@HedgeyeGLL Sometimes it’s the small things, seemingly trivial in the moment, that end up being more meaningful than you expect. Peace to you for the holidays my friend
I’m often asked about how I approach New Year’s resolutions.
The truth is that I no longer approach them at all, even though I did for decades.
Why the change?
I have found “past year reviews” (PYR) more informed, valuable, and actionable than half-blindly looking forward with broad resolutions. I did my first PYR after a mentor’s young daughter died of cancer on December 31st, 10 years ago, and I’ve done it every year since.
Her passing was a somber reminder that our days here are too precious not to fill them with the people and activities that nourish us most.
The PYR takes just 30–60 minutes and looks like this:
Grab a notepad and create two columns: POSITIVE and NEGATIVE.
Go through your calendar from the last year, looking at every week.
For each week, jot down on the pad any people��or activities or commitments that triggered peak positive or negative emotions for that month. Put them in their respective columns.
Once you’ve gone through the past year, look at your notepad list and ask, “What 20% of each column produced the most reliable or powerful peaks?”
Based on the answers, take your “positive” leaders and schedule more of them in the new year. Get them on the calendar now! Book things with friends and prepay for activities/events/commitments that you know work. It’s not real until it’s in the calendar. That’s step one.
Step two is to take your “negative” leaders, put “NOT-TO-DO LIST” at the top, and put them somewhere you can see them each morning for the first few weeks of 2024.
These are the people and things you *know* make you miserable, so don’t put them on your calendar out of obligation, guilt, FOMO, or other nonsense.
That’s it! If you try it, let me know how it goes.
And just remember: it’s not enough to remove the negative. That simply creates a void. Get the positive things on the calendar ASAP, lest they get crowded out by the bullshit and noise that will otherwise fill your days.
Good luck and godspeed, everyone!
@Hedgeye@HedgeyeRJM I only met Todd a couple of times but I was struck by his warmth and genuine sincerity. I was looking forward to catching up with him at the next conference. My sincere condolences to his family and the Hedgeye community
@wakanaan Congrats! Sleep and rest will become your most valuable commodities for the first year. Do your best to give each other periods of rest so at least one of you can function normally 😆. If you’re both exhausted it makes it a lot more challenging than it needs to be. Good luck!