re in. You’re not going to avoid them. It’s just up to us how we react and handle the cards that we’re dealt.
I found myself thinking back to two posts I wrote within the past year.
These were two monumental stories that have had a lasting impact on my life and how I view the road ahead.
It’s why in 2024 I’m not waiting. I’m done with waiting.
There is always a reason to wait. You’re busy now. You’re going to get busier. You’re always going to be busy.
The “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have enough time” excuses only go so far. We make time for what matters. If something is a priority, you do it.
We view the start of a New Year as a way to start new through goals or resolutions. It can be viewed as a rebirth, reinvention or renewing your focus. View it however you want, but I’m viewing 2024 as The Annual Reset.
Starting new and fresh with a focus on creating purpose with a plan. Your plan can be one thing, two or three things, or maybe you have more. I’m focused on the following.
Exploring my curiosities. I want be more curious by doing things I’ve always wanted to do but haven’t. Explore what I don’t know. Read and learn more. Try new things. Push my limits.
Kids are great at this. My kids are now doing things with pictures and videos on my phone that I don’t even know how to do. They’re only 5 and 7! I’m taking it from them, be more curious and unafraid to fail or mess up.
Ship the work. I want to make my companies even better by deepening our niches and relationships. My goal is to deliver an even more unique and different experience to our clients and readers. There are things that I’ve always wanted to try, but haven’t. That’s going to change this year.
Make more family memories. Time passes but memories don’t. Creating lasting memories for our kids is a lifelong quest for my wife and I. This is where the importance of not waiting and prioritizing things in life comes full circle.
I’ve hit my annual reset button and I’m no longer waiting in 2024. I hope you choose to do the same.
The Coffee Table ☕
Blake Millard who writes
, wrote a helpful post called What I read each week. This is an excellent list of the best people to read for investing and financial content. These are all people that I also frequently read.Blair duQuesnay wrote a great post, Dear Young Advisor. She reflects on her 20 years as a financial advisor. This is for anyone who works with clients and selling products or services. She make some greats points that make you apply it towards what you do in your profession.
Ryan Holiday had a thought provoking post called How To Have Better Habits in 2024. He has some excellent tips on how to best prepare your mindset towards habits as we begin a New Year.
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