Overall I’d give it a Meh.

Career was slower than expected with a bunch of clients cancelling jobs in Q4.

Hilights of my year were a 4-day camping trip with old buddies and a 7-day 520 mile bike ride for charity. Oh, also my oldest graduated college.


We didn’t take any trips because we had to put a new roof on the house and have crawlspace work and a termite tent done. But those are gold-plated problems. It means I own a home and can have repairs done. More than most have.

Stayed sober another year so that and being with friends and family is what’s important. Gonna take that perspective into 2024 and remind myself daily to be in gratitude no matter what and that’s the best thing you can have.

I'm giving myself a 9. I had a few challenges, but my gut feel was that it was a very good year.

Starting at the top with the wins...

1. My wife has made a successful transition to retirement. She likes to keep busy so there was a non-zero risk that she would be unhappy. But she's found productive ways to channel her energy and is very happy. Happy wife, happy life.

2. We transitioned out of company ownership. It was a great ride for 20+ years and one of the best decisions I ever made, but it was time to divest and lower everyday stresses. We ended up giving the company to our senior employees and feel good about the exit as the company will keep going strong under them.

3. I was able to cut my hours last year to 65 percent time, which gave me sporadic free time, and am cutting further this year to 45 percent, which will give me consistent free time. (Four-day weekends most of the year!) My remaining work is actually really interesting, too.

4. In terms of finances, this is likely the best year I ever had. My total net worth rocketed up this year to an all-time high. About half of my gains were making up for the abysmal 2022, but the other half was all profit. It's really helping to position me for retirement.

5. This will sound minor, but it's not. I went to the library and checked out some leisure books. The back story here is that I loved going to the library as a kid and I was an avid reader. When I was 12, I had to go to work for financial reasons, and from that point on I didn't get summers or holidays. All through junior high, high school, and college, I worked on any school breaks, and then I entered the working world and we know what that's like. So I always felt like I lost several years of my youth. I decided that I would fully reclaim my lesiure time and those lost years once I made it to the library and wandered the stacks like I did in childhood.

6. My nose surgery is still healing, but at the moment it feels like a big win. I had no idea how bad my breathing had become, and even though I'm not yet 100 percent, I think it's going to have a notable positive impact and become a big win in the long term.

7. I didn't do much travel this year, but I got a nice road trip to California, which was fun, and I did a major trip to Europe in December of last year so I still had that glow. My wife and I are planning to use our free time this year for a lot of local tourism and puttering around Colorado.

8. It doesn't directly affect my life, but Chiefs Super Bowl wins are always nice.

My losses this year are ...

1. I've really fallen out of shape, and I've lost my mental and physical ability to do long runs. It's a bummer. I also gained 5 pounds this year, and I'm in the bad part of a vicious cycle where I'm too out of shape to enjoy exercise, which puts me in worse shape. I want to reverse this trend in 2024, but to some extent I think it's also natural aging.

2. My big negative is my origin family, which is just a constant bombardment of negativity that has amped up over the last couple of years. I wish they would make the changes they need to make to be happy, but that's never going to happen, I guess.

My reasons are slightly different, but two years ago I went into the local library and did something very similar. My reason? Lack of concentration, which I felt was a direct result of my cell phone. Prior to owning my first phone, I was an avid reader. My ability to move through a book and retain the concepts and context was first rate.

In the years after cell phones became a thing, I stopped reading altogether. Then in the last 5 years or so, when I DID actually pick up a book, I couldn’t read for more than 15 minutes or so before I became distracted.

So two years ago, I put the phone aside for days at a time and found myself again immersed and able to concentrate while reading. I find myself much more centered now and I’m certain it contributes to my overall positivity. My level of concentration is as good as ever too.

Enjoy it, (again) Kev.

Off topic, but would love to know your thoughts on a Peloton. I think a lazy **** like me this might get me to work out if it's in the other room. I don't really need the social motivation, but the virtual rides and stuff sound cool.

Really good as try to even make the bad days into good ones. Hopefully 2024 will be another great year.

Horrible ****ing year.

I've had very similar challenges, though I think for different reasons. I spent so much time reading at my job, which was very slow and careful reviewing and editing for the most part, that I completely lost my reading speed and my interest in pleasure reading outside of work. Fortunately, I think it's coming back pretty quickly, but I was feeling very uncultured and illiterate for a long while.

Sorry to hear it bud. At least you have an awesome avatar. Hope 2024 is the best yet for you.

Thought that said George Soros at first.

I absolutely killed it last year.

This year, meh, im livin pretty good compared to many but certainly didnt ball out like last year.

It was fine.

Being in the hospital early in the year sucked, but it picked up from there.

Finally did a family trip.
Made good money.
Second daughter was born.
Billay bleached his asshole for me.
Got to watch Mizzou have a season I never would have predicted.

Can't complain.

I picked up audiobooks two years ago. Not sure I’d do as well with print books, but audiobooks on the daily commute and on long drives have been a notable improvement in my life.

I've had to take down monthly ratings the past couple years, and at times damn well could have been weekly, because they were roller coaster rides of highs and lows... family issues and drama, financial shit, more family issues. It was a ~2 year exercise in compartmentalizing, to let go of the stress of the bad in order to enjoy the good.

This year was far better overall, in the realm of Taylor Swift, comparatively... a much needed job change, some travel, family that's doing far better.

Far fewer irons in the (dumpster) fire, plus at a good point career-wise to have more time dedicated to friends and family.

(relevant Office gif)

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As bad as 2023 was, I'm scared for 2024.

8 for me.

Wish it was 69 though.