7 Ways 2022 Is One of My Best Years Ever

Looking back over the past twelve months, there are seven ways 2022 is poised to be one of my best years ever.

1.    CHANGE: Changing jobs, changing states, and changing my career focus.

2.    TRUST: Continuing to trust that my future best life was unfolding.

3.    OPPORTUNITIES: Exploring the idea of my own business, working as a consultant.

4.    PUBLISHING: Committing to finishing and publishing my new book.

5.    UPLEVELING: Raising the bar on my mental toughness with 75Hard.

6.    FUTURE SELF: Imagining myself at the end of the year, in three and five years.

7.    FOCUS: Defining my Big Three and focusing on the most important 20%.

I didn’t expect that I’d experience as much or more change than the year 2020. And yet, 2022 definitely upleveled my ability to ride the wave, trusting that everything was going to work out just the way it was meant to.

Trust and Allow was my theme from 2020 and so it continues. This may appear passive, but it isn’t. I’m still learning to trust, to trust my intuition, to trust my path, to know that even when I can’t see around the bend, the path does continue.

As Steve Jobs said in his 2005 Stanford commencement speech,

“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path; and that will make all the difference.”

Time and again I’ve proven this in my life. Connecting the dots has become one of my tools.

Looking back over the past twelve months, this is what happened:

January

I felt the future changing. If this doesn’t make sense to you, just pass over this. For me, I became aware of upcoming change, the way you know a storm is on the horizon. I hesitated for almost two months before I renewed my Phoenix apartment lease. I started to feel relationships wrapping up.

At the same time, I experienced everything as deeply as possible, enjoying time with friends and colleagues, knowing in the scheme of things, none of us know the future and we need to experience the bliss of the moment.

March

In a crazy twist, I received phone calls and messages from friends and former colleagues, expressing interest in working together again. I kept an open mind because I always do.

April

Parting ways with my Phoenix employer felt right. I was and still am so grateful for the experience there, working with some of the finest in the industry. I spent 13 months in Arizona, renting a small apartment and maintaining my Michigan home. Often I would be running errands on a weekend in Phoenix and think, “I still can’t believe I live here.” It was like deciding you like a place on vacation and never going back home. I left part of my heart in the southwest desert.

May

Back to Michigan. My son and I drove a moving truck through eight states to arrive back at my house. White-knuckling it over the narrow mountain passes of eastern Arizona, an overnight in Roswell, lots of fuel stops, gas station restrooms, and fast food. From the wide open plains of New Mexico to the camera-flash lightning storm that lasted hours in the dark of Missouri, all those miles rolled behind us. We’ve had an RV trip across the United States on our to-do list for a while now, but I don’t think this four-day trip quite qualifies.  

During this time, I had a friend reach out to me and talk about joining with him as partners. I’d already been talking to potential new employers, keeping my options open because I also wanted to catch my breath before deciding my next commitment.

Hmmm … it sounded interesting.

Intriguing.

Possible.

As we continued to plan, I also thought about my dream of several years, to work with insurance agencies and share what I’d learned, kind of what I’d been doing in one way or another. Also, my other dream of several years, which was to write a book to help people navigate their careers.

June

I created my new business, A-Teams, LLC, legal and legitimate, with a business bank account and EIN, also enjoying being at home with my son, the late nights in midsummer Michigan, hiking, relaxing, planning, trusting. A long overdue trip to Florida to enjoy friends, hiking, and down time also gave me some solo time to plan. I wondered and waited, looking for an answer, a thunderbolt to arrive and let me know what’s next.

July

The dust started to settle. I was impatient to get back to doing something definitive. I journaled about wanting more regular exercise, to get back to my daily Fitbit goal achievement, drink more water, drink less alcohol, do more and do better. At the end of July my son went to a wedding and brought home COVID. My second round wasn’t as face-clawing horrible as the first in 2021, and in a crazy twist, I started 75Hard the day after my quarantine ended.

August

75Hard? If you don’t know what this is, for me it was exactly what I needed. I’d already been journaling / asking for change.

75Hard =

1. (2) 45-minute workouts per day, one must be outdoors,
2. drinking a gallon of water,
3. reading 10-pages of a non-fiction and educational book,
4. taking a progress photo,
5. no alcohol,
6. healthy eating plan of my choice,
7. with no cheat meals,

These are the requirements, with all of these actions every day for 75 days. It looks like it’s about fitness and health, but in reality it’s an endurance test, mental toughness to see what we will do when it gets tough. No exceptions.

"How you do anything is how you do everything." (Andy Frisella - creator of 75Hard)

I made an abrupt about-face with my habits, and seeing my progress from Day 1 toward Day 75 made me realize how much I’d been leaving on the table. So I made more commitments. I finished the draft of my new book, Winning at Work. I focused on what was possible, what I was capable of achieving. My future-self pulled me along, especially after I wrote a letter to the “August Me” from the 12/31/22 Me. Try it. It’s a fascinating process that will really open your eyes.

September

Working on book edits, drinking so much water, saving money because I’m drinking zero alcohol and eating healthy. So many great books, too! Benjamin Hardy’s Be Your Future Self Now is the real winner, although many great runners up: Essentialism by Greg McKeown, Deep Work by Cal Newport, Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg. All those daily ten pages really paid off by the end of the year.

I also created my Big Three (Health, Family, Finances) that allowed me to shed many parts of my life that didn’t support my big three. By focusing on the 20% that’s most important, I released habits, Meetup groups, Facebook groups, casual hobbies, all kinds of things that weren’t all that important to me, yet took my time and focus away from what was really important.

October

Very blessed to be able to visit my family in Denver, and a long weekend in Chicago with my son to see the Gorillaz. Paperback and eBook versions of Winning at Work: A Practical Guide to Career Success finally published! Finished 75Hard, all of those daily commitments done 100%. And as if that wasn’t enough, I started the next bit, called Phase 1. Take everything in 75Hard plus a 5-minute cold shower, completing a daily 3-task power list, 10 minutes of visualization. Phase 1 is only thirty days, though.

My final four cold showers were right around the time that Michigan weather had a frigid spell. Did you know that colder weather means cold water actually gets colder? Those final showers were brutal.

November

Contracted with an insurance agency on the A-Teams, LLC side of the house, working with a great group of people through first quarter 2023. During my in-person visit I was also able to hike in Colorado, adding a new state to my hiking goal. Yes, I grew up in Colorado and I never hiked there. (If you don’t know much about me, you may not know I grew up overweight and therefore, detested physical exercise in any form. Kind of a chicken or egg situation.)

Thanksgiving with my son in Chicago was an amazing trip of great food, movies, Field Museum, so much walking. I’m still doing those daily workouts, generally 2-45 minute walks, and in downtown Chicago, this included walking to the lakeshore, the riverwalk, Michigan Avenue to the Art Institute and beyond. With every step I was aware of how blessed I am.

And now, December. So this is where I connect the dots. This is where I remind myself that every single time I’ve experienced change in my life, the results have always been better than I ever could have imagined. That’s when I remind myself to trust. Trust and allow means listening to my intuition and giving it all I’ve got, doing what I think makes the most sense for my best life.

The dots form this picture.

I was ready to leave Phoenix, even though it was scary not knowing what was next. Not a thought of Phoenix goes by without being followed by how grateful I am for the people and experience, without exception.

My business and new book had been waiting behind the curtain until the time was right. Suddenly the time was right. I had the energy, passion, commitment, and time. I’ll also say I have so much support from my tribe. Again, I am beyond grateful.

Making a commitment to my Big Three has also transformed my past few months. For me health means physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. In addition to 75Hard are daily meditation, 30 minutes of silence, daily Duolingo, 8 hours sleep, journaling, gratitude, and avoiding 99% of screen entertainment.

Family is time with my son, regular calls with my sister and brother, seeing family as much as possible and no more than one non-family event each week, usually less.

Financial has been a commitment to my budget, respecting my finances, becoming aware of and eliminating senseless spending (i.e. I was paying for two Netflix accounts at least 18 months, I had multiple “auto-renew” expenses, etc.), growing my business, planning my next book.

This is my life. I am looking forward to seeing what unfolds in 2023.