I am proud of myself in one respect, however.

I could have said, “Oh, I’m

launching a book in October so I can’t work out.” But getting 8 workouts in was
better than zero. Managing to make it into the gym despite a crazy schedule (even
if it’s only for 15 minutes) is important for maintaining momentum.
My best lifts of the year were:
Back Squat – 400 lbs (181 kg) for 1 rep
Bench Press – 280 lbs (127 kg) for 1 rep
Deadlift – 500 lbs (226 kg) for 1 rep
These numbers are pretty good for me, but none of them are personal bests. I
have been training fairly regularly for about ten years now and I believe this is the
first time I have conducted an annual review and not hit a PR in at least one major
lift.
Writing trajectory. I only wrote 10 articles in 2017, which was my lowest total
ever. Somehow, I managed to lower the bar even further in 2018. The drop in
output impacted other areas of the business too. Website traffic, for example,
was highest in January and February and declined throughout the year.
In the short-term, it’s not a huge issue. But as I wrote in Atomic Habits, “It doesn’t
matter how successful or unsuccessful you are right now. What matters is
whether your habits are putting you on the path toward success. You should be
far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
The key point is not that millions are visiting the site right now (current results),
but that the trend is headed downward (current trajectory). Now that the book is
complete, I need to focus on rebuilding my weekly writing habit in 2019.
3. What did I learn this year?
Some of my major lessons from this year include:
If you don’t know what to do, focus on the fundamentals. Progress doesn’t need
to be complicated. Skip all of the cutting edge tactics and focus on the key habits
that deliver great return.
Here are a few habits that have a high rate of return in life:
sleep 8+ hours each day
lift weights 3x week
go for a walk each day
save at least 10 percent of your income
read every day
drink more water and less of everything else
leave your phone in another room while you work
Mastery requires both impatience and patience. The impatience to have a bias
toward action, to not waste time, and to work with a sense of urgency each day.
The patience to delay gratification, to wait for your actions to accumulate, and to
trust the process.
Curiosity is crucial. Increasingly, I feel an eagerness to learn is one of the most
crucial skills in life. If you’re not curious, I’m not sure if there is much others can
do to help you. But if you’re eager to learn, even if you aren’t particularly
talented, then so much is possible.
Entrepreneurship is never as sexy on the inside as it appears on the
outside. Whoever your entrepreneurial idols are, they have plenty of headaches
behind the scenes.
You are only as mentally tough as your life demands you to be. Life will throw
plenty of challenges your way, but there will be easy days too. An easy life
fashions a mind that can only handle ease. Like a muscle that atrophies without
use, mental strength fades unless it is tested. When life doesn’t challenge you,
challenge yourself.
The margin between your best performance and your average performance is less
than you think. In 2017, I averaged 15.7 workouts per month. In 2018, I averaged
11.7 workouts per month. At first glance, I considered it a modest difference. Only
4 workouts less each month? That’s about one less per week. And I was still
making it into the gym consistently.
But then I realized I didn’t set a personal record in any major lift in 2018.
Conversely, I hit PRs in nearly every major lift in 2017. One workout per week
doesn’t sound like much, but that was the difference between my average
performance and my best performance.
Move toward the next thing, not away from the last thing. Same direction.
Completely different energy.
No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility. When you say no, you are only saying no
to one option. When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option. One of
my key themes in 2019 is to think carefully about what I say yes to and make sure
I protect my time.
That’s it! As always, thanks for reading. Happy New Year!