My 2015 Annual Review - James Clear

4/19/22, 10:07 PM My 2015 Annual Review - James Clear
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Clear writes about habits, decision
My 2015 making, and continuous improvement. He

is the author of the #1 New York Times
Annual bestseller, Atomic Habits . The book has sold

over 7 million copies worldwide and has
Review
been translated into more than 50
languages.
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written by JAMES
CLEAR
ANNUAL
REVIEW
E ach year, I conduct

my Annual Review
and share it publicly. I do
this because I find it
helpful to review the
successes and failures of
the previous 12 months,
https://jamesclear.com/2015-annual-review 1/21
but also because I think it

is important
Newsletter to hold
to your inbox. IN!
myself publicly
accountable.
Similar to my previous
Annual Reviews, I will
answer 3 questions in my
2015 Annual Review:
1. What went well this

year?
2. What didn’t go so well

this year?
3. What am I working
toward?
2015 was an incredible

year for me, but I also
failed on several fronts.
The good stuff is in Part I,
the bad stuff is in Part II,
and the future is Part III. I
hope you find it useful
and interesting.
1. What went well

this year?
Here’s what went well:

Marriage. In May, I got
married to my wonderful
wife, which was definitely
the highlight of the year.
We've only been through
eight months of marriage,
but I’m feeling good
about the next 80 years.
Book deal. In my 2014

Annual Review, I said
one of my primary goals
for 2015 was to turn pro
as a writer. I am proud
and excited to say that I
did just that. After
meeting with seven
publishing houses in New
York City, I signed a
major book deal with
Penguin Random House
to publish my first print
book. The book will be
released under their
Avery imprint, which has
recently published award-
winning psychology
books like The Willpower
Instinct and
NeuroTribes.
Newsletter to your inbox.I will have IN!
much, much more to say

about all of this in 2016,
but for now I simply want
to say, “Thank You.” Not
only would I never had
landed a book deal
without the support of
our community, but
publishers never would
have met with me in the
first place. I’m not just
writing this book for you,
I’m writing it because of
you.
Writing. I had plenty of

writing struggles this
year, which I'll cover
below, but overall I
enjoyed a very successful
year writing on
JamesClear.com. Some of
my favorite articles were
about why we buy things
we don't need, the
chemistry of building
better habits, lessons
from a samurai archer,
and the myth of

multitasking.
Writing highlights for

2015:
74 new articles
published this year
(browse my best
articles)
158,347 new email

subscribers this year
229,043 total email

subscribers as of
December 31, 2015
5,811,703 unique
visitors this year
8,911,761 unique
visitors since
JamesClear.com
launched on
November 12, 2012
Strength Training. In
2014, I exercised 113
times. In 2015, I increased
that number to 122
workouts, which is an
average of 10.2 per
month. Considering
everything
Newsletter else I
to your inbox. IN!
crammed into this year, I

feel good about that
number.
Workouts per month in

2015:
January – 14
February – 12
March – 9
April – 12
May – 8
June – 13
July – 12
August – 12
September – 10
October – 7
November – 6
December – 7
My best lifts of the year

were:
Back Squat – 350 lbs

(158 kg) for 4 sets of 4
reps
Bench Press – 295 lbs

Newsletter(133
to yourkg) for 2 reps
inbox. IN!
Deadlift – 495 lbs

(224 kg) for 1 rep
Travel. I visited 5
countries and 11 states in
2015. I squeezed in a few
visits to Washington D.C.
as well. I also wrote an
article about my
Ultralight Packing List,
which was a surprising
hit.
Travel highlights for 2015:
5 countries (2 new):
England, Hungary,
Iceland, Portugal,
United States.
11 states (3 new):
Arkansas, California,
Georgia (twice),
Hawaii, Idaho, New
York (twice), North
Carolina, Ohio,
Tennessee (twice),
Texas, Virginia.
Photography. There is
still atobig
Newsletter yourgap
inbox.between my IN!
photographic vision and

my actual results, but for
the first time in awhile I
feel like my photography
skills are improving. The
main improvement I
made this year was
becoming better at
researching photo
locations and subjects
ahead of time. I think this
research helped me
publish better photos and
hit 10,000 Instagram
followers in 2015. World-
class photographers don't
take photos, they make
photos with diligent
research and practice. I'm
not a world-class
photographer, but I'm
trying to act like one.
Reading. I read 36 books

in 2015, which is more
than I have in any
previous year. Some of my
favorites were A Brief
History of Time, Fooled

by Randomness,
Newsletter to your inbox. Into IN!
Thin Air, Just Mercy,

Manual For Living, Red
Notice, and The Martian.
I also published my
reading list and began
keeping detailed book
summaries of many
nonfiction books.
Accepting help. Like

many entrepreneurs, I
repeatedly fall victim to
“superhero syndrome”
and attempt to do
everything myself. I
improved in this area in
2015 by surrounding
myself with a great team.
I hired an executive
coach, signed with a
fantastic book agent,
hired a world-class book
editor, and added a few
assistants to take
repetitive tasks off my
plate. The result? Revenue
tripled this year. I still
have a long way to go
when it comes to
becoming
Newsletter a great team
to your inbox. IN!
leader, but this year

would not have been what
it was without Charlie,
Lisa, David, Peter, Susan,
Walter. Thank you all!
Visiting family and

friends. This year, I made
trips specifically to visit
family and friends in
Arkansas, North
Carolina, Ohio, and the
United Kingdom. I also
hosted two dinners for
friends, one in San
Francisco and one in New
York City. Finally, I
attended retreats with
fellow entrepreneurs in
Idaho and North
Carolina. It feels good to
make these relationships a
priority because I
mentioned it as a weak
point in my 2013 Annual
Review. I'm excited to
increase these in-person
connections in 2016 by
launching a monthly
dinner
Newsletter series
to your and hosting
inbox. IN!
one or two of my own

retreats.
2. What didn't go
so well this year?
Here's what didn't go

well:
The loss of a friend. In

September, Scott
Dinsmore passed away at
the age of 33 during a
tragic climbing accident
on Mount Kilimanjaro.
Scott was my first friend
to die young and his
passing was one of the
hardest parts of the year. I
did my best to honor him
with a short tribute that I
published here.
Writing schedule. It is
not an exaggeration to say
writing has changed my
life. For nearly three
years, I published a new

article
Newsletter every
to your Monday and
inbox. IN!
Thursday. As a result, I
built a successful
business, met interesting
people, and inked a major
book deal. That's when I
did something stupid: I
changed the whole damn
way I wrote.
By September 2015, I was

emailing my bi-weekly
articles to over 200,000
subscribers. With so
many people reading, I
began to feel an immense
pressure to publish
something great every
week. I decided to change
my writing schedule to
one article per week
instead of two articles per
week. I figured that
publishing fewer articles
would allow me to
produce higher quality
writing. In theory, it made
sense. In practice, it was a
disaster.
My once-per-week
writing
Newsletter schedule
to your inbox. kicked IN!
my perfectionism into
high gear. I found myself
thinking, “If you're only
going to publish once per
week, then every article
needs to be incredible.” I
was still writing and
working each week, but
articles never felt like they
were good enough. As a
result, I missed more
publishing days (4) in
three months, than I did
in three years with my
twice-per-week schedule.
In 2016, I'm looking
forward to sharing how I
overcome these writing
challenges and deliver
exceptional work on a
regular basis.
The Hamster Wheel.

During the second half of
the year, I found myself
repeatedly feeling like I
was never ahead of things
in my business. I was
behind on customer
support
Newsletter requests.
to your inbox. My IN!
email inbox was

overflowing. There were
speaking requests I hadn't
followed up on. Overall,
these are good problems
to have. (For example,
you only get customer
support requests if you
have customers.) But the
downside of things going
so well is that things start
going so fast. In fact, one
reason I missed some
article deadlines (in
addition to the
perfectionism mentioned
above) is that everything
had to stop for a week
while I was in New York
City getting a book deal.
You can do it all, but not
at the same time. I need
to take my own advice
and simplify in 2016.
Nutrition. I believe I eat a

reasonably healthy diet,
but—like most people—I
probably think I eat better

thantoI actually
Newsletter your inbox. do. One IN!
thing is for certain, I don't

cook nearly as many
meals as I should. I tried
to limit eating out at
restaurants to just the
weekend and eat at home
during the weekdays, but
I honestly can't say I stuck
to that for more than one
or two weeks throughout
2015. I also feel that
nutrition is the missing
link for me when it comes
to strength training. I'm
happy with the progress I
made in the gym (see Part
I above) and one of my
cardinal rules is that I
never cheat myself on
sleep (I average 8 to 9
hours per night), but I
have a lot of room for
improvement in the
kitchen.
Lack of team interaction.

Writing isn't really a team
sport. There is the author
(me) and then a bunch of

people
Newsletter who
to your support the
inbox. IN!
author (my agent, my

editor, my executive
coach, etc.), but there isn't
really a cohesive team
that solves problems
together each day. I
played varsity baseball in
college and I loved being
part of a group that
rallied around a common
mission. If I'm being
honest, I've been chasing
that sense of shared
mission ever since I
graduated. I'm grateful for
the opportunity I have to
reach an incredible
number of people as a
writer, but I do miss being
part of a great team.
3. What am I
working toward?
My attention will be
focused on three areas in
2016.
Finish my first book.

This to
Newsletter is your
priority
inbox. number IN!
one. I want to write a

fantastic book. I have a
great team supporting
me, but it's my
responsibility to deliver
something incredible. I
can't wait to share it with
you.
Ruthlessly eliminate the

inessential. My biggest
struggles in 2015 were
caused by trying to do too
much in too little time. As
our community and my
business has grown, my
time has become
stretched. I need to get
better about protecting
my schedule and
ruthlessly eliminating
everything except the
most important tasks.
Tell deeper stories. Next

year, I want to tell more
compelling stories
through my work. Maybe
this means adding audio

(a podcast,
Newsletter perhaps?) or
to your inbox. IN!
blending my photography
work with my writing to
make things more visually
interesting. In any case, I
want to tell stories that
make a difference while
continuing to offer
practical ideas for how to
live better.
2015 was a remarkable

year for me and I can't
wait to see what 2016 has
in store. There aren’t
many jobs where you can
work on what you want,
impact people in a
positive way, and live a
good lifestyle all at the
same time. I’m so lucky to
have one of those jobs.
What a time to be alive.
As always, it is a privilege
to write for you. I have
said many times that I am
not an expert. I don't have
all the answers. I'm just
trying to become a better

person
Newsletter andinbox.
to your I'm excited to IN!
share the lessons I learn

along the way. Thanks for
reading.
The Annual
Review Archives
This is a complete list of

Annual Reviews I have
written.
My 2019 Annual
Review
My 2018 Annual
Review
My 2017 Annual
Review
My 2016 Annual
Review
My 2015 Annual
Review
READ NEXT
My 2014 Annual
Review
The 10 Best Articles Of 2015
My 2013 Annual
Review
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4/19/22, 10:07 PM My 2015 Annual Review - James Clear

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Clear writes about habits, decision

My 2015 making, and continuous improvement. He

Annual bestseller, Atomic Habits . The book has sold

Click here to learn more →

E ach year, I conduct

but also because I think it

1. What went well this

2. What didn’t go so well

2015 was an incredible

1. What went well

Here’s what went well:

Book deal. In my 2014

much, much more to say

Writing. I had plenty of

and the myth of

Writing highlights for

158,347 new email

229,043 total email

crammed into this year, I

Workouts per month in

My best lifts of the year

Back Squat – 350 lbs

Bench Press – 295 lbs

Deadlift – 495 lbs

Travel highlights for 2015:

photographic vision and

Reading. I read 36 books

History of Time, Fooled

Thin Air, Just Mercy,

Accepting help. Like

leader, but this year

Visiting family and

one or two of my own

Here's what didn't go

The loss of a friend. In

years, I published a new

By September 2015, I was

The Hamster Wheel.

email inbox was

Nutrition. I believe I eat a

probably think I eat better

thing is for certain, I don't

Lack of team interaction.

(me) and then a bunch of

author (my agent, my

Finish my first book.

one. I want to write a

Ruthlessly eliminate the

Tell deeper stories. Next

this means adding audio

2015 was a remarkable

trying to become a better

share the lessons I learn

This is a complete list of

Much Is Your Time Really

One Research-Backed Way To

The Diderot Effect: Why We

ideas in my popular email

My email address is...

Try the free

Privacy & Terms of Use Hosting by LiquidWeb Forms by OptinMonster