Welp, here we are, halfway into January.
Right now, it’s mid-Friday AM, 3º (that’s about 35ish for Americans) and sunny. It’s trash day, so I’m listening to AC/DC on my earphones to block out the shouting and crashing noises. Shouting and crashing works best with a 4/4 beat anyway.
I just updated my What the hell is Andy doing lately? page on the website, so check that out to see where my mind and time are at.
(Music and book recs ☝️ plus more links and pics)
Below, a quick 2021 recap…
Some of the things I'm proud of from 2021:
We rebuilt our dojo membership in East Tokyo basically from scratch mid-pandemic and have a core group of students practicing regularly now.
My daughter is now functionally literate in both English and Japanese and managed to stay active in dance and swimming for most of the year.
GMB had our highest revenue year so far, breaking out of a two-year period of refactoring our products and team. We're now having more fun, rebuilding our profit margins, and moving way faster on projects that actually make our product more useful.
Other people are now doing the vast majority of the project planning and admin / management work now, so I've had more time for working on things like brand and making hiring plans.
We weathered the Great iOS/FB Ads Storm and stayed profitable while introducing over 20k new clients to our material.
I worked less in 2022 than any other year since 2003.
We checked off six different hotels/inns we'd been wanting to stay at in different parts of the country and went to Tokyo Disneyland/Sea four times.
More consistent workouts have paid off with feeling stronger and having more stamina for better overall walking-around daily health.
Saw my parents for the first time in almost two years.
Explored ketamine-assisted therapy and found it beneficial. Planning more for my next US visits.
Continued to actually give very close to zero fucks about the things I say I don't care about.
Gave probably more good advice than bad advice to the people who asked for it and learned a few situations where it's best to keep my mouth shut.
Read a bunch.
Heard a ton of great music.
Sang my ass off at karaoke.
Competed (lost) in an armwrestling tournament.
Ate some ridiculously good food.
Overall, it was a way better year than 2020, in almost every regard. With the exception of travel and in-person gatherings, it was better than 2019.
I'm not into setting Big Goals and pushing to outdo myself every year, but it feels nice when there's so much forward progress in one year across just about every are of life. I'd definitely call it a success, and I plan to celebrate by taking my foot even further off the accelerator this year.
What I’d love to hear back from you about:
Any big updates or takeaways from last year (or since the last time we talked)?
What music are you listening to lately?
What have you tried that was surprisingly fun or valuable for you?
OK, that’s it!
I’ll leave you with this lovely flyer from the armwrestling comp:
Now, for a cappuccino or two…
/a