028 • The curtain begins to close on 2023
028 • The curtain begins to close on 2023
Happy Friday all,
It's fast closing in upon the end of the year.
It’s time to have a look at what's changed, what hasn't, and what you'd like to do more (or less) of in 2024.
I wasn't typically one to keep comprehensive journals of everything that I'd done in the past, but 2023 has been different. I started regularly journaling and writing around October 2022, giving me an entire year of records to filter through and learn from.
This year was all about business. I wanted to do something with the ample free time that I seemed to have around my studies (that wasn't staying up late and partying). I'd broken a lot of bad habits that had persisted from my earlier years and my motivation was a lot higher.
It was time to give back to the world after so many years of only taking from it.
Initially, I wanted to go into photography and videography. My days at the start of 2023 involved writing and sending cold emails to businesses in Sheffield, trying to land some free work so that I could start a videography career.
These emails weren't well-received. In fact, I can't say whether they were received at all, because I didn't hear back from anyone I contacted.
Now, I could have tried a little harder at this, but I had another New Year's goal that had turned into a bit of a side project - writing.
My goal for 2023 was to publish 10 articles on Medium. About what, I did not know. How many would read these articles, I did not know. I just knew that I had to write.
The entry I wrote in my journal on the 3rd of January reads thus:
"I set myself the goal of writing an article today. I worked hard and got it done but this is only one step in the right direction. I need to keep producing, don't let my momentum drop."
Long story short, I kept producing. I'm on the brink of publishing my 100th Medium article, this newsletter's been running consistently for over half of the year and I've posted 1.5k times on X.
Although this isn't the direction that I wanted to or thought I would take at the start of the year, I'm still very satisfied with how things have turned out.
Writing regularly about how I improve my productivity, creativity and other aspects of my wider mental and physical health has allowed me to be introspective, analysing my thoughts and beliefs in a way that very few other business paths could have done.
Overall quite a successful year. But what am I doing in preparation for the next one? I'm going to spend some time with my family, having not seen them since August. I'll be thinking and journaling, setting up a plan of action, setting targets and goals.
I'll also be answering Steph Ango's ‘40 questions to ask yourself every year'. This seems like a comprehensive list of prompts that makes sure you've analysed your year from every perspective, so I'm going to be answering them soon, closer to the 31st. If you answer these questions yourself you can use what you've written along with your goals for the new year to decide on the best plan of attack.
Reply to this issue with some of the New Year's rituals that you use to keep yourself focused and pumped up to keep moving forward. I'd love some new inspiration.
Take care and I'll see you next week.
What I've read this week...
Like I said I would be in last week’s issue, I’ve had a busy week. There were several deadlines for university, meaning limited time for writing. However, I did read a couple of pieces, which I’ll share with you here:
Step-By-Step Landing Page Copywriting
This piece was very insightful, giving me loads of good ideas for when I relaunch PARAZETTEL as PARAZETTEL V2. The next is a more abstract one. I’m not the most travelled person in the world, but perhaps some of you who have done more globetrotting will have experience of what Paul Graham means in it…