2023 was one of the best and worst years for me, and two weeks ago I unexpectedly quit something I’ve been doing for 17 years.
Last year, business crushed. Increased recurring revenue by half a million, and was able to speak on more stages.
Hottie is awesome. Love her more than ever, and can’t keep my hands off her more than ever. 🥰
We’re going on 20 years together, so that’s important. I’m proud to have both a strong emotional bond, and still be physically attracted to each other. She also worked hard on herself this year, including hitting her weight goal. I love watching her grow in the ways that she wants to grow.
The kids are awesome. They’re all still young, but old enough that they have their own personalities. I have a wild one, a sassy one, and a humble one that wears their heart on their sleeve.
But, personally, not as amazing. I don’t know that my body could have screamed at me in any more ways without breaking down. Started to acknowledge that I needed to slow down. I was burning myself out.
Not anything specific. Still absolutely love SEO. If anything, running SEO National gets better and better with age, and have a lot of big plans for the agency and clients this year.
The combination of constant momentum of growing, traveling, charity work, it was all becoming exhausting. I powered through it though. Not because “hustle and grind.” But I had a pride of living this one life. I want to maximize it. Why would I NOT do everything I could?
But who heals the healers? Can only do that yourself.
Two weeks ago I unexpectedly retired from the 5 am club.
Went to bed the night before and I just couldn’t. It’s the first time in 17 years that I turned off my alarm clock, and didn’t wake up at 5 am most days.
I felt worse for the first week. More tired. Had a feeling my body needed to adjust. Then, I started to feel better.
I’ve been thinking about what a new routine would look like for years. And doubling down on exploring that the last few months. Never found the answer.
I don’t know what I want my new schedule to be. I don’t know what my new routine will look like. But I reached a point where stopping the current routine without knowing the new one was better than continuing as-is.
The last few months I’ve been giving a lot of thought to “what is this all for?” I’m confident that I’ve solidified a good legacy with my wife and kids. But I still have a long runway ahead of me. What can I do with that?
I don’t know, yet. But taking a step back feels right in my heart to help me find out how to make a greater impact on the world, and make this the best year ever.
