01/08/2026
One January, I sat in my office staring at my computer, feeling the pressure to “figure it all out.”
So I moved to the floor with a stack of blank paper, convinced that if I wrote everything out by hand, I’d finally land on the right goals.
Instead, I felt stuck.
I remember thinking about leaving for a run or a yoga class—anything to escape the frustration. And that’s when it clicked:
I wasn’t stuck because I couldn’t pick the best goals.
I was stuck because I was starting in the wrong place.
I wasn’t craving better goals.
I was craving space, freedom, and autonomy.
So I wrote one question at the top of the page:
Who do I want to be this year?
Everything shifted from there.
I stopped treating myself like an afterthought and put myself on the menu first—not selfishly, but intentionally. I focused on who I wanted to be and how I wanted to feel before deciding what to do.
That year brought all-time revenue highs, all-time event attendance highs—and my life felt like it flowed. I’ve planned every year that way since.