A Review of My Word For The Year: Focus

This year I jumped on the Word of the Year bandwagon that OG Yael Wolfe started many years ago on Medium. I think finding a word to focus on (heh) is a fantastic thing to do and it helped me focus (heh) on what was important in 2023. Ironically, “Focus” was my word of the year, and I did focus on many things. Heh!

This year, I decided to focus on eight things: health, relationships, family, work, writing, being prepared, reading more, and my peace.

Was I successful in all of them? Yes, I was but I was more successful in some than others. Let’s review them and see if I got partial or full credit.

Focus on health — Partial Credit

I had a yo-yo of a year with my health. Life got in the way a lot of times and I couldn’t focus on my health for a good part of the year. I wanted to redefine my relationship with alcohol and lose weight.

For ten months I worked hard to redefine my relationship with alcohol only to have to slam me when I least expected it. It got to the point where I couldn’t control not having just one drink. One drink led to another and then another. I went from having one glass of wine a week to a glass once a night, then two, and sometimes three.

I traced back to when I started losing control over alcohol and it all started in 2014 when I joined my first startup. Startups tend to be booze-fueled and it’s way too easy to drink a lot during team-building dinners or events.

I tried to limit my alcohol or stop intermittently only to gravitate back to it a few days later. This scared me and in October of this year, I finally kicked it to the curb.

Since I quit booze I feel immensely better. My food cravings have subsided and I feel like I can control my diet better. While I wanted to lose weight this year (and I had a yo-yo year with that), I think that I’m preparing myself for a better 2024 in that regard.

Focus on relationships — Full credit

This was a banner year for my relationships with family and friends. The big news was that my partner and I had an amazing trip to Portugal, Spain, and Italy this year that brought us closer and built a deeper intimacy. We called it our “second honeymoon” and it was exactly what we both needed.

This year I saw the conclusion of a lot of scary health issues with my mother. After a dozen trips to the ER and 100s of doctor’s visits, my mother’s health has finally stabilized. After my father’s sudden passing two years earlier, my sister and I rode in like the cavalry to help Mom in her time of need.

Focus on family — Full credit

I had an amazing year with my kids. My oldest graduated high school and headed out to college. My youngest finished all his Boy Scout requirements and is working on his Eagle project. Both my partner and I helped them keep their eyes on the prize, whatever it might be for them.

I have such a wonderful relationship with them and I consider myself lucky. Both of them are mini-adults now and we have deep conversations about life, love, and happiness. They’ve turned out to be awesome young adults and I’m deeply humbled to be their father.

Focus on work — Partial credit

Workwise, I wanted to make more presentations this year, but I didn’t do as many as I wanted. I just didn’t have the opportunity to do so but I did get out in front of people and speak. I did build up my technology and engineering newsletter, so that’s a huge plus and gives me a passing grade for the year!

Here I am giving a presentation in November of this year, and yes, dogs love me.

Focus on writing — Extra credit

I wrote my heart out this year. I restarted my old market and investing site, I wrote nearly 30 newsletters on my technology and engineering site, and I built up my passion project, Weathered. I even wrote for other sites like OkDoomer! I feel like I kicked ass in this department and I look forward to doing more in 2024!

Focus on being prepared — Full credit

This year I made sure that each car had spare batteries, a space blanket, fix-a-flats, first-aid kits, and other important survival items. Why? Because the weather is getting unpredictable due to climate change. I wanted to make sure that my family was prepared.

Granted, there’s always more to do and next year I want to focus on food preparation. I took a class in jarring and preserving this year and I want to start doing more of that in 2024.

Focus on reading more — Partial credit

I just finished “Doughnut Economics” and have a book on Pompeii in the works. I didn’t read as much as I wanted to but at least I’m still reading. I will continue the good fight next year and will whittle away all the books on my nightstand.

I need to read more but time is tight. Boy is it tight!

Focus on your peace — Full credit

I made a lot of changes this year and started cutting toxic people and people from my life. I focused on cutting out a lot of noise and not spending too much time on social media. That said, focusing on my peace is a journey and I have many more years to go.

So what’s the Word of the Year for 2024? I have a few words in mind and I’ll meditate on them over the next few weeks as the Christmas and the New Year approaches. Stay tuned!

Oh, and love you tots!