2023 Recap

This is my personal annual report for 2023. Below, I provide a brief “Year in review,” followed by “Goals results.” The Books I read in 2023 and my 2023 Media Diet are broken out into separate articles. For comparison, my previous annual recaps are available at the following links: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013.

This was one of the biggest and best years of my life. I think I say that most years, maybe every year. And I probably believe it at the time. But this year I really mean it and have no doubt that it’s true.

Year in review

In 2023 – aside from the goal-related accomplishments detailed below – I completed a four-day fast (my longest to date); ran the Ragnar Trail Zion relay race in Utah; ran the North Fork 50k trail race in Buffalo Creek, CO; ran the Grin and Bear It 25k trail race in Crested Butte, CO; took some ice dips; and took the lead in some big utility regulatory proceedings.

More importantly was the inspiration 2023 provided. In recent annual recaps I have included a section entitled, Inspiration, where I wax philosophical, contemplate important themes, and revisit things that had a big impact on me, such as memorable quotes, thought-provoking excerpts from books, or excellent podcast episodes.

This year Inspiration took a different form: my beautiful bride on our wedding day. I have been blessed with many gifts, strokes of dumb luck, and beautiful people in my life. I take none of them for granted, and they inspire me to work hard at becoming the best man I can be. Getting married fans those flames stronger.

In a past article, I noted one of my biggest Takeaways from an MBA was that you can do great things on your own – but you can do much greater things by working with, and helping, others. Now, after stumbling across my soul mate after years of searching, I believe it more than ever.

I shake my head in amazement and gratitude for everything I’ve been given, everything I’ve done, and everything on the horizon.

Goals results

Here is how I performed on the list of goals I laid out at the start of 2023.

1. Write every day

Result: Not done

I started the year hot for a couple months, but lapsed after that. As always, I’ll give this another shot in 2024.

2. Deep scheduling

Result: Kinda done

I was pretty good about staying organized and efficient with my time in 2023, even though I didn’t precisely plan out every day by the hour, by hand, on a notecard, as I had originally targeted. I did read the book Deep Work, by Cal Newport, which gave me some good ideas on how to fine-tune this practice further in the future. My big takeaway is that I can be productive, successful, and live the good life without optimizing all the fun and chaos out of it. My goal is not to become a time-management robot (like Cal Newport or Tim Ferriss). Rather, it’s to ensure that I spend an abundant amount of time on the things that matter most to me. I’m on a good path toward that end, and I will continue to work on increasing (1) the amount of time I have, and (2) the portion of that time I spend on my priorities. 

3. Screen-free Shabbat

Result: Done

I did not use my phone, computer or TV from sundown Friday to sundown on pretty much every Saturday of 2023.

4. Simple and Sinister kettlebell at 32kg

Result: Done

This – referred to as “Timeless Simple” in the StrongFirst community – was a big one I’ve been working on since 2019. On Thursday, December 28, 2023, I cranked out 10 rounds of 10 single-arm swings followed by 10 Turkish Get Ups (TGU) with a 32kg kettlebell. I rule. Now on to the snatch.

5. Beat your chest like a gorilla at least once a month

Result: Partially done

This was a fun one. I beat my chest like a gorilla nine months out of twelve in 2023. This usually occurred on hikes or trail runs, looking out from a summit, with my shirt off, creeping out others in the area.

6. Run the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim

Result: Done

Three rims, 46-ish miles, more than 11,000 feet elevation gain, in something like 18 hours. Read about this beast of a day here.

7. Train for violence

Result: Not done

I got too busy with kettlebells, trail running, and other stuff. I’ll carry this goal over to 2024.

8. Memorize things

Result: Partially done

I did not stop using GPS to get places, nor did I re-read the book Moonwalking with Einstein, by Joshua Foer, nor did I memorize something new every month.

But I did memorize four things: (1) the first 22 lines of the The Odyssey (Robert Fitzgerald translation), commonly referred to as the “invocation of the Muse”; (2) Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley; (3) The Beginnings of Songs of Delight (a love poem from around 1300 B.C.); and (4) an excerpt from My Struggle: Book 6 by Karl Ove Knausgaard, that starts: “Who are we going to be when our decency is put to the test?” and ends: “Because if evil comes, it will not come as ‘they’ in the guise of the unfamiliar that we might turn away without effort, it will come as ‘we.’ It will come as what is right.”

9. Go into the wilderness alone

Result: Done

I backpacked for six days and 105 miles through Colorado Trail Segments 15-21. Read about the adventure here.

10. Reading list

Result: Partially done

The complete list of books I read in 2023 is here. I finished The Iliad (Fitzgerald Translation), The Odyssey (Fitzgerald Translation), Chip War (Miller), and Going Infinite (Lewis), and have not finished Red Memory (Branigan), which were all on my original reading list. I didn’t even start Moby Dick (Melville), Demons (Dostoevsky), Turning Pro (Pressfield), Make to Know (Buchanan), or the re-read of Moonwalking with Einstein (Foer).

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