The Last Newsletter of 2022
Plus, a little gift for you to end the year.
Here’s my 2022, in review:
In writing, I wrote over 200 articles on the internet (factoring in my ghostwriting clients and my former freelance clients, it’s probably closer to 300).
I competed in 10 Jiu-Jitsu tournaments all over the world (8 in the US and twice in Europe), I had the best competition performance of my life, won the biggest cash prize I ever have, and I went and competed internationally for the first time in my athletic career.
Then, I did it a second time a few weeks ago.
I had enough success in the first part of the year that I was able to quit freelancing and devote all of my time to the stuff I love doing — writing and training/teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
This was a huge win for me. I was so happy with this accomplishment… for a while.
After the excitement wore off, I wasn’t happy anymore. I got kind of depressed and I also got really burnt out. My body started breaking down on me and my mind was fed up with everything.
Everything was wrong. I achieved some really big goals and on paper, I was supposed to be living my dreams, but existentially, I was not where I wanted to be.
Being unhappy and also more successful than I’d ever been taught me a valuable lesson.
The problems that I was dealing with could not be fixed through success and achievement.
In fact, I think most problems are this way. Achievement is a temporary band-aid for existential stab wounds.
In hindsight, it’s strange to me now that in Western culture it’s so common to use success and self-improvement as bandaids for internal unrest. I had to get off the hamster wheel.
I had to do this whole weird spiritual self-transformation thing for the first time in my life. It was ironic — my first viral article on the internet was about how I thought Buddhism was stupid, and there I was, doing all the research I possibly could about how to heal my spiritual health.
I became very interested in the work of Jiddu Krishnamurti, a philosopher who I first learned about from one of the modern thinkers who has inspired me a great deal, Naval Ravikant.
I had this weird temple phase over the summer, where I didn’t do much except work, write, teach, train, and compete. Life was simple, and the simplicity helped me grow a lot.
And now, I’m at the next phase. The changing of a calendar marks the birth of something new.
So where do we go from here?
As this year ends, I am a very different person from who I was a year ago. I’m smarter, stronger, and better at everything I do, and while nothing is guaranteed, the future looks more promising than it ever has.
The possibilities for the next 12 months are exciting — I’m excited to share all my upcoming adventures with everyone who reads my articles.
However, for the last 12 months, I’ve already been incredibly excited about the future. My being excited about my progress and the cool stuff I get to do is not new.
What is new is that for the first time, I also feel like I’m much better at being present. I don’t dissociate every time I feel strong emotions anymore. I’ve made a lot of progress in my mindfulness and peace this year.
I’m excited to do things that I do every day because, after years of struggling with dissociation and anxiety, there’s a part of me that feels like I’m doing them for the first time.
I’ve changed my life in the last year by focusing on 4 main aspects.
In order to redesign and restructure my life over the past 12 months, I have divided and conquered.
The 4 main fronts that I focus on in my life are:
Skills
Physical/mental health
Relationships
Mindset
If you can master these 4 components of your life, I’ve learned that it’s really difficult to be dissatisfied with your experience. Success paired with existential peace is a tough circumstance to beat.
“A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought — they must be earned.” — Naval Ravikant
Closing Thoughts
In the end, I know that don’t know everything there is to know about life.
I don’t know what happens when we die. I don’t know how to make you a billionaire and I don’t know how to fix global climate change.
I don’t know if we even have any sort of free will in this life. I just don’t know. If I knew, thinking wouldn’t be as much fun as it is.
What I do know is what I believe and what I want. I also know what I want for anyone who stumbles upon my writing on the internet.
I believe in choices, and I want people to make choices that help them live happier, healthier lives that they’re proud of.
And with that, that’s why I want to announce my latest free ebook — A Short Guide to Redesigning Your Life.
This ebook contains everything I’ve done (at least, everything that worked) over the last 12 months to improve my life physically, mentally, spiritually, and financially. I threw the kitchen sink into it over the few months, and it’s now free for download.
I’ve had the best year of my life, and I want to show you how I did it.
That’s all for now.
Talk soon.