I’ve been conducting an annual review of myself as a means for tracking progress (or lack thereof) for the past years years. (hat tip to Chris Guillebeau for the inspiration & format .XLS) I find the process to be an excellent mechanism for holding myself accountable, but even more important it forces me to be a bit more introspective about the year itself. See 2013 Part 1 & Part 2
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2014 was a big year. Lots of progress all around; wedding plans coming together (thanks Laura), cottage plans coming together, and a whole lot of nomadic AirBnB living.   We’ve been moving every 4 or 6 weeks as she finishes up her last year of medical school and tests hospitals as potential residency destinations.

That looked like: Jersey City>Brooklyn> South Orange, Jersey> Allentown, PA> Watkins Glen, NY> soon to be followed by Portland, ME> Marriage/Honeymoon> Tucson Arizona.

Once you add in a monthly trip to DC plus all the other traveling outlined below, it was a whirlwind of travel that lead to some great experiences. But also came with a fair amount of stress, uncertainty and anxiety. While to 99% of people this would  see this a pretty obvious recipe for turmoil, I was a bit overconfident in my own ability to be unfazed. I’ve learned that for me the stress comes down more to the lack of consistent access to a good gym and a good work space or office than the actual travel itself.

But all and all, a fairly successful year as it relates to the below. 8 for 13 isn’t a great free throw percentage, but a decent batting average if you ask me.

Travel:

  • Knock off one more state – Semi fail. I didn’t knock out any in 2014, but I’ve got a trip booked to Alaska in just a couple of weeks. Now I just gotta get a trip to Hawaii on the books.
  • Spend 20 days abroad – Paris + Brussels (5), Mexico (5), Nicaragua (7), Iceland (5)
  • Take a multi-day motorcycle trip – FAIL

Business:

  • Formalize our processes – Overall we made a ton of progress here. Now if only I would follow it …
  • 1 million dollar top line revenues – Fail, but only on the surface. We’re just short of that goal, but considering we lost our biggest account from 2013 and still managed to grow at all. I’ll stick that one in the win category.
  • 2 weeks fully disconnected – I did a good job of disconnecting from all work related things during the first week of 2014, but I haven’t been great since then.

Life:

  • Take advantage of NYC – I think we did a pretty good job maximizing out proximity, checking out new neighborhoods and access to transportation.
  • 30 days at the lake –
  • Read, dummy – I set the goal for 6 non fiction/business books and managed to knock out seven: The Happiness Pursuit, Built to Sell, Profit from the Positive, The E-myth Revisited, The Power of Habit, To Sell is Human, Surviving Paradise, The Guns of August.
  • Volunteer  – I’ve been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters for the last year and a half, but 2014 really allowed me to connect with my little. Connecting with a 14 year old from a pretty rough background is both the most rewarding and simultaneously humbling experience.  The “wins” are smaller than the movies would have you believe. But building any connection at all is more gratifying than pretty much other all aspects of my life.

Fitness:

  • Bike around Seneca Lake – #FAIL.
  • Compete in a multi-day race – We competed in the 72 Hour Florida Sea to Sea race across the state of Florida. It was a blast, the hardest thing I’ve done, and I can’t wait to do another.
  • Complete an Xterra Triathlon – #FAIL

Part 2, looking to 2015 coming soon.

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